Waiting

Etymology

Early Middle English. waite-n, a. ONF. waitier (Central OF. guaitier, gaiter, mod.F. guetter) = Prov. gaitar, It. guatare, to watch, lie in wait for; a. OHG. wahtên (mod.G. wachten) to watch, guard, f. wahta fem. (mod.G. wacht) watch, f. OTeut. *wak-:

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Definitions

The simple verb

• 1. a. trans. To watch with hostile intent; to spy upon; to lie in wait for. Obs.

b. intr. To keep hostile watch; to lie in wait. Obs.

• 2. trans. To be on the watch to inflict (injury): = AWAIT v. 2. Obs. The sense is app. due to the confusion of this vb. with WAIT v.2

• 3. a. To watch, keep one's eye upon, observe constantly; to look out for, watch for. Obs.

b. To watch mentally, observe, consider attentively. Obs.

c. To watch over, take charge of, care for (a person's interests). Obs.

d. To search for. Obs.

• 4. a. intr. To keep watch; to look intently. Also with adv. or phrase, to wait about, about one, on every side, etc. Obs.

b. To act as a watchman. Obs.

c. To observe carefully. Obs.

d. With indirect question: To watch, observe carefully what, when, how, etc. Obs.

e. To take precautions, be watchful or cautious. In imperative: Take care, see to it that.

• 5. a. trans. To look forward (esp. with desire or apprehension) to (some future event or contingency); to continue in expectation of. Now somewhat rare: usually superseded by AWAIT v.

b. intr. (Chiefly to wait for = sense 5a above).

c. To remain for a time without something expected or promised.

d. Phr. wait for it, said (often parenthetically) to create an interval of suspense before imparting something remarkable or amusing, in order to heighten its effect. Also ironically. colloq.

• 6. a. trans. To continue stationary or quiescent, in expectation of (a person or thing, an event); to defer departure or action until the arrival or occurrence of. Now rare: superseded by wait for (see 7) and AWAIT v.

b. transf. Of things: To remain in readiness for, to await; to be in store for, to be reserved for. Cf. AWAIT v. 8a.

c. to wait out: (a) U.S. Baseball, (of a batter) to force (a pitcher) to throw a maximum number of pitches by refraining from striking at pitches in the hope of getting a base ‘on balls’, i.e. because they were not pitched over the home-plate; hence (chiefly U.S. colloq.), to wait during (a period of time, an event, etc.); to wait for the end of; also, to wait it out, to endure a period of waiting; (b) = to wait for (sense 7).

• 7. intr. or absol. a. To remain in a place, defer one's departure until something happens. Often to wait for = sense 6.

b. colloq. to wait about: to linger expectantly, ‘hang about’ where something is likely to happen. Also (chiefly U.S.) to wait around.

c. To defer action until some event has taken place; also with inf., to delay to do something.

d. to wait on: (a) Sc. to linger about a place; (b) Sc. also, to linger in expectation of death; (c) Hawking (see quot. 1891); (d) dial. (esp. Austral. and N.Z.), to wait for a while, to ‘hold on’. Freq. imp.

e. Racing. to wait off: to allow oneself to be distanced by other competitors in order to ‘romp in’ when their energies are exhausted. Cf. WAITING vbl. n.1 2c.

f. to wait up: to defer going to bed in expectation of the arrival of some one.

g. to wait and see (with indirect question or ellipsis of this): to await the course of events. Also wait and see n. phr. In the early 20th c. often used with allusion to Mr. H. H. Asquith's repeated reply of ‘Wait and see’ to a succession of questions in parliament.

h. transf. Of a thing: To remain in readiness for some purpose. Also, to remain for a while neglected.

i. quasi-trans. To postpone (a meal) in expectation of the arrival of some one. colloq.

j. to be unable (etc.) to wait (for or to do something), to be very eager or anxious for or to do it. colloq.

k. (you) wait till (or until).., used to imply a threat, warning, etc., or promise of something interesting or exciting, when the specified event has occurred. Also ellipt. as you wait!

• 8. Phrases. to wait one's (or the) time, hour, opportunity, etc.

a. (sense 3) To watch, look out for an opportunity (obs.).

b. (sense 6) To defer action until a fitting season or opportunity shall present itself.

• 9. a. To be in readiness to receive orders; hence, to be in attendance as a servant; to attend as a servant does to the requirements of a superior. Chiefly const. on: see wait on, 14j.

b. To serve as an attendant at table; to hand food and drink to persons at a meal. Phr. to wait at table (cf. 14j), to wait at a trencher.

c. to wait up: to be in attendance at the head of the table. Obs.

d. quasi-trans. to wait (the) table = to wait at table. Sc.

e. quasi-trans. to wait attendance: to remain in attendance. Obs.

• 10. a. trans. To attend or escort, to accompany for the purpose of rendering service or showing respect. Obs.

• 11. To attend as a concomitant or consequence.

Special constructions with preps.

• 12. wait after {emem}. a. To expect, look forward to; to be ambitious or desirous of, seek for. Obs.

b. To look out for; to watch, keep in observation. Obs. wait for {emem}: see 5b, 7.

• 13. wait. a. To execute the commands of. Obs.

b. To escort, accompany on the way, as a mark of honour: = wait on, 14k. Obs.

c. To pay a respectful visit to: = wait on, 14m. Obs.

• 14. wait on or upon.

a. To observe, watch; to fix one's eyes upon, gaze at. Obs.

b. To lie in wait for. Obs.

c. To secure, protect (oneself). Obs.

d. To attend to (a business, a duty). Obs.

e. With clause as obj.: To take care that. Obs.

f. To await, expect with desire or anxiety. Obs.

g. To await the action of; to look to (a person) for something. Obs.

h. In Bible phrase, to place one's hope in (God). Cf. WAITER 4b. Very common in the Bible of 1611; rendering several Heb. verbs of identical meaning.

i. To remain in one place in expectation of = wait for (7a). Also, more generally, to wait for (5b).

j. To attend as or in the manner of a servant to the personal requirements of; to minister to the comfort of. Also in phrases, to wait on the cup, the trencher, the table (cf. 9b). to wait on (a person) hand and foot: see HAND n. 57.

k. To accompany on one's way (as a mark of respect or to render service or assistance); to escort. Now rare (? exc. U.S.).

l. Hence (?) in Hunting, to wait close upon: to keep close to (the horse immediately in front).

m. To pay a respectful visit to; to call upon with the intention of showing respect, asking a favour, or the like.

n. Of things: To accompany; to be associated with; to attend as a concomitant or consequence.

o. To support the opinion of. Obs.

• 15. wait over. To watch over. Obs. Cf. OVERWAIT v. (= supervise, Pecock).

• 16. wait to. To keep watch upon, attend carefully to. Obs.