wait
stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
How often you will meet it
Rank 547 of 71,295 words measured. It occurs 35,494 times across 139,755 chapters — 0.017% of every word in the library.
It belongs to the first 1,000 words, the band worth learning before any other.
What it means
verb
- stay in one place and anticipate or expect something I had to wait on line for an hour to get the tickets
- wait before acting also: hold off, hold back the scientists held off announcing their results until they repeated the experiment
- look forward to the probable occurrence of also: expect, look, await We were expecting a visit from our relativesShe is looking to a promotion
- serve as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant also: waitress I'm waiting on tables at Maxim's
noun
- time during which some action is awaited also: delay, hold, time lag, postponement instant replay caused too long a delayhe ordered a hold in the action
- the act of waiting (remaining inactive in one place while expecting something) also: waiting the wait was an ordeal for him
wait in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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He must find her--he could not wait now.
The Courage of the Commonplace · Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews · Chapter 1
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We'll wait for thee upon the little hill.
The White Christmas and other Merry · Walter Ben Hare · Chapter 1
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Or shall we wait until we hear from the Princess?
The Mysterious Affair at Styles · Agatha Christie · Chapter 1
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I didn't have to wait for day, though, to find one crying piece of evidence.
The Abandoned Room · Wadsworth Camp · Chapter 1
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This accomplished, she had only to wait, and sit in tearless anguish at the window, listening intently whenever a horseman rode past.
A Knight of the White Cross · G. A. (George Alfred) Henty · Chapter 1