wait

Pronunciation

• IPA ^(key): /weɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Homophone: weight

Verb

Plain form wait

Third-person singular waits

Past tense waited

Past participle waited

Present participle waiting

1. If you wait for someone or something, you do something (or nothing) until something else happens.

   I waited for you for twenty minutes. Where were you?

   The fans waited patiently for their idol to arrive.

2. To wait is to take orders and serve food at the tables in cafes and restaurants.

   Her job at the cafe was to wait at the tables.

Related words

• waiter
• waitress