wait

I. verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French waiter, guaiter to watch over, await, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German wahta watch, Old English wæccan to watch — more at wake Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to stay in place in expectation of ; await <

waited the result of the advertisement — W. M. Thackeray

> <

wait your turn

> 2. to delay serving (a meal) 3. to serve as waiter for <

wait tables

> intransitive verb 1. a. to remain stationary in readiness or expectation <

wait for a train

> b. to pause for another to catch up — usually used with up 2. a. to look forward expectantly <

just waiting to see his rival lose

> b. to hold back expectantly <

waiting for a chance to strike

> 3. to serve at meals — usually used in such phrases as wait on tables or wait on table 4. a. to be ready and available <

slippers waiting by the bed

> b. to remain temporarily neglected or unrealized <

the chores can wait

> Usage: American dialectologists have evidence showing wait on (sense 3) to be more a Southern than a Northern form in speech. Handbook writers universally denigrate wait on and prescribe wait for in writing. Our evidence from printed sources does not show a regional preference; it does show that the handbooks' advice is not based on current usage <

settlement of the big problems still waited on Russia — Time

> <

I couldn't make out…whether Harper was waiting on me for approval — E. B. White

> <

the staggering bill that waited on them at the white commissary downtown — Maya Angelou

>. One reason for the continuing use of wait on may lie in its being able to suggest protracted or irritating waits better than wait for <

for two days I've been waiting on weather — Charles A. Lindbergh

> <

the boredom of black Africans sitting there, waiting on the whims of a colonial bureaucracy — Vincent Canby

> <

doesn't care to sit around waiting on a House that's virtually paralyzed — Glenn A. Briere

>. Wait on is less common than wait for, but if it seems natural, there is no reason to avoid it. II. noun Etymology: Middle English waite watchman, observation, from Anglo-French, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German wahta watch Date: 14th century 1. a. a hidden or concealed position — used chiefly in the expression lie in wait b. a state or attitude of watchfulness and expectancy <

anchored in wait for early morning fishing — Fred Zimmer

> 2. a. one of a band of public musicians in England employed to play for processions or public entertainments b. (1) one of a group who serenade for gratuities especially at the Christmas season (2) a piece of music by such a group 3. an act or period of waiting <

a long wait in line

>