What does wait mean in English?

You can learn wait Pronunciation, Grammar & Synonyms in this most authoritative English Dictionary.

wait Meaning, Definition, Pronunciation, Grammar & Synonyms❤️

0 to allow time to go by, especially while staying in one place without doing very much, until someone comes, until something that you are expecting happens or until you can do something:
- I waited for her outside while she went in to see the doctor.
- The dentist kept me waiting for ages.
- [ + to infinitive ] There were a lot of people waiting to use the phone.
- The meeting will have to wait until tomorrow, because I'm too busy now.
- The paperwork can't wait until tomorrow (= is urgent and must be done now).
- The sign by the side of the road said "no waiting!"
1 a period of time when you stay in one place until someone comes, or something happens, or until you can do something:
- We had a three-hour wait before we could see the doctor.
- The long wait for the doctor/to see the doctor really made me anxious.
2 to allow time to go by, esp. without doing much, until something happens or can happen:
- [ I ] I waited in the car.
- [ I ] Wait here for me – I’ll be back in a minute.
- [ I ] The dentist kept me waiting for ages.
- [ + to infinitive ] Several people are waiting to use the phone.
- [ T ] Please get in line and wait your turn like everyone else.
- [ I ] The meeting will have to wait until tomorrow.
- [ I ] An envelope was waiting for me when I got home.

In hindsight, it would have been better to wait.
A small group of children waited outside the door.
She was very tense as she waited for the interview.
I hate waiting for public transport.
We can buy our duty-free while we're waiting at the airport.
We had a long wait for the bus.
The wait for the train was very boring.
He had waited without moving, standing stock-still on the bank, peering into the water, hoping for another glimpse, a ripple in the water's surface even.

0 Expect, hope or wait?
1 Expect

We use expect to say that we believe that something will happen. We use expect in the following main patterns:
2 Hope

We use hope when we do not know whether something will happen or not but we want it to happen. We use hope in the following patterns:
3 Wait

We use wait when we refer to letting time pass because we are expecting that something is going to happen. We use wait in the following main patterns:
4 Expect, hope or wait: typical errors