wait
part of speech
verb (wait, waits, waited, waiting); noun (a wait)
meaning for a pupil
1) To wait means to stay where you are, or not do something, until something happens or someone comes. tree →
2) A wait is the time you stay. tree →
3) «Wait for it», «can't wait» mean someone is excited about something coming soon. tree →
4) To wait on people is to serve them food, as in a restaurant. tree →
5) (casual) «Wait, what?» shows surprise; «wait up» means wait for me to catch up; «hang on», «hold on» and «hold your horses» mean wait. tree →
6) (casual) «No wait» or «wait no» starts a self-correction: «she had 5 — no wait, 6.» tree →
7) (rough) «You wait!» or «just you wait» is a threat of trouble later. tree →
8) (formal) «Await», «remain pending» and «a period of waiting» are stiff words: «Passengers awaited the service for 15 minutes.» tree →
sense in the lessons
In school maths: elapsed time; waiting in line; how long someone waited from one clock time to another; waiting times added in all. In everyday life: waiting for the bus, in a queue, for your turn, at the doctor's. In casual talk «wait» often marks that the speaker is correcting a number — the last number counts. In the exam voice: «the interval during which passengers awaited the service». Phrases: «wait for», «wait your turn», «can't wait», «wait a minute», «a long wait», «waiting room», «wait and see».
examples
- They waited 15 minutes for the bus. tree →
- She waited from 2:00 to 2:45. tree →
- 12 people are waiting in line. tree →
- How long did he wait in all? tree →
- Please wait your turn. tree →
- I can't wait for the summer holidays! tree →
- Wait a minute, I left my bag on the bench. tree →
- There was a long wait at the doctor's. tree →
- 12 kids, wait no, 13 with me (casual, self-correction) tree →
- wait up!! my shoelace (casual) tree →
- Touch my bike again and you wait, mate. (rough) tree →
- Passengers awaited the service from 14:00 until 14:45; ascertain the duration of the wait. (formal exam) tree →
- He waited one hour, two hours. tree →
note
«Wait for the bus», not «wait the bus». Do not confuse with «weight» (how heavy) — they sound the same. «Await» is a formal word with no «for». Maths: asks for a length of time; between two clock times subtract (end − start); waiting times of several parts are added. Trap: after «wait» or «no wait» in a sentence, the corrected (last) number is the real one. Safety: wait for the green man before you cross the road.
In the corpora
- On a motorway, after a breakdown everyone gets out and waits behind the barrier, away from the traffic.
- Many parents wait about three months before telling people, because the early weeks are the most uncertain.
- Doctors have more patients than time, so getting an appointment can mean ringing early or waiting weeks.
- A waiting list is a queue for a non-urgent operation, and in the NHS the wait can be months.
- Waiting is a big part of hospitals: waiting to be seen, waiting for results, waiting for visiting hours.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «wait» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.