Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Waiting
Wait′ing
,In waiting
, in attendance;
as, lords
. in waiting
[Eng.]
– Waiting gentlewoman
, a woman who waits upon a person of rank.
– Waiting maid
, Waiting woman
a maid or woman who waits upon another as a personal servant.
Webster 1828 Edition
Waiting
WAITING
,ppr.
Waiting on, attending; accompanying; serving.
Waiting for, staying for the arrival of.
Waiting at, staying or attending at in expectation or in service.
In waiting, in attendance.
Definition 2024
waiting
waiting
English
Verb
waiting
- present participle of wait
- 1874, John Fiske, Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, I. 122.
- In all ages, men have fought over words, without waiting to know what the words really signified.
- 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 19, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
- At the far end of the houses the head gardener stood waiting for his mistress, and he gave her strips of bass to tie up her nosegay. This she did slowly and laboriously, with knuckly old fingers that shook.
- Your guest has been waiting for you. (progressive) Waiting for something to happen is part of the job. (gerund) They hurried into the waiting car. (participle used as adjective)
- 1874, John Fiske, Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, I. 122.
Derived terms
Noun
waiting (countable and uncountable, plural waitings)
- (obsolete) Watching.
- The act of staying or remaining in expectation.
- 1876, Richard Watson Gilder, The New Day, A Poem in Songs and Sonnets
- There was an awful waiting in the earth, / As if a mystery greatened to its birth.
- 1876, Richard Watson Gilder, The New Day, A Poem in Songs and Sonnets
- Attendance, service.
- 1871–72, George Eliot, Middlemarch, Chapter 36
- Green glasses for hock, and excellent waiting at table.
- 1871–72, George Eliot, Middlemarch, Chapter 36
Derived terms
- in waiting
Translations
Watching
The act of staying or remaining in expectation
References
- waiting in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911