Wait

v. i. [imp. & p. p. WAITED; p. pr. & vb. n. WAITING.] [O. Fr. waiter, gaiter, gaitier, gueiter, to watch, attend, N. Fr. guetter, to watch, to wait for, Pr. guaitar, It. guaitare, guatare, from O. H. Ger. wahtên, Icel. vakta, to keep, watch, D. & Prov. Ger. wachten.]

1Sense 1. To stay or rest in expectation; to stop or remain stationary till the arrival of some person or event; to rest in patience; to stay; not to depart.

All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Job xiv. 14.

They also serve who only stand and wait. Milton.

Haste, my dear father; 'tis no time to wait. Dryden.

2Sense 2. To lie in ambush, as an enemy.

Such ambush waited to intercept thy way. Milton.

To wait on or upon. (a.) To attend, as a servant; to perform services for; as, to wait on a gentleman; to wait on the table. “Authority and reason on her wait.” Milton. “I must wait on myself, must I?” Shak. (b.) To attend; to go to see; to visit on business or for ceremony. (c.) To follow, as a consequence; to await. The ruin that waits on such a supine temper. Decay of Piety. (d.) To look watchfully at; to follow with the eye; to watch. [Rare.] “It is a point of cunning to wait on him with whom you speak with your eye.” Bacon. (e.) To attend to; to perform. “Aaron and his sons . . . shall wait on their priest’s office.” Num. iii. 10.

v. t. 1. To stay for; to rest or remain stationary in expectation of; to await. Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, And wait, with longing eyes, their promised guide. Dryden. 2. To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany; to await. [Obs.] Such doom waits luxury. Philips. 3. To attend on; to accompany with ceremony or respect. [Obs. and rare.] He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all His warlike troops, to wait the funeral. Dryden.