different between wait vs watch
wait
English
Alternative forms
- (obsolete) waight
Etymology
From Middle English waiten, wayten, from Old Northern French waiter, waitier (compare French guetter from Old French gaitier, guaitier), from Frankish *waht?n, *wahtijan (“to watch, guard”), derivative of Frankish *wahta (“guard, watch”), from Proto-Germanic *wahtw? (“guard, watch”), from Proto-Indo-European *we?- (“to be fresh, cheerful, awake”). Cognate with Old High German waht?n (“to watch, guard”), German Low German wachten (“to wait”), Dutch wachten (“to wait, expect”), French guetter (“to watch out for”), Saterland Frisian wachtje (“to wait”), West Frisian wachtsje (“to wait”), North Frisian wachtjen (“to stand, stay put”). More at watch.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /we?t/
- (General American) IPA(key): /we?t/, [we???t]
- Rhymes: -e?t
- Homophone: weight
Verb
wait (third-person singular simple present waits, present participle waiting, simple past and past participle waited)
- (transitive, now rare) To delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by “wait for”.)
- Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, / And wait with longing looks their promised guide.
- 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, page 30:
- The Court had assembled, to wait events, in the huge antechamber known as the Œil de Boeuf.
- (intransitive) To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
- Haste, my dear father; 'tis no time to wait.
- (intransitive, US) To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.
- (transitive, obsolete) To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.
- He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all / His warlike troops, to wait the funeral.
- 1714, Nicholas Rowe, The Tragedy of Jane Shore
- Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee, / And everlasting anguish be thy portion.
- (obsolete) To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany.
- (obsolete, colloquial) To defer or postpone (especially a meal).
- to wait dinner
- (intransitive) To remain faithful to one’s partner or betrothed during a prolonged period of absence.
- 1957,Dagny Taggart and Francisco d'Anconia, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged
- She did not question him. Before leaving, she asked only, "When will I see you again?" He answered, "I don't know. Don't wait for me, Dagny. Next time we meet, you will not want to see me."
- 1974, The Bee Gees, Night Fever
- I will wait / Even if it takes forever / I will wait / Even if it takes a lifetime
- 1957,Dagny Taggart and Francisco d'Anconia, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged
Usage notes
- In sense 1, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
Synonyms
- (delay until): await, wait for; See also Thesaurus:wait for
- (delay until some event): hold one's breath; See also Thesaurus:wait
- (serve customers): wait on, wait upon, serve
- (attend with ceremony or respect): bestand, serve, tend; See also Thesaurus:serve
- (attend as a consequence): attend, escort, go with
- (defer or postpone): defer, postpone; See also Thesaurus:procrastinate
- (remain celibate):
Derived terms
Translations
Noun
wait (plural waits)
- A delay.
- I had a very long wait at the airport security check.
- An ambush.
- They lay in wait for the patrol.
- (obsolete) One who watches; a watchman.
- (in the plural, obsolete, Britain) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)
- (in the plural, Britain) Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [formerly waites, wayghtes.]
- Hark! are the waits abroad?
- 1819-1820, Washington Irving, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon
- The sound of the waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mild watches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony.
Translations
Related terms
- wake
- watch
Anagrams
- WTAI
Elfdalian
Etymology
From Old Norse hvítr, from Proto-Germanic *hw?taz. Cognate with Swedish vit.
Adjective
wait
- white
Gothic
Romanization
wait
- Romanization of ????????????????
Tok Pisin
Etymology
From English white.
Adjective
wait
- white
Westrobothnian
Alternative forms
- weit
Etymology
From Old Norse hveiti.
Noun
wait n (definite singular waite)
- wheat (Triticum)
- wheat bread
wait From the web:
- what waits in the woods
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- what waits in the water movie
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- what waits for no man
- what waits in the woods summary
watch
English
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /w?t??/
- (General American) IPA(key): /w?t??/, /w?t??/
- (General Australian, General New Zealand) IPA(key): /w?t??/
- Rhymes: -?t?
Etymology 1
As a noun, from Middle English wacche, from Old English wæ??e. See below for verb form.
Noun
watch (plural watches)
- A portable or wearable timepiece.
- The act of guarding and observing someone or something.
- 1717, Joseph Addison, Metamorphoses
- All the long night their mournful watch they keep.
- 1717, Joseph Addison, Metamorphoses
- A particular time period when guarding is kept.
- A person or group of people who guard.
- The post or office of a watchman; also, the place where a watchman is posted, or where a guard is kept.
- (nautical) A group of sailors and officers aboard a ship or shore station with a common period of duty: starboard watch, port watch.
- (nautical) A period of time on duty, usually four hours in length; the officers and crew who tend the working of a vessel during the same watch. (FM 55–501).
- The act of seeing, or viewing, for a period of time.
- 2016, Andrew Bullock, David Brent REVIEW: Life on the Road goes from painfully funny to just plain painful. Ouch (in Sunday Express, 11 August)
- The first third of the film is laugh after laugh; […] But half an hour in and this movie gets unnervingly dark and is an uncomfortable watch at times.
- 2016, Andrew Bullock, David Brent REVIEW: Life on the Road goes from painfully funny to just plain painful. Ouch (in Sunday Express, 11 August)
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From Middle English wacchen, from Old English wæ??an, from Proto-West Germanic *wakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *wakjan?.
Verb
watch (third-person singular simple present watches, present participle watching, simple past and past participle watched)
- (transitive, intransitive) To look at, see, or view for a period of time.
- (transitive) To observe over a period of time; to notice or pay attention.
- (transitive) To mind, attend, or guard.
- (transitive) To be wary or cautious of.
- (transitive) To attend to dangers to or regarding.
- (intransitive) To remain awake with a sick or dying person; to maintain a vigil.
- (intransitive) To be vigilant or on one's guard.
- (intransitive) To act as a lookout.
- (nautical, of a buoy) To serve the purpose of a watchman by floating properly in its place.
- (obsolete, intransitive) To be awake.
- 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X:
- So on the morne Sir Trystram, Sir Gareth and Sir Dynadan arose early and went unto Sir Palomydes chambir, and there they founde hym faste aslepe, for he had all nyght wacched […]
- 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X:
- (transitive, obsolete) To be on the lookout for; to wait for expectantly.
- 1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt 2008, p. 80:
- [S]he had reason to dread that her husband had formed a very criminal project of being revenged on Zeluco, and watched an opportunity of putting it in execution.
- 1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt 2008, p. 80:
Usage notes
- When used transitively to mean look at something, there is an implication that the direct object is something which is capable of changing.
Antonyms
- ignore
Derived terms
Translations
See also
- wait
- wake
watch From the web:
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