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while
[ wahyl, hwahyl ]
noun
- a period or interval of time:
to wait a long while;
He arrived a short while ago.
- Archaic. a particular time or occasion.
conjunction
- during or in the time that.
- throughout the time that; as long as.
- even though; although:
While she appreciated the honor, she could not accept the position.
- at the same time that (showing an analogous or corresponding action):
The floor was strewn with books, while magazines covered the tables.
preposition
- Archaic. until.
verb (used with object)
- to cause (time) to pass, especially in some easy or pleasant manner (usually followed by away ).
while
/ waɪl /
conjunction
- subordinating at the same time that
please light the fire while I'm cooking
- subordinating all the time that
I stay inside while it's raining
- subordinating in spite of the fact that
while I agree about his brilliance I still think he's rude
- coordinating whereas; and in contrast
flats are expensive, while houses are cheap
- subordinating; used with a gerund during the activity of
while walking I often whistle
preposition
- dialect.another word for until
you'll never make any progress while you listen to me
you'll have to wait while Monday for these sheets
noun
- usually used in adverbial phrases a period or interval of time
once in a long while
- trouble or time (esp in the phrase worth one's while )
it's hardly worth your while to begin work today
- the whileat that time
he was working the while
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Usage
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Word History and Origins
Origin of while1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of while1
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Idioms and Phrases
- worth one's while, worth one's time, trouble, or expense:
The art exhibition that opened yesterday isn't worth your while.
- all the while. all the while ( def ).
More idioms and phrases containing while
- all the time (while)
- a while back
- every now and then (once in a while)
- fiddle while Rome burns
- get out while the getting is good
- in a while
- make hay while the sun shines
- once in a while
- quit while you're ahead
- strike while the iron's hot
- worth one's while
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Example Sentences
Panda-Patrice hybrid plays board games with five young girls whilst rapping “Get me broccoli/While I play Monopoly.”
I fervently believe that the government should cut down on texting-while-driving if it possibly can.
At first borrowing from an online lender was just a once-in-a-while habit that started in early 2009.
With the more abundant material now available, such an appraisal would be worth-while.
The youthful pair start beneath the smile of a blue sky, flecked with milk-while clouds merely to heighten the effect.
She seemed one of the most worth‑while girls I had ever met.
Why, on the campus now, the really worth-while girls rave over her.
“It is as though the bearer had run for a paternoster-while, and then leaped the river,” Dick observed.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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