hurry up and wait

Idioms

Move quickly and then have to wait for something or someone. For example, We did our share in good time, but the others were several days behind so we couldn't finish—it was another case of hurry up and wait. This expression dates from the 1940s and probably originated in the armed services.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

For the candidates, it could be a case of hurry up and wait.

From Washington Times • Jul. 19, 2022

Time does strange things as we fall into a limbo where we can only hurry up and wait, as the saying goes.

From Salon • Jun. 4, 2022

In reality, it’s been hurry up and wait.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 20, 2019

The orders come thick and fast: get off the plane, get on the bus, hurry up and wait.

From BBC • Jul. 31, 2012

After more than a year in Washington, she learned how the massive Washington machinery functioned and why it crawled with a hurry up and wait engine.

From Terminal Compromise: computer terrorism: when privacy and freedom are the victims: a novel by Schwartau, Winn

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023