in waiting

Idioms  

1. In attendance, especially on a royal personage. For example, The prelates who were in waiting asked him to take the last rites. This usage has become less common with the diminution of royalty and royal courts but still survives. [Late 1600s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

in waiting

The Romanian filmmaker’s stoic drama is designed to provoke viewers in opposite directions, snaring them in waiting traps and causing them to concede in agony, “You have a point!”

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026

We're too quick to write off players and we can also be too quick to brand them as stars in waiting.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

If no one sparks a contest, then Burnham will be crowned Labour leader -- and prime minister in waiting -- at a special conference on July 17.

From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026

Somehow, though, Sara Dosa’s documentary on this matter, “Time and Water,” avoids playing like a funeral in waiting.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026

To the left was a clump of trees, a stone fence, two batteries of artillery, the long line of troops lying in the sun, in the shade of the trees, dug in, waiting.

From "The Killer Angels: The Classic Novel of the Civil War" by Michael Shaara

Related Words

• delayed
• negotiated
• postponed