meanwhile

[ meen-hwahyl, -wahyl ]
See synonyms for: meanwhilemeanwhiles on Thesaurus.com

noun
adverb
  1. in the intervening time; during the interval.

  2. at the same time: Meanwhile, the others were back home enjoying themselves.

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Origin of meanwhile

1
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English; mean3 + while

Words Nearby meanwhile

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use meanwhile in a sentence

  • Elizabeth, meanwhile, was filled with alarms respecting her daughter's unhappy infatuation.

  • meanwhile, he had been selected as aide-de-camp by General d'Ure de Molans.

    Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
  • meanwhile, the Australian submarine has got up through the Narrows and has torpedoed a gunboat at Chunuk.

  • None of them came; but meanwhile a very extraordinary thing happened, for the house itself began to go.

    Davy and The Goblin | Charles E. Carryl
  • meanwhile, another form of imitation is developing, the fashioning of lasting semblances.

    Children's Ways | James Sully

British Dictionary definitions for meanwhile

meanwhile

/ (ˈmiːnˌwaɪl) /


adverb
  1. during the intervening time or period

  2. at the same time, esp in another place

noun
  1. another word for meantime

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012