queue

[kyoo]

noun

1. a braid of hair worn hanging down behind.

2. a file or line, especially of people waiting their turn.

3. Computers.,  a FIFO-organized sequence of items, as data, messages, jobs, or the like, waiting for action.

verb (used with or without object)

queued, queuing 

1. to form in a line while waiting (often followed byup ).

2. Computers.,  to arrange (data, jobs, messages, etc.) into a queue.

queue

/ kjuː /

noun

1. a line of people, vehicles, etc, waiting for something

   a queue at the theatre

2. computing a list in which entries are deleted from one end and inserted at the other

3. a pigtail

4. See queue-jump

verb

1. to form or remain in a line while waiting

2. computing to arrange (a number of programs) in a predetermined order for accessing by a computer

Other Word Forms

• queuer noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of queue¹

First recorded in 1585–95; from Middle French, from Latin cauda, cōda “tail”

Word History and Origins

Origin of queue¹

C16 (in the sense: tail); C18 (in the sense: pigtail): via French from Latin cauda tail

Example Sentences

Fifa has not formally revealed a full price list, but they have been listed online by fans who successfully got through the draw and spent hours in digital queues.

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The paupers’ food line was still there, queuing up patiently around the side of the palace: the young, the old, the in-between, all just as hungry and downtrodden as ever.

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Consumer psychologists often urge companies with customer-facing businesses to adopt a single “snakelike” form of line, as opposed to offering several different queues, to speak with an employee.

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An injury to his captain will be Tuchel's biggest fear, particularly as ready-made replacements are hardly forming an orderly queue.

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For now, the steep price rises have not resulted in product shortages as they did a few years ago, when people queued for hours to just to buy a small bag of coffee or sugar.

Read more on Barron's