queue

American  

[kyoo] / kyu /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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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

Etymology

Origin of queue

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

Explanation

A queue is a line of things, usually people. If you go to the store on a big sale day, there will probably be a long queue at the check-out. Queue comes from the Latin cauda, for "tail." Outside the United States it means a line of people or vehicles waiting their turn, so if your English friend talks about queuing up for the movies, that means getting in line for a ticket. We also use it in computing to mean an order of messages to be sent. In a big office, you send documents to the printer queue, and they're printed in the order they are sent.

Example Sentences

"I begged others in the queue, as I have no other option," Zannat said.

From Barron's • Apr. 21, 2026

At the private Greene School in West Palm Beach, students have two teachers per class and continue with school activities until they are summoned to line up for dismissal in a precision-timed digital queue.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 16, 2026

"I don't think anyone who is struggling with fuel costs would benefit from sitting in an idling queue with their engines turning over and their fuel being wasted."

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

Meanwhile Adam Hoijard, from Wirral, said he and his family arrived three hours early, and stood in the queue for hours before people started "freaking out and feeling sick".

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

Another division issued forth, and we all progressed forward by some forty feet in our queue.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson