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queue

[kyoo]
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noun

a braid of hair worn hanging down behind.
a file or line, especially of people waiting their turn.
Computers. a FIFO-organized sequence of items, as data, messages, jobs, or the like, waiting for action.

verb (used with or without object), queued, queu·ing.

to form in a line while waiting (often followed by up).
Computers. to arrange (data, jobs, messages, etc.) into a queue.

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Origin of queue

1585–95; < Middle French < Latin cauda, cōda tail
Related formsqueu·er, noun
Can be confusedcue Kew queue
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for queued

Contemporary Examples of queued

Historical Examples of queued

British Dictionary definitions for queued

queue

noun

a line of people, vehicles, etc, waiting for somethinga queue at the theatre
computing a list in which entries are deleted from one end and inserted at the other
a pigtail
jump the queue See queue-jump

verb queues, queuing, queueing or queued

(intr often foll by up) to form or remain in a line while waiting
computing to arrange (a number of programs) in a predetermined order for accessing by a computer
US and Canadian word: line

Word Origin for queue

C16 (in the sense: tail); C18 (in the sense: pigtail): via French from Latin cauda tail
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
Word Origin and History for queued

queue

n.

late 15c., "band attached to a letter with seals dangling on the free end," from French queue "a tail," from Old French cue, coe "tail" (12c., also "penis"), from Latin coda (dialectal variant or alternative form of cauda) "tail," of unknown origin. Also in literal use in 16c. English, "tail of a beast," especially in heraldry. The Middle English metaphoric extension to "line of dancers" (c.1500) led to extended sense of "line of people, etc." (1837). Also used 18c. in sense of "braid of hair hanging down behind" (first attested 1748).

queue

v.

"to stand in a line," 1893, from queue (n.). Earlier "put hair up in a braid" (1777). Related: Queued; queueing. Churchill is said to have coined Queuetopia (1950), to describe Britain under Labour or Socialist rule.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper