queue

American  

[kyoo] / kju /

noun

queues plural

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)

queues, present (3rd person singular) queued, past participle, past queuing present participle

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

---

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

Derived Forms

• queuer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• queues
  plural

Participles

• queuing
  present
• queued
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• queue
  simple
• queues
  simple
• have queued
  perfect
• has queued
  perfect
• am queuing
  progressive
• are queuing
  progressive
• is queuing
  progressive
• have been queuing
  perfect progressive
• has been queuing
  perfect progressive

Past

• queued
  simple
• had queued
  perfect
• was queuing
  progressive
• were queuing
  progressive
• had been queuing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will queue
  simple
• will have queued
  perfect
• will be queuing
  progressive
• will have been queuing
  perfect progressive

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

See Examples For:

queue queues queued queuing

BBC Sport understands people were having to queue for about two hours.

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

So do the church basement, the neighborhood barbecue, the youth-sports sideline and the ferry queue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Someone complains about the line, the weather, our politics or the UPS driver who goes to the front of the queue.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

At almost every petrol station we passed there was a queue of cars and lorries.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

When he came a little closer they saw that it was Lee, his elbows waving like wings, his queue lashing about like a snake.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

Tickets went on sale Tuesday and were going briskly, with digital wait times reported of more than four hours in queues with as many as 13,000 guests.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

In the past, long queues formed at the border as documents were checked, particularly during periods of strained relations between Britain and Spain over Gibraltar's sovereignty.

From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026

That means that during the morning and afternoon rush hours, when around 15,000 Spaniards who work in the territory cross the frontier, there can be long, time-consuming queues.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

Torshov Sport in Oslo received a new batch of Norwegian national team jerseys on Tuesday, which prompted round-the-block queues ahead of Wednesday's trading.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

The suitcases, the queues, the wailing babies, the soldiers pouring back into the cities with eternity in their eyes—in what system is order increasing?

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Dozens of journalists and members of the public queued outside the Paris court of appeals from the early hours of Tuesday morning to hear the much-awaited verdict.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Customers queued in long lines to snap up a special-edition Harry Potter collection last year, for example.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

Customers queued in long lines for a special-edition Harry Potter doughnut collection last year, for example.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026

It was a situation that got on top of her at the Australian Open, where she was overwhelmed by the amount of people who simply queued to watch her practice.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

He turned his phone so they could all three see it and queued the video to the part where Dimple had her three second solo.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

"It was two hours queuing, from getting off the plane to getting through with children. I knew it was going to be bad, but not as bad as that."

From BBC ● Jul. 19, 2026

But for several weeks, queuing for petrol has become a staple of life during the dragging Ukraine conflict, causing impatience at petrol stations.

From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026

Those queuing to meet her included a starstruck 21-year-old man clutching a 1980s vinyl album.

From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026

However, compared to a premium of 38%, these are negligible and without unforeseen obstacles, hedge funds and proprietary trading desks will be queuing up to put the trade on.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026

In the alleys, fifteen-year-old boys are making their way toward mine elevators, queuing up with their helmets and lamps outside the gates.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr