wait and see

Idioms  

1. Bide one's time for events to run their course, as in Do you think they'll raise taxes?—We'll have to wait and see. This expression was first recorded in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719): “We had no remedy but to wait and see.” In Britain the phrase became associated with Prime Minister H.H. Asquith, who in 1910 so often said it to the opposition regarding an impending bill that he became known as “Old Wait and See.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wait and see

While other Big Tech companies have spent hundreds of billions of dollars on AI investments, Apple has chosen to wait and see instead of rushing to adopt new technology.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026

"I don't know the rules. I am the wrong person to ask. I will wait and see what's coming."

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

“When we wait and see, we are losing more students,” Pierson said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

He said he wanted to wait and see what more he learned from the Epstein files before making his annual decision on giving in late June.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

“I’ve got to wait and see what happens,” Dobbs maintained stubbornly.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller