wait-a-bit

American  

[weyt-uh-bit] / ˈweɪt əˌbɪt /

noun

1. any of various plants bearing thorns or prickly appendages, as the grapple plant or the greenbrier.

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wait-a-bit British  

noun

1. any of various plants having sharp hooked thorns or similar appendages, esp the greenbrier and the grapple plant

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Etymology

Origin of wait-a-bit

1775–85; translation of Afrikaans wag-'n-bietjie < Dutch wacht een beetje

Example Sentences

But Kim Alexander, head of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, falls into the wait-a-bit camp.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2026

A tale like Kipling's The Elephant's Child would be ruined without those clinging epithets, such as "the wait-a-bit thorn-bush," "mere-smear nose," "slushy squshy mud-cap," "Bi-Colored-Python-Rock-Snake," and "satiable curtiosity."

From A Study of Fairy Tales by Kready, Laura F.

He might indeed scramble over at the expense of torn hands and clothing, though there was the danger of being held fast by the tenacious wait-a-bit thorns of which the obstacle was made.

From Settlers and Scouts by Strang, Herbert

At this moment a cow rhinoceros of the same species, with her calf, charged out of some wait-a-bit thorn cover, and stood right in my path.

From Thrilling Adventures by Land and Sea by Brayman, James O.

After a fourteen miles' march the troop reached the Zwart Kop river, and, crossing the ford, encamped among the scattered mimosas and numerous wait-a-bit thorns.

From The Curse of Carne's Hold A Tale of Adventure by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)