wait on

British  

verb

1. to serve at the table of

2. to act as an attendant or servant to

3. archaic to visit

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interjection

1. stop! hold on!

wait on Idioms  

1. Also, wait upon . Serve, minister to, especially for personal needs or in a store or restaurant. For example, Guests at the Inn should not expect to be waited on—they can make their own beds and get their own breakfast . [Early 1500s]

2. Make a formal call on, as in They waited on the ambassador . [c. 1500]

3. Also, wait upon . Await, remain in readiness for, as in We're waiting on their decision to close the school . This usage, a synonym of wait for , dates from the late 1600s but in the mid-1800s began to be criticized by many authorities. However, by the late 1900s it had come into increasingly wider use and is again largely accepted.

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Example Sentences

But the question of whether it made cynical sense to hack the situation’s geopolitics stuck with me: Should people wait on war developments to book their flights?

From Slate • May 12, 2026

Which is odd, since many also counsel women that if they’d only wait on their husbands hand and foot, they’ll be rewarded with affection and gifts.

From Salon • Apr. 30, 2026

Companies now wait on average some 12 years to go public, compared with five in 1999-2000.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 27, 2026

Discovery, but increased content investments and competition mean investors should wait on the sidelines for now, says a Wells Fargo analyst.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

“Please go wait on those steps. Rhonda will be with you soon.”

From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart