wait out

Idioms  

1. Delay until the end of something, as in They waited out the war in Paris. This expression comes from baseball, where it alludes to the batter refraining from swinging at pitches in the hope of being walked (getting to first base on balls). It was first recorded in 1909 and was transferred to other activities by the 1930s.

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Example Sentences

I had been driving west through downtown and stopped in Chinatown to wait out the morning congestion in a new café that used to be an old bistro.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2026

“We would prefer to wait out the near-term negatives.”

From Barron's • Feb. 28, 2026

They migrate thousands of kilometres to find stable sea ice during Antarctic summer to wait out what is called a "catastrophic moult" every year.

From BBC • Feb. 25, 2026

“The company is effectively paying investors to wait out yet another transition year.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 13, 2026

Hrothulf and the children wait out in the entry room.

From "Grendel" by John Gardner

Related Words

• accept
• bleed
• encounter
• experience
• feel
• go through
• have
• hurt
• know
• receive
• see
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• take
• undergo