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

As he came by me, I grabbed his collar and said, “Hold on, boy! You can’t go in there. You’ll have to wait out here. We won’t be in there very long—I hope.”

From Literature

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

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

From The Wall Street Journal

“I was knighted after defeating the Shadow Queen and leaving her in the tower to wait out her lifetime sentence. But Ella didn’t include that, did she? It’s all right. I’ve been writing my own version of what happened. Anyway, you were saying— What are your names again?”

From Literature

Those stranded in their cars have been moved into the shelters to wait out the storm.

From Literature

Related Words

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