wait up
Britishverb
-
to delay going to bed in order to await some event
-
informal to halt and pause in order that another person may catch up
-
Postpone going to bed in anticipation of someone or something, as in My parents always wait up until I get home, no matter how late it is . [Mid-1800s]
-
Stop or pause so that another can catch up, as in Let's wait up for the stragglers , or Don't walk so fast; wait up for me . [ Colloquial ]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some mothers can wait up to six months for assessment and up to a year for one-to-one treatment, according to a 2024 report by the Maternal Mental Health Alliance.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2025
Ms Brewster said that people can wait up to eight years for a diagnosis as it required a laparoscopy, a keyhole surgery procedure, to confirm the condition.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2025
Other times, she might wait up to an hour to use a dirty toilet shared with thousands of other people.
From New York Times ● Feb. 24, 2024
During Smithers’ trial, a receptionist testified that patients would wait up to 12 hours to see Smithers, who sometimes kept his office open past midnight.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
Bando told me not to wait up for him.
From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
