waiting period

American  

noun

1. a specified delay, required by law, between officially stating an intention and acting on it, as between securing a marriage license and getting married.

2. Insurance. the required delay between the date of inception of a claim and the date on which the indemnity becomes payable, as in workmen's compensation insurance or unemployment insurance.

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Example Sentences

The traditional waiting period is intended to give the companies time to demonstrate that they are stable and liquid enough to handle extensive buying from index funds.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026

If I do change to transfer-on-death, is there a lookback or waiting period as far as the Internal Revenue Service is concerned?

From MarketWatch • Jan. 15, 2026

But Catherine says introducing a mandatory waiting period would be pointless as the wait times for a driving test are already so long.

From BBC • Jan. 7, 2026

The antitrust review waiting period for the Compass and Anywhere merger expired, signaling progress toward combining the two largest U.S. brokerages.

From Barron's • Jan. 7, 2026

This route comes with an incredibly long waiting period, but it’s the only course of action my family was able to take.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi