waiting period
Americannoun
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a specified delay, required by law, between officially stating an intention and acting on it, as between securing a marriage license and getting married.
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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.
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.
This waiting period, known as “seasoning,” allows volatility surrounding a company’s IPO to fade and gives the market time to find a reasonable price.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
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
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
This is like a fire extinguisher that requires a 48-hour waiting period.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 5, 2025
We found out that only a few days before, the state law had been changed, and now Indiana had a long waiting period.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
