Showing results for "waiting"

• present participle of wait.

waiting

American  

[way-ting] / ˈweɪ tɪŋ /

noun

1. a period of waiting; pause, interval, or delay.

---

adjective

1. serving or being in attendance.

   waiting man;

   waiting maid;

   waiting woman.

idioms

1. in waiting, in attendance, as upon a royal personage.

Other Word Forms

• waitingly
  adverb

---

Etymology

Origin of waiting

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English (noun); see wait, -ing ¹, -ing ²

---

Explanation

The act of standing by without acting as you anticipate a future event or time is waiting. Waiting can be agonizing, especially waiting for something vitally important, like election results — or your birthday. The word waiting is a noun used for a kind of action that's characterized by inaction or delay: "Generations of waiting produced no change in a city's discriminatory policies, so citizens planned a protest march." It's also a useful adjective, for things like waiting rooms, waiting lists, and waiting periods. In the old days the word was also used for certain servants, lords or ladies "in waiting" who waited on their employers.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

waiting

It may feel efficient at first but eventually it becomes a burden, leaving managers shouldering too much of the workload and team members waiting for the boss’s input before taking action.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Russian security services were waiting when the flight landed in Moscow in December.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

And if you haven’t seen “Part I,” which is currently on the streaming service Mubi, what are you waiting for?

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

If you claim at 64 and invest the benefits, the break-even point versus waiting until age 67 depends on your benefit, returns, capital-gains taxes, dividends, and how long you live.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

Death, she often said, was waiting to snatch her from her work, and so she kept her hours of repose as brief and businesslike as possible.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• accessible
• apt
• handy
• qualified
• ripe

---