worth one's while

Idioms  

1. Merit one's time or efforts, as in It's hardly worth your while to count the transactions; it can be done by computer . [Late 1600s]

2. make something worth one's while . Compensate one for one's time or efforts, as in If you take care of our yard while we're away, I'll make it worth your while . [Mid-1800s] Both usages employ while in the sense of “a period of time spent.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

worth one's while

It is well worth one's while to look over the volumes of the "Anthology" to see what our fathers and grandfathers were thinking about, and how they expressed themselves.

From Ralph Waldo Emerson by Holmes, Oliver Wendell

In that far-back time an accordeon really was considered worth one's while.

From A Little Girl in Old New York by Douglas, Amanda Minnie

“He believes that it is worth one’s while to pray, at any rate,” said Christie to herself; and all at once it flashed upon her that a part of her prayer had been answered.

From Christie Redfern's Troubles by Lintott, Edward Barnard

But it is scarcely worth one's while to read six hundred pages of very small print in order to learn this.

From A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800 by Saintsbury, George

Convince me that it is worth one's while to live....

From The Home Life of Poe by Weiss, Susan Archer