Wait \Wait\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Waited; p. pr. & vb. n. Waiting.]

[OE. waiten, OF. waitier, gaitier, to watch, attend, F. guetter to watch, to wait for, fr. OHG. wahta a guard, watch, G. wacht, from OHG. wahh[=e]n to watch, be awake. [root]134. See Wake, v. i.]

1. To watch; to observe; to take notice. [Obs.]

``But [unless] ye wait well and be privy, I wot right well, I am but dead,'' quoth she. --Chaucer.

2. To stay or rest in expectation; to stop or remain stationary till the arrival of some person or event; to rest in patience; to stay; not to depart.

All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. --Job xiv. 14.

They also serve who only stand and wait. --Milton.

Haste, my dear father; 't is no time to wait. --Dryden.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Wait \Wait\, n. [OF. waite, guaite, gaite, F. guet watch, watching, guard, from OHG. wahta. See Wait, v. i.]

1. The act of waiting; a delay; a halt.

There is a wait of three hours at the border Mexican town of El Paso. --S. B. Griffin.

2. Ambush. ``An enemy in wait.'' --Milton.

3. One who watches; a watchman. [Obs.]

4. pl. Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians; not used in the singular. [Obs.]

--Halliwell.

5. pl. Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [Written formerly wayghtes.]

Hark! are the waits abroad? --Beau & Fl.

The sound of the waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mild watches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony. --W. Irving.

To lay wait, to prepare an ambuscade.

To lie in wait. See under 4th Lie.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Wait \Wait\, v. t.

1. To stay for; to rest or remain stationary in expectation of; to await; as, to wait orders.

Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, And wait with longing looks their promised guide. --Dryden.

2. To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany; to await. [Obs.]

3. To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect. [Obs.]

He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all His warlike troops, to wait the funeral. --Dryden.

Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee, And everlasting anguish be thy portion. --Rowe.

4. To cause to wait; to defer; to postpone; -- said of a meal; as, to wait dinner. [Colloq.]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)