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. wahhēn to watch, be awake. √134. See Wake, v. i. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To watch; to observe; to take notice. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

“But [ unless ] ye wait well and be privy,
I wot right well, I am but dead, ” quoth she. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Job xiv. 14. [ 1913 Webster ]

They also serve who only stand and wait. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Haste, my dear father; 't is no time to wait. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

To wait on or
To wait upon. (a) To attend, as a servant; to perform services for; as, to wait on a gentleman; to wait on the table. “Authority and reason on her wait.” Milton. “I must wait on myself, must I?” Shak. (b) To attend; to go to see; to visit on business or for ceremony. (c) To follow, as a consequence; to await. “That ruin that waits on such a supine temper.” Dr. H. More. (d) To look watchfully at; to follow with the eye; to watch. [ R. ] “It is a point of cunning to wait upon him with whom you speak with your eye.” Bacon. (e) To attend to; to perform. “Aaron and his sons . . . shall wait on their priest's office.” Num. iii. 10. (f) (Falconry) To fly above its master, waiting till game is sprung; -- said of a hawk. Encyc. Brit. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To stay for; to rest or remain stationary in expectation of; to await; as, to wait orders. [ 1913 Webster ]

Awed with these words, in camps they still abide,
And wait with longing looks their promised guide. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany; to await. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all
His warlike troops, to wait the funeral. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee,
And everlasting anguish be thy portion. Rowe. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To cause to wait; to defer; to postpone; -- said of a meal; as, to wait dinner. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. waite, guaite, gaite, F. guet watch, watching, guard, from OHG. wahta. See Wait, v. i. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of waiting; a delay; a halt. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is a wait of three hours at the border Mexican town of El Paso. S. B. Griffin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Ambush. “An enemy in wait.” Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One who watches; a watchman. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. pl. Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians; not used in the singular. [ Obs. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. pl. Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [ Written formerly wayghtes. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Hark! are the waits abroad? Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

To lay wait, to prepare an ambuscade. --
To lie in wait. See under 4th Lie. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Any of several plants bearing thorns or stiff hooked appendages, which catch and tear the clothing, as: (a) The greenbrier. (b) Any of various species of hawthorn. (c) In South Africa, one of numerous acacias and mimosas. (d) The grapple plant. (e) The prickly ash. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (a) One of the Australian wattle trees (Acacia colletioides), so called from the impenetrability of the thicket which it makes. (b) same as Wait-a-bit. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, waits; an attendant; a servant in attendance, esp. at table. [ 1913 Webster ]

The waiters stand in ranks; the yeomen cry,
“Make room, ” as if a duke were passing by. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A vessel or tray on which something is carried, as dishes, etc.; a salver. [ 1913 Webster ]

Coast waiter. See under Coast, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Wait, v. [ 1913 Webster ]

In waiting, in attendance; as, lords in waiting. [ Eng. ] --
Waiting gentlewoman, a woman who waits upon a person of rank. --
Waiting maid,
Waiting woman, a maid or woman who waits upon another as a personal servant. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. By waiting. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A female waiter or attendant; a waiting maid or waiting woman. [ 1913 Webster ]