WAIT, v.i. [The sense is to stop, or to continue.]

Ambush. As a noun, this word is used only in certain phrases. To lie in wait, is to lie in ambush; to be secreted in order to fall by surprise on an enemy; hence figuratively, to lay snares, or to make insidious attempts, or to watch for the purpose of insnaring. – Josh. viii. In wait, is used in a like sense by Milton. To lay wait, to set an ambush. – Jer. ix.

1. To stay or rest in expectation; to stop or remain stationary, till the arrival of some person or event. Thus we say, I went to the place of meeting, and there waited an hour for the moderator or chairman. I will go to the hotel, and there wait till you come. We will wait for the mail.
2. To stay proceedings, or suspend any business, in expectation of some person, event, or the arrival of some hour. The court was obliged to wait for a witness.
3. To rest in expectation and patience. All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. – Job xiv.
4. To stay; not to depart. Haste, my dear father, 'tis no time to wait. – Dryden.
5. To stay; to continue by reason of hinderance.
6. To lie in ambush, as an enemy. Such ambush waited to intercept thy way. – Milton. To wait on or upon, to attend, as a servant; to perform menial services for; as, to wait on a gentleman; to wait on the table. To wait on, to attend; to go to see; to visit on business or for ceremony. Tell the gentleman I will wait on him at ten o'clock. #2. To pay servile or submissive attendance. #3. To follow, as a consequence; as, the ruin that waits on such a supine temper. [Instead of this we use await.] #4. To look watchfully. It is a point of cunning to wait on him with whom you speak, with your eye. [Unusual.] – Bacon. #5. To attend to; to perform. Aaron and his sons shall wait on their priest's office. – Numb. iii. viii. Rom. xii. #6. To be ready to serve; to obey. – Ps. xxv. Prov. xx. To wait at, to attend in service; to perform service at. – 1 Cor. ix. To wait for, to watch, as an enemy. – Job. xv.

1. To stay for; to rest or remain stationary in expectation of the arrival of. Aw'd with these words, in camps they still abide, / And wait with longing eyes their promis'd guide. – Dryden. [Elliptical for wait for.]
2. To attend; to accompany with submission or respect. He chose a thousand horse, the flow'r of all / His warlike troops, to wait the funeral. – Dryden. [This use is not justifiable, but by poetical license.]
3. To attend as a consequence of something. Such doom waits luxury. – Philips. [Not in use. In this sense we use attend or attend on.]

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 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

   To wait on or 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.

5. To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany; to await.
   
   
   [Obs.]
6. Ambush.
   
   
   "An enemy in wait." Milton.
7. 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.

8. One who watches; a watchman.
   
   
   [Obs.]
9. To cause to wait; to defer; to postpone; -- said of a meal; as, to wait dinner.
   
   
   [Colloq.]
10. Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians; not used in the singular.
    
    
    [Obs.] Halliwell.
11. 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.