wait
verb 1 stay where one is or delay action until a particular time or event. 2 be delayed or deferred. 3 (wait on/upon) act as an attendant to. 4 act as a waiter or waitress. noun 1 a period of waiting. 2 (waits) Brit. archaic street singers of Christmas carols. PHRASES in wait watching for someone and preparing to attack them. ORIGIN Old French waitier; related to WAKE1.
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