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Wait   Listen
verb
Wait  v. i.  (past & past part. waited; pres. part. waiting)  
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."
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." "They also serve who only stand and wait." "Haste, my dear father; 't is no time to wait."
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." "I must wait on myself, must I?"
(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."
(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."
(e)
To attend to; to perform. "Aaron and his sons... shall wait on their priest's office."
(f)
(Falconry) To fly above its master, waiting till game is sprung; said of a hawk.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Wait" Quotes from Famous Books



... moderate and inconsiderable deed of brotherly hostility on the part of Geoffrey to plan the seizure of his brother's intended wife, in order to get possession of her dominions. The plan which he formed was to lie in wait for the boat which was to convey Eleanora down the river, and seize her as she came by. She, however, avoided this snare by turning off into a branch of the river which came from the south. You will see the course of the river and the situation of this southern branch on ...
— Richard I - Makers of History • Jacob Abbott

... telephone and every signal has its number in the watch-room as well as on a list in the vestibule we have just left; in two minutes at the longest after you have rung, a messenger of the association will have hastened to wait ...
— Freeland - A Social Anticipation • Theodor Hertzka

... surprised that I did not wait for an introduction?" the girl in the riding clothes asked, noticing Mary's evident uneasiness; "but you don't know how good it is to see a girl. I'm so tired of spurs and sombreros and cattle and dust and distance, ...
— Judith Of The Plains • Marie Manning

... higher. You don't want to grow as we have grown, I fancy, to develop quietly like my old woman. You want to spring up suddenly to the heights. The air that comes up from Weimar has poisoned you—that fine spiritual air. But you see there's nothing for you in that. Wait, wait, wait! What the good God has chosen that we should know here below, we shall know when the time comes; mother Nature looks out for that. There's no need of ...
— The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries - Masterpieces of German Literature Vol. 19 • Various

... Drudgery!" Christ bore it for thirty years, why should I mind for forty-nine? I have only to wait a little now for the "fulness of joy" ...
— A Princess in Calico • Edith Ferguson Black

... Silsbee's compliments, ma'am," said the man, "and the carriage is at your service whenever you are ready. We are to take her up at Mrs. Goldsborough's, where she got out to wait for you." ...
— Graham's Magazine Vol XXXII. No. 3. March 1848 • Various

... "I will wait in the gardens," he answered. "I shall be out of sight, but I shall be able to see you come out. If you are alone I shall come to you. If she is with you I shall be at your house in an hour, and I promise you that she shall ...
— The Yellow Crayon • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... of good and evil in the world. They, too, and the apparent choice between them to which man is continually constrained, may be mere illusions—phenomena of the individual consciousness. What remains, then? Nothing but to "wait." ...
— Browning as a Philosophical and Religious Teacher • Henry Jones

... divided with a spatula, rolled with the finger and thumb, dusted with calcined magnesia and delivered in little round pasteboard pill-boxes. The store is on a corner about which coveys of ragged-plumed, hilarious children play and become candidates for the cough drops and soothing syrups that wait for them inside. ...
— The Four Million • O. Henry

... have the story, "when some time after I heard Chopin renew his complaints and speak of his distress in the most poignant terms. Becoming impatient, and being quite at a loss as to what was going on," I said at last to him: "But, my dear friend, you have no cause to torment yourself, you can wait for the return of your health, you have money now!"—"I, money!" exclaimed Chopin; "I have nothing."—"How! and these 25,000 francs which were sent you lately?"—"25,000 francs? Where are they? Who sent them to me? I have not received a sou!"—"Ah! really, that ...
— Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician - Volume 1-2, Complete • Frederick Niecks

... occupants, for the Mason's work must be exploited to the utmost limits of possibility. In the blind alleys, all that remains of the former cells, Spiders weave a white-satin screen, behind which they lie in wait for the passing game. In nooks which they repair in summary fashion with earthen embankments or clay partitions, Hunting Wasps—Pompili and Tripoxyla—store up small members of the Spider tribe, including sometimes the Weaving Spiders who live in ...
— The Mason-bees • J. Henri Fabre

... Garfield didn't wait for the scout's return. He felt that no time was to be lost. The expedition which he had planned was fraught with peril, but it was ...
— From Canal Boy to President - Or The Boyhood and Manhood of James A. Garfield • Horatio Alger, Jr.

... to a child, "I don't believe what you say," nor even imply your doubts. If you have such feelings, keep them to yourself and wait; the truth ...
— Our Deportment - Or the Manners, Conduct and Dress of the Most Refined Society • John H. Young

... with four horses harnessed to each coach, two or three loaded waggons, and a guard, sometimes of six, and sometimes of twenty-four soldiers, to defend him from enemies, who were supposed to lie in wait to intercept his passage. Immediately on his arrival he had an audience of the queen at Richmond, by whom he was most graciously received. She gave special orders, that he should do what he would in chemistry and philosophy, and that no ...
— Lives of the Necromancers • William Godwin

... No, not now!" replied Angelique, touched as with a hot iron. "I will not repent now it is done! that were folly, needless, dangerous, now it is done! But is she dead? Did you wait to see if she were really dead? People look dead sometimes and are not! Tell ...
— The Golden Dog - Le Chien d'Or • William Kirby

... before midnight. He dropped away from those comrades of the lower sort with whom he had found his recreation; abandoned and forgotten were his old lights of love. The milliner's apprentice, a coarsely pretty little thing, used to wait for him sometimes on the doorstep. Mark Heath, coming home one night earlier than usual, found her there, took her for a walk about the block, and conveyed to her the unpleasant news that Bertram was now flying higher than her covey. After that, she came no more; and the first phase of ...
— The Readjustment • Will Irwin

... said the cook. "But I'd like to be. Thought I'd wait till I got a job under roof. I couldn't ask her to live in ...
— Rolling Stones • O. Henry

... feet? Yet every moon-faced beauty here By thee, O King was counted dear. Lord of the Vanar race, hast thou No eyes to see Sugriva now? About thee stands in mournful mood A sore-afflicted multitude, And Tara and thy lords of state Around their monarch weep and wait. Arise my lord, with gentle speech, As was thy wont, dismissing each, Then in the forest will we play And love ...
— The Ramayana • VALMIKI

... he thought, for chances of calls are not so great in the smaller towns as in the cities; there is an average to be maintained, and Mrs. Jones or Mrs. Smith does not receive on days particularized. He was compelled to wait in the parlor but a moment. She came in, and he saw her for the first time ...
— A Man and a Woman • Stanley Waterloo

... unmanageable, she came to an impulsive decision, and obeyed it. Her husband had again gone out with luncheon for the day. She took adventure in her hands and followed him. The power of seeing-clear was strong upon her, forcing her up to some unnatural level of understanding. To stay indoors and wait inactive for his return seemed suddenly impossible. She meant to know what he knew, feel what he felt, put herself in his place. She would dare the fascination of the Forest—share it with him. It was greatly daring; but it would give her greater understanding ...
— The Man Whom the Trees Loved • Algernon Blackwood

... at himself. His hardness had mastered him, even when the bishop's tenderness had thawed his winter heart. Jean Valjean was now afraid of himself, which is where moral strength has genesis. He goes back—back where? No matter, wait. He sees in his thought—in his thought he sees the bishop, and wept, shed hot tears, wept bitterly, with more weakness than a woman, with more terror than a child, and his life seemed horrible; and he walks—whither? No matter. But, past midnight, the stage-driver saw, as he passed, a man ...
— A Hero and Some Other Folks • William A. Quayle

... evident that the colors and forms of the flowers can only be clearly distinguished, when they are fully displayed. Furthermore it is impossible to destroy every single aberrant specimen as soon as it is seen. On the contrary, the gardener must wait until all or nearly all the individuals of the same variety have displayed their characters, as only in this way can all diverging specimens be eliminated by a single inspection. Unfortunately the insects do not wait for this ...
— Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation • Hugo DeVries

... "Wait! Hold a minute. I want to talk to this man Field. He is a scientific man. His father laid the Atlantic cable. His family is noted the world over. I want to talk to him. The Field family ...
— Watch Yourself Go By • Al. G. Field

... wait for half-past four. A minute before the time he burst in upon McFadden and demanded the drawings. They were handed to him. He held his breath as his eye went down the column of figures. Then he gasped and staggered ...
— The Strength of Gideon and Other Stories • Paul Laurence Dunbar

... alone in the world. My sister is happily married; her husband is only my brother-in-law, that is, a man whom the ties of social life alone attach to me; no one then longer needs my useless life. This is what I shall do; I will wait until the very moment you are married, for I will not lose the shadow of one of those unexpected chances which are sometimes reserved for us, since M. Franz may, after all, die before that time, a thunderbolt may fall even on the ...
— The Count of Monte Cristo • Alexandre Dumas, Pere

... whole, such intense interest had never before been aroused in school circles in the three rival towns. Hundreds could hardly wait for the day to come when, in the presence of unequaled crowds, the question of supremacy would ...
— Fred Fenton Marathon Runner - The Great Race at Riverport School • Allen Chapman

... needed. He fumbled for his pencil. But to our horror the driver had mounted, and was reaching for the reins. I got across the street just in time to save the picture. Holding out cigars to the driver and a soldier beside him on the box, I begged them to wait—please to wait—just five minutes, ...
— Riviera Towns • Herbert Adams Gibbons

... Wait; yet I do not tell you The hour you long for now, Will not come with its radiance vanished, And a shadow upon its brow; Yet far through the misty future, With a crown of starry light, An hour of joy you know not Is winging her ...
— Legends and Lyrics: First Series • Adelaide Anne Procter

... just at that minute Agatha came into the room with some visitors. They had all brought presents, and Mary knew by the way Agatha stared at her that she was wondering where hers was. Perhaps it would be better to give the clog now, though she had intended to wait until she and Jackie were alone. She was drawing it out of her pocket when Fraulein, who had been admiring the various gifts and chattering away in broken English, ...
— A Pair of Clogs • Amy Walton

... looked impatiently at the clock, as Roberts did not reappear. He had invited Leven to walk with him to Mellor, and the tiresome boy was apparently not to be found. Aldous vowed he would not wait a minute, and going into the hall, put on coat and hat with most ...
— Marcella • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... how you made me jump! There's a telegram come for you, and Miss Florence has been hunting all over the house to find you, for the boy said he was to wait for an answer.' ...
— That Scholarship Boy • Emma Leslie

... his watch, "it is a quarter to eight. I must be going up into the tower to sound the angelus. Don't wait for me. Have your coffee. I shall rejoin you ...
— La-bas • J. K. Huysmans

... the lovers with horns, Rise in the starlight, one by one, They draw their knives on the spurting throats, They smear the column with blood of goats, They dabble the blood on hair and lips And wait like stones for the moon's eclipse. They stand like stones and stare at the sky Where the moon leers down like a half-closed eye. . . In the green moonlight still they stand While wind flows over ...
— The House of Dust - A Symphony • Conrad Aiken

... isn't much of a view," said the old elephant hunter, "but wait. You'll soon see all you want to. Africa isn't all like this. There are many strange sights before us yet. But, Tom Swift, tell us how the airship is working in this climate. Do you find ...
— Tom Swift and his Electric Rifle • Victor Appleton

... French dramatist, was born in Paris of poor parents on the 19th of January 1858. A one-act play, Bernard Palissy, written in collaboration with M. Gaston Salandri, was produced in 1879, but he had to wait eleven years before he obtained another hearing, his Menage d' artistes being produced by Antoine at the Theatre Libre in 1890. His plays are essentially didactic, being aimed at some weakness or iniquity of the social system. Blanchette (1892) ...
— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 - "Brescia" to "Bulgaria" • Various

... hardships and many dangers. Winds and storms prove as disastrous to them as to other navigators. Black spiders lie in wait for them as do brigands for travelers. One day as I was looking for a bee amid some golden-rod, I spied one partly concealed under a leaf. Its baskets were full of pollen, and it did not move. On lifting up the ...
— Birds and Bees, Sharp Eyes and, Other Papers • John Burroughs

... loaded up with milk denatured, with a dash of Adam's ale, and go down among the calfkins as the lion tamer goes 'mong the monarchs of the jungle, at the famous three-ring shows; and the calves are fierce and hungry, and they haven't sense to wait, till he gets a good position and has got his bucket straight; and they act as though they hadn't e'en a glimmering of sense, for they climb upon his shoulders ere he is inside the fence, and they butt him in the stomach, ...
— Rippling Rhymes • Walt Mason

... sit down, if made to the right of the hip, toward the locality to be occupied by the individual invited. The latter closely corresponds to an Australian gesture described by Smyth (The Aborigines of Victoria, London, 1878, Vol. II, p. 308, Fig. 260), as follows: "Minnie-minnie (wait a little). It is shaken downwards rapidly two or three times. Done more slowly towards the ground, it means 'Sitdown.'" This is ...
— Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples And Deaf-Mutes • Garrick Mallery

... consult his books. In one instance he begged Mr. Mill to leave the key when the latter was going out of town. In vain, however, for Mill marched off to the country carrying the key with him, and Bentham had to wait a whole month for a peep at his own books. If we could know all the facts, doubtless it would be found that Mill knew too well the careless habits of the philosopher to trust him to such an extent. It is not prudent to decide until the evidence is all ...
— Lippincott's Magazine Of Popular Literature And Science, April 1875, Vol. XV., No. 88 • Various

... not wait for prayers and incantations that he may rise, but shines at once, and is greeted by all; so neither wait thou for applause, and shouts, and eulogies, that thou mayst do well;—but be a spontaneous benefactor, and thou shalt be beloved ...
— Seekers after God • Frederic William Farrar

... You'd be surprised how quickly one picks it up. When I get home of a night I try how quickly I can draw. You have to draw like a flash of lightning, Mr. Samuel. If you'd ever seen a film called 'Two-Gun-Thomas,' you'd realise that. You haven't time to wait loitering about." ...
— The Girl on the Boat • Pelham Grenville Wodehouse

... no more than that,' and Lord Chadwick threw himself into an arm-chair. 'What further eccentricity has he been guilty of? Does he want to sweep the crossing, or to wait at table in the crossing-sweeper's clothes?' 'He has bought an old ...
— Celibates • George Moore

... tell Janey to take it up. Do you know," she added, with a laugh which took all the sting from the reproof; "I think it is time my boy learned to take his sister's coat for her, instead of expecting her to wait on him." ...
— In Blue Creek Canon • Anna Chapin Ray

... superficial, actual and declared disposition they define his profound, latent, and future intention; if they deem this insufficient or doubtful, they adjourn or prevent the final profession: "My child, wait-your vocation is not yet determined," or "My friend, you were not made for the convent, return to the world!"—Never was a social contract signed more knowingly, after greater reflection on what ...
— The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 6 (of 6) - The Modern Regime, Volume 2 (of 2) • Hippolyte A. Taine

... a message from our enemies, the Habr Awal, who offered, if we would wait till sunrise, to enter the city in our train. The Gerad Adan had counselled me not to provoke these men; so, contrary to the advice of my two companions, I returned a polite answer, purporting that we would expect them till eight o'clock ...
— First footsteps in East Africa • Richard F. Burton

... of Enniscorthy—on the top of the great hill was the but of an old windmill, on which they had placed their green flag of defiance—in a word, the position of the Rebels was one of the strongest I ever saw. The Rebels did not wait the time appointed, but commenced cannonading at seven o'clock. They could not tell what to make of the bombs, and said "they spit fire at us"—indeed they answered they desired end, by the numbers they destroyed upon ...
— An Impartial Narrative of the Most Important Engagements Which Took Place Between His Majesty's Forces and the Rebels, During the Irish Rebellion, 1798. • John Jones

... me, and if they had their say it wouldn't be the stuck-up Red Cross that's flirting with doctors and living high on the dainties our folks sent over. The boys are all right. It's your generals that have ignored the P. D. A.'s, and I'll show 'em presently what a miss they've made. Wait till the papers get the letters I have written. But, say—"("And this is the woman I thought might be literary!" moaned Stuyvesant as he meekly followed to the little open carriage and, with a shiver, assisted his angular visitor to ...
— Ray's Daughter - A Story of Manila • Charles King

... polluted petitions with your own pure requests. All is bustle and confusion round me, the ladies pressing with their sums and their lessons . . . If you love me, do, do, do come on Friday: I shall watch and wait for you, and if you disappoint me I shall weep. I wish you could know the thrill of delight which I experienced, when, as I stood at the dining- room window, I saw —-, as he whirled past, toss your ...
— The Life of Charlotte Bronte - Volume 1 • Elizabeth Gaskell

... rival, and poverty was practically eliminated. That is the reason no hint made any impression on me. It seemed to me that we were the most fortunate and advanced nation in Europe and had only to wait for our kultur ...
— The White Morning • Gertrude Atherton

... did not wait for the boy to take down his hand, but drew it away, to show that the eye was ...
— Through Forest and Stream - The Quest of the Quetzal • George Manville Fenn

... even a more favorable opinion of Meade than did his great victory at Gettysburg the July before. It is men who wait to be selected, and not those who seek, from whom we may always expect the ...
— Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete • Ulysses S. Grant

... presence of objects possessing a distinct and peculiar plan of structure." Two years later, however, in a lecture before this association, he took a truer position. "Our views of the universe," he said, "are undergoing important changes; let us wait for more facts with minds unfettered by any dogmatic theory, and, therefore, free to receive the teaching, whatever it may be, of ...
— Scientific American Supplement No. 819 - Volume XXXII, Number 819. Issue Date September 12, 1891 • Various

... bishop's palace, but a few hundred yards distant. Philip, doubtless, could have endured the postponement of an interview till morning; but Mary could not wait, and the same night he was conducted into the presence of his haggard bride, who now, after a life of misery, believed herself at the open gate of Paradise. Let the curtain fall over the meeting, let it close also over the wedding solemnities which followed with ...
— The Reign of Mary Tudor • James Anthony Froude

... become an expert on the social revolution; he could tell the approximate dates when it "would be pulled off" in all the great countries. He had bought a farm somewhere in Vermont, and had sat down to wait for the social revolution; meantime he was raising apples, and at intervals descended upon the houses of his friends to inveigh against predatory wealth or visited the city for the sake of more robust amusement. Gossom, ...
— Together • Robert Herrick (1868-1938)

... somewhat too visible effect, perhaps, that Sterne forces his way back into the orthodox routes of pulpit disquisition. The youth, disappointed with his reception by "the literati," &c., seeks "an easier society; and as bad company is always ready, and ever lying in wait, the career is soon finished, and the poor prodigal returns—the same object of pity with the prodigal in the Gospel." Hardly a good enough "tag," perhaps, to reconcile the ear to the "And now to," &c., as a fitting close to this pointed little essay in the style of the Chesterfield ...
— Sterne • H.D. Traill

... much of the truth as the question required. "'Twas by no fault of my own," he cried. "I was knocked on the head and kidnapped in England, with the design of being sold in Baltimore. The vessel that fetched me put into the harbor over yonder to wait for good weather, and I jumped overboard and swam ashore, to stumble into the cursed pickle in ...
— Stolen Treasure • Howard Pyle

... Then spake the mate: "This mad sea shows its teeth to-night. He curls his lips, he lies in wait With lifted teeth, as if to bite! Brave Admiral, say but one good word; What shall we do when hope is gone?" The words leapt like a leaping sword: "Sail on! sail on! ...
— A Brief History of the United States • John Bach McMaster

... done to my brother and me, and lamenting the bad counsel by which the King was guided, and being, moreover, willing to serve us, he resolved to deliver my, brother from arrest. In order to make his intention known to us he ordered the Scottish archers to wait on the stairs without, keeping only, two whom he could trust in the room. Then taking ...
— Marguerite de Navarre - Memoirs of Marguerite de Valois Queen of Navarre • Marguerite de Navarre

... came out and took his little brother in; and the girl told Frank his father had just been there to see whether he had got back. Then he knew that his father must have been as anxious as he had been afraid he was. He did not wait to go inside; he only kicked off the shoes he wore to the city and started off for his father's office as fast as his bare ...
— The Flight of Pony Baker - A Boy's Town Story • W. D. Howells

... is not yet come. Only the few can be trusted yet to follow their best judgment on all occasions, to be on the alert to maintain in themselves and others highest efficiency. Human nature is slowly in the making. One by one men and women rise to higher levels; social regeneration must therefore wait on individual regeneration. Seeing the need of a dynamic that will create personal worth, the individualist has turned to religion and preached a doctrine of personal salvation. He has seen what religion has done to transform character, and he believes with confidence that it and it ...
— Society - Its Origin and Development • Henry Kalloch Rowe

... "Wait, master secretary, for a little; I am going to find out whether it be my husband's pleasure that I should go ...
— The Tales Of The Heptameron, Vol. III. (of V.) • Margaret, Queen Of Navarre

... as I've gone yet," he whispered. "You stay here, and we'll wait till the music begins. If I can do it as well as I have for three nights, and get an answer, I'm going to try to call the Hermit bird I sing with. If a hen answers, I'll do the male notes, and try to coax her where you can see. If a male sings, I'll do his song once or twice ...
— Michael O'Halloran • Gene Stratton-Porter

... lingered nowhere unnecessarily. You bade me be cautious, and it takes time to take stealthy steps. Besides, I was obliged to wait before I could approach him, ...
— The Brother Clerks - A Tale of New-Orleans • Xariffa

... home. Dear, dear, dear. I forgot to tell Standing; there will be no proper tea. Oh, I've brought such a nice French maid—a perfect wonder. She knows everything. She always knows what I want. One moment, dear; I'll ring for her and give her orders. Wait a minute, though.' She took Edith's hand and patted it affectionately. 'Nobody knows I've come back; it'll be all right. We shan't have any visitors. I'm bursting with news ...
— Love at Second Sight • Ada Leverson

... suppose that you are gradually gathering materials for some Essay on Spanish Literature, and it is a rare Quality in these days to be in no hurry about such work, but to wait till one can do it thoroughly; as is the case with you. I suppose you know Lope: of whom I have read, and now shall read, nothing: even Cowell, who has read some, is not much interested in him. He delights in Calderon, of whom he has one thick Volume here, and still finds many obscure passages ...
— Letters of Edward FitzGerald in Two Volumes - Vol. II • Edward FitzGerald

... from a war expedition, if the people of any particular boat have secured a human head, word is sent up to the Dyak village house, as soon as the boat reaches the landing-stage. The men remain in the boat, and wait there, till all the women-folk come to it dressed in their best. The excitement is great, and there are continual shouts of triumph as the women, singing a monotonous chant, surround the hero who has killed the enemy and lead him to the house. He is seated in ...
— Children of Borneo • Edwin Herbert Gomes

... and the gay young daughter were married, and were as happy as the day is long; and Jack had fine clothes to wear, fine food to eat, fine servants to wait on him, and as many fine friends ...
— English Fairy Tales • Flora Annie Steel

... laid the brill on the stall again, and seemed anxious to hurry away, but the other detained her. "Wait a moment," said she. ...
— The Fat and the Thin • Emile Zola

... "It must be very unnatural for you to wait for anything. And you must be starving. So am I—do you think there are enough cakes left for the two ...
— The Palace of Darkened Windows • Mary Hastings Bradley

... only some observant eye to discover them, but they almost always grow out of single ideas—plot-germs—which one may recognize as incidents and situations in everyday life or in unusual circumstances. Do not wait for the fully developed plot to come to you, for the chances are that it will not. Jot down the single idea and in time it may germinate and become a fully developed plot—even though you may have to use hot-house methods and force ...
— Writing the Photoplay • J. Berg Esenwein and Arthur Leeds

... ever heard or read against slavery did not fix in my soul such a hostility to it as a single scene in a Missouri slave-jail many years ago. As I sat there, a purchaser came in to buy a little girl to wait on his wife. Three little sisters were brought in, from eight to twelve years old: they were mulattoes, with sweet, gentle manners; they had evidently been taken good care of, and their pink calico frocks were clean and whole. The gentleman chose one of them, and then asked her, ...
— Women and the Alphabet • Thomas Wentworth Higginson

... could help you, Tom," spoke the other, warmly. "I was afraid that if you had to wait until they shut off the power it would be ...
— Tom Swift and his Giant Cannon - or, The Longest Shots on Record • Victor Appleton

... "Wait a minute!" said Van Dorn, diving furiously into his pockets; "I attended to that little business that you wrote me about, just according to directions, and I want you to see if it is perfectly satisfactory before we go any further, and then I'll ...
— The Award of Justice - Told in the Rockies • A. Maynard Barbour

... as any man, calculated that while {141} the government party would number thirty, the French, with their British Radical friends, would be thirty-six strong, the old Conservatives eight, and some ten or so would "wait on providence or rather on patronage."[14] In Sydenham's last days, the government majority, which he had so subtly, and by means so machiavellian, got together, had vanished. Reformers, not all of them so scrupulous as Baldwin, ...
— British Supremacy & Canadian Self-Government - 1839-1854 • J. L. Morison

... She did not know whom her master supposed his guest to be, and regarded him only as one of the many objects of his kindness. He told her to get some tea ready, as the patient would most likely wake with a headache. He instructed her to wait upon him as a matter of course, and explain nothing. He had resolved to pass for the doctor, as indeed he was; and he told her that if he should be at all troublesome, he would be with her at once. She must keep the room dark. He would have his own breakfast now; and if ...
— Robert Falconer • George MacDonald

... to his lesson and had concluded he did not think much of his present grammar. Herr Preceptor would suggest procuring another which would strew roses no doubt along the thorny path. Capital idea. Of course they must then wait for ...
— Villa Elsa - A Story of German Family Life • Stuart Henry

... spleen, and invigorate it from that indolence, which sometimes prevail upon me. If the reader finds himself in the same easy disposition, let him follow me in my future speculations. If not, let him follow his inclination, and wait the returns of application and good humour. The conduct of a man, who studies philosophy in this careless manner, is more truly sceptical than that of one, who feeling in himself an inclination to it, is yet so overwhelmed with doubts ...
— A Treatise of Human Nature • David Hume

... "Wait till Gibbs and I have touched it up a bit, and then see how you like it. He is to come over on Monday to get it ready; then next Saturday I shall come out, and we will fix it up, and make the beginning, at least, of a fine little museum. Every one can bring his things, and have a place for them; ...
— Little Men - Life at Plumfield With Jo's Boys • Louisa May Alcott

... managed to seize hold of the bird's neck, and calling to some men on the other side, he handed the neck to them over the palings, to hold while he made his escape—which his ingenuity certainly deserved. I asked him what he did when they ran away. "Well," he said, "I sit down and wait till they stop; you can't catch them." The male takes turn with the female in sitting on the eggs, and when an ostrich has young ones she is very dangerous to approach. A good breeding couple are worth L300. The feathers are not taken off at any ...
— Six Letters From the Colonies • Robert Seaton

... I have no popular knack; I lack the conjurer's instincts; and I don't mean to wait for Jean Walkingshaw till I ...
— The Prodigal Father • J. Storer Clouston

... left the station. As it did so, an old man in the first emigrant car, who, during the wait at Regina, had appeared to be asleep in a corner, with a battered slouch hat drawn down over his eyes and face, stealthily moved to the window, and looked back upon ...
— Lady Merton, Colonist • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... return from making the grand tour, Mr. Foker, Junior, had brought with him a polyglot valet, who took the place of Stoopid, and condescended to wait at dinner, attired in shirt fronts of worked muslin, with many gold studs and chains, upon his master and the elders of the family. This man, who was of no particular country, and spoke all languages indifferently ill, made himself useful to Mr. Harry in a variety of ways,—read all the artless ...
— The History of Pendennis • William Makepeace Thackeray

... closer to the ranch, and Hans and Songbird did as requested, taking the horses with them. They were as anxious to make a move as was the detective, but just then there seemed nothing to do but to wait. ...
— The Rover Boys on the Plains - The Mystery of Red Rock Ranch • Arthur Winfield

... wouldn't come home and get supper yourself once in a while!" exclaimed the boy, "You needn't think I came up here in the cold to wait on you, Old Hoss!" the lad added with a wink at George. "I didn't leave my happy home for ...
— Boy Scouts in Northern Wilds • Archibald Lee Fletcher

... not wait, then, for the States-general to make demands upon you or issue orders to you; you must hasten to offer all that sound minds can desire, within reasonable limits, whether of ...
— A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times - Volume VI. of VI. • Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot

... when Mrs. Williamson arrived, I ordered her out of the room, and never allowed her to enter it again. During the week she left altogether, and I was fortunately able to procure a suitable woman to wait upon Mrs. Colquhoun. She has been with her ...
— The Heavenly Twins • Madame Sarah Grand

... shew what may be fairly called a sense of humour, as distinct from mere play; if a bit of stick or other such object be thrown to one, he will often carry it away for a short distance; and then squatting down with it on the ground close before him, will wait until his master comes quite close to take it away. The dog will then seize it and rush away in triumph, repeating the same manoeuvre, and ...
— The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex • Charles Darwin

... the inn, I was surprised to find my luggage in the custody of Dr. Mayhew's gardener. As soon as he perceived me, he advanced a few steps with the box, and placed note in my hand. It was addressed to me at the parsonage, and politely requested me to wait upon the physician at my earliest convenience. No mention was made of the object of my visit, or of the doctor's knowledge of my altered state. The document was as short as it might be, and as courteous. Having read ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - April 1843 • Various

... life of flesh and suffering, this life which we imprecate at times simply because it comes to an end. The majority of suicides would not take their lives if they had the assurance that they would never die on this earth. The self-slayer kills himself because he will not wait for death. ...
— Tragic Sense Of Life • Miguel de Unamuno

... filled with excitement and responsibility, had erased from his mind the bitterness of their parting. He had before been too busy, too grimly in earnest, to allow himself the luxury of anticipation. Now he found himself so impatient that he could hardly wait to get there. He pictured their meeting, the things they would say ...
— The Blazed Trail • Stewart Edward White

... yes, but as a man, better not unless others are present. Wait till the others come. Wait for witnesses, so that it can look ...
— The Judgment House • Gilbert Parker

... 'I do not myself write; I have an amanuensis, and I dictate to him what comes into my mouth. If I wish to reflect a little, or to say the thing better, or a better thing, he knits his brows, and the whole look of him tells me sufficiently that he cannot endure to wait.' Here is a sacred old gentleman whom it is not safe to depend upon for interpreting the Scriptures,—thinks her Majesty, but does not say so,—leaving Father Vota to his reflections." Alas, no, Queen Sophie, neither old St. Jerome's, nor any other human lips nor mind, may be depended ...
— Our Fathers Have Told Us - Part I. The Bible of Amiens • John Ruskin

... bright pride glancing in his eyes, his quick gestures, bold, decided words, and imperious tone towards all, save his mother—and whatever he was doing, his keen, black eye was always turning in search of her, he was ever ready to spring to her side to wait on her, to maintain her cause in rough championship, or to claim her attention to himself. Francis was thick-set, round-shouldered, bullet-headed and dull-eyed, in comparison, not aggressive, but holding his own, and not very approachable; ...
— The Clever Woman of the Family • Charlotte M. Yonge

... and your five hundred a year will jump up to eight or nine. Whatever it is, keep it, I implore you keep it. And I say, Pen, I think you should give up living in those dirty chambers in the Temple and let a decent lodging. And I should have a man, sir, to wait upon me; and a horse or two in town in the season. All this will pretty well swallow up your income, and I know you must live close. But remember you have a certain place in society, and you can't afford to cut a poor figure ...
— The History of Pendennis • William Makepeace Thackeray

... whispered Miss Pett. She drew him after her along what he felt to be a passage, twisted him to the left through another doorway, and then, for the first time since she had assumed charge of him, released his wrist. "Wait!" she said. ...
— The Borough Treasurer • Joseph Smith Fletcher

... in Chief, I cannot come on shore till I have made my manners to him. Times are changed; but, if he does not come on shore directly, I will not wait. ...
— The Letters of Lord Nelson to Lady Hamilton, Vol. I. - With A Supplement Of Interesting Letters By Distinguished Characters • Horatio Nelson

... girl. "Why, who is to wait on my mistress, and take care of her but me? If mistress Eveline were to hear thy speech, she would not be over obliged to thee, Master Philip, for wishing me to ...
— The Knight of the Golden Melice - A Historical Romance • John Turvill Adams

... crown and harp with freedom from all further worries, give me angels to flatter me and fetch and carry for me, and I shall think the game worth playing, notwithstanding the great and horrible risk of failure; but no crown, no cross for me. Pay me well and I will wait for payment, but if I have to give credit I shall expect to be paid better in ...
— The Note-Books of Samuel Butler • Samuel Butler

... lying in the gravel she was one of a vast company inhabiting a number of black wooden troughs that stood in a large, pleasant room filled with the sound of running water. Here there were no yearlings nor musk-rats nor saw-bill ducks looking for fresh eggs, nor any dragons nor star-gazers lying in wait for the young fry. Instead there were nice, kind men, who kept the hatching troughs clean and the water at the right temperature, and who gently stirred up the troutlets with a long goose-feather whenever too many ...
— Forest Neighbors - Life Stories of Wild Animals • William Davenport Hulbert

... the man said from round the doorway; 'but here's the note from Mr. Downe that you didn't take. He called just after you went out, and as he couldn't wait, he wrote this ...
— Wessex Tales • Thomas Hardy

... some tough vines, he tied his puppy's legs together, and then, with another piece of vine passed around his neck, slung the puppy on his back. This left him with hands and feet free to climb. He was jubilant, and did not wait for me to finish tying my puppy's legs, but started on. There was one difficulty, however. The puppy wouldn't stay slung on Lop-Ear's back. It swung around to the side and then on in front. Its teeth were not tied, and the next thing it did ...
— Before Adam • Jack London

... convinced, she answered promptly enough that Mrs. Clephane was not in—she had gone down-stairs about two hours ago telling her not to wait up. She had no idea where Mrs. Clephane went; she had said nothing ...
— The Cab of the Sleeping Horse • John Reed Scott

... rejoice; they dare not mourn, But to their home in gladness turn, Their home and God's, that favoured place, Where still He shines on Abraham's race, In prayers and blessings there to wait Like suppliants at their Monarch's gate, Who bent with bounty rare to aid The splendours of His crowning day, Keeps back awhile His largess, made More welcome ...
— The Christian Year • Rev. John Keble

... harlots ... though you're like an angel, nothing touches you. And I dare say nothing will touch you there. That's why I let you go, because I hope for that. You've got all your wits about you. You will burn and you will burn out; you will be healed and come back again. And I will wait for you. I feel that you're the only creature in the world who has not condemned me. My dear boy, I feel it, you know. I can't help ...
— The Brothers Karamazov • Fyodor Dostoyevsky

... that ridge, I take it to be," replied the miner. "An' we can't get there any too soon for me. Those Fogers may git their ship fixed up, an' arrive before we do if we wait ...
— Tom Swift in the Caves of Ice • Victor Appleton

... of food and all kinds of vegetables need a little salt when cooking. Do not wait until the vegetables are done. Salt the water they are boiled in ...
— Things Mother Used To Make • Lydia Maria Gurney

... Waldron, in a whisper. "You go out there by the paddle box and wait a moment, till my mother begins to look on her book again, and then ...
— Rollo in Scotland • Jacob Abbott

... was not the wisest thing in the world to buy a chaise within a dozen miles of my uncle's house; but in this way I got my horses for the next stage. And by any other it appeared that I should have to wait. Accordingly I paid the money down—perhaps twenty pounds too much, though it was certainly a well-made and well-appointed vehicle—ordered it round in half an hour, and proceeded to refresh ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 20 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson

... Adams Mr Ingersol of Great Barrington Capt Brown & Capt Darby be a Committee to wait on his Excellency the Governor with the following Answer to his Speech to both Houses at the Opening ...
— The Writings of Samuel Adams, volume II (1770 - 1773) - collected and edited by Harry Alonso Cushing • Samuel Adams

... long to wait. But when the wrapper was taken off the clay figures, he uttered a low snarl, and his flushed face turned pale. Sounds of indignation broke from the bystanders; the blood rose to his cheeks again, and, shaking his fist, he muttered unintelligible threats, while his eyes wandered ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers

... were quickly made. I could only have a car with post-horses, as I did not choose to wait till a carriage could be sent for to Gothenburg. The expense of my journey (about one or two and twenty English miles) I found would not amount to more than eleven or twelve shillings, paying, he assured me, generously. I gave him a guinea and ...
— Letters written during a short residence in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark • Mary Wollstonecraft

... convulsions lying in wait for the framework of our English society; if, and more in sorrow than in hope, some vast attempt may be anticipated for recasting the whole of our social organization; and if it is probable that this attempt will commence ...
— Theological Essays and Other Papers v2 • Thomas de Quincey

... Wait until the car stops before trying to get off. In getting off cars you should face in the direction in which the car is going. A simple rule is to get off by holding a rod with the left hand and putting the right foot down ...
— Scouting For Girls, Official Handbook of the Girl Scouts • Girl Scouts

... upon a thorny waste; Hot noontide lies on all the way, And with its scorching breath makes haste Each freshening dawn to burn and slay, Yet patiently I bide and stay: Knowing the secret of my fate, The hour of bloom, dear Lord, I wait, Come when it will, or soon or late, A hundred years are but ...
— Verses • Susan Coolidge

... the matter?" cried old Mr. King, forgetting his indignation to hurry after her. "Phronsie, wait; ...
— Five Little Peppers Grown Up • Margaret Sidney

... with us, because (1) it causes disorder, quarreling and scandalous conduct in the Church; (2) it is unjust, makes others angry and lessens their good dispositions for confession; (3) it annoys and distracts the priest by the confusion and disorder it creates. It is better to wait than go to confession in an excited and ...
— Baltimore Catechism No. 3 (of 4) • Anonymous

... problem lies outside the gasoline field," said the salesman. "Your drivers make an average of ninety stops each trip. They climb stairs and wait for receipts. Their rigs are standing at the curb more than half the time. Nothing in gasoline equipment can compete with the horse and wagon under such conditions. If you had loads of several tons to be kept moving steadily I'd be glad to sell you ...
— How To Write Special Feature Articles • Willard Grosvenor Bleyer

... They sailed. Then spake the mate; "This mad sea shows his teeth to-night. He curls his lip, he lies in wait, With lifted teeth, as if to bite! Brave Admiral, say but one good word: What shall we do when hope is gone?" The words leapt like a leaping sword; "Sail on! ...
— Elson Grammer School Literature, Book Four. • William H. Elson and Christine Keck

... required to leave their homes until sunrise, when they leave their children at the children's house before going to field. The period of suckling is twelve months. Their work lies always within half a mile of the quarter. They are required to be cool before commencing to suckle—to wait fifteen minutes at least in summer, after reaching the children's house before nursing. It is the duty of the nurse to see that none are heated when nursing, as well as of the overseer and his wife occasionally to do so. They are allowed forty-five minutes ...
— American Negro Slavery - A Survey of the Supply, Employment and Control of Negro Labor as Determined by the Plantation Regime • Ulrich Bonnell Phillips

... could repeat A life which still is good and sweet; I keep in age, as in my prime, A not uncheerful step with time, And, grateful for all blessings sent, I go the common way, content To make no new experiment. On easy terms with law and fate, For what must be I calmly wait, And trust the path I cannot see,— That God is good sufficeth me. And when at last on life's strange play The curtain falls, I only pray That hope may lose itself in truth, And age in Heaven's immortal youth, And all our loves and longing prove The ...
— The Complete Works of Whittier - The Standard Library Edition with a linked Index • John Greenleaf Whittier

... after dinner the talk he purposed about Mrs. Palmer. When that time came, he was no longer disposed for sentimental confessions; it would be better to wait until he could announce a settled project of marriage. Through the evening, his sister recurred to the subject of Janet with curious frequency, and on the following day her interest had suffered no diminution. Christian had always taken for granted that she ...
— Born in Exile • George Gissing

... saw that the squire meant just what he said; that, in fact, he was lying in wait their need should put ...
— Herbert Carter's Legacy • Horatio Alger

... conditions that Betty Gunning began her second venture in matrimony, which proved as happy as its promise. Probably the eleven years which the Dowager-Duchess had to wait for her next coronet were the happiest of her life; and when at last Colonel Jack became fifth Duke of Argyll she was able to resume the life of stately splendour which had been hers with her first Duke. By this time her beauty had begun to ...
— Love Romances of the Aristocracy • Thornton Hall

... door and passed through the kitchen, serving herself all the while to meet the objurgations which she supposed were lying in wait for her. The sunshine was blinding without, but sifted through the green jalousies, it made a gray, crepuscular light within. As the girl approached the table, on which a plate with knife and fork had been laid for breakfast, she noticed, somewhat indistinctly at first, a thin red line running ...
— The Stillwater Tragedy • Thomas Bailey Aldrich

... Casterbridge, saying mildly but firmly that she had well considered the whole subject he had brought before her and kindly given her time to decide upon; that her final decision was that she could not marry him. She had expressed to Oak an intention to wait till Boldwood came home before communicating to him her conclusive reply. But Bathsheba found that she could ...
— Far from the Madding Crowd • Thomas Hardy

... ungovernable impulse. But it wouldn't be true if I did. I always meant to ask you, from the very first—though I had little enough hope, even up to to-day, that it would be anything more than friendship on your part. But oh, how hard I did mean to try for you. My one virtue was to wait until you had seen enough of other men—men of a different sort—for you to be sure you didn't prefer one of them. And when accident had put you very near me, I did manage not to lose my head and speak, while you were, in a way, under my ...
— Lady Betty Across the Water • Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson

... am much deceived in the climate of Heidelberg," replied the Baron, "we shall not have to wait long for snow. We have sudden changes here, and I should not marvel much if ...
— Hyperion • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

... taken the farm to work. This plan also promised to succeed well. The prospect of doing something for themselves, roused energies which might have lain dormant all their lives, if they had been contented to sit still and wait for ...
— The Young Surveyor; - or Jack on the Prairies • J. T. Trowbridge

... Don't they take little boys in India to bring up? Well, they can just play you are the little India boy this time. I reckon you're far enough away to make a report, all right. You wait. I'll write 'em. I'll write Mrs. White. No, I'll write Mrs. Jones. Mrs. White has got the most money, but Mrs. Jones gives the most—which is kind of funny, isn't it?—when you think of it. But I reckon some of the ...
— Pollyanna • Eleanor H. Porter

... plane, he will not be able to hit a shoulder or knee ball as well as one who swings in a perpendicular plane, i.e., who "cuts" under at a low ball and "chops" over-hand at a high ball; there are some batters who prefer to hit only at a fast, straight ball, while others wait for a curve, and in such a case the pitcher may get a strike or two by pitching what he will not care to hit at; some are never ready to hit at the first ball pitched, so that by sending this in over the plate ...
— Base-Ball - How to Become a Player • John M. Ward

... an' even quarrel, But their throats grip tight, if they catch a sight Of their favorite elm or laurel. An' the winding lane that they used to tread With never a care to fret 'em, Or the pasture gate where they used to wait, Right under the skin will ...
— A Heap o' Livin' • Edgar A. Guest

... that, The angels are spoken of as "assisting" and "administering," after the likeness of those who attend upon a king; some of whom ever wait upon him, and hear his commands immediately; while others there are to whom the royal commands are conveyed by those who are in attendance—for instance, those who are placed at the head of the administration of various cities; these are said ...
— Summa Theologica, Part I (Prima Pars) - From the Complete American Edition • Thomas Aquinas

... interest, do strongly oppose themselves to it, and are like (as 'tis said) to overthrow it all." The bill was opposed by the City. A deputation consisting of two aldermen, the Town Clerk and the City Remembrancer was appointed (25 May, 1610) to wait upon Sir John Herbert, one of the principal Secretaries of State, Sir Julius Caesar, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and other influential members of parliament, for the purpose of entreating them to use their efforts to prevent the repeal of the statutes on the ground ...
— London and the Kingdom - Volume II • Reginald R. Sharpe

... clever in metal-work, and with very primitive tools and appliances make excellent utensils and ship-repairs; another industry of theirs is shipbuilding. The English ship remains about a week on the southern shore of Mindanao, to wait for favorable weather, and then proceeds to the Rio Grande of Mindanao, where it arrives July 18. The natives there are anxious to secure trade with the English merchants, and Dampier regrets that his companions did not resolve to give up freebooting for Spice-Island trade, especially as they were ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898—Volume 39 of 55 • Various

... had access to authentic sources in Governor Dorr's party, and I have no doubt his account of the whole matter is perfectly just. I supposed I should receive the foreign mail here, but I shall not wait for it if I should feel well enough ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents: Tyler - Section 2 (of 3) of Volume 4: John Tyler • Compiled by James D. Richardson

... Sir Henry Streatfeild, and his wife, another of the Viceroy's aides-de-camp, myself, and a certain genial Calcutta business magnate, most popular of Anglo-Indians. As we had a connection to catch at a junction on the narrow-gauge railway, an interminable wait at a big station in the early morning was disconcerting, for the connection would probably be missed. The jovial, burly Englishman occupied the second sleeping-berth in my compartment. As the delay lengthened, he, having some official connection with the East Bengal State ...
— Here, There And Everywhere • Lord Frederic Hamilton

... lad," said the captain with a grave shake of the head. "You know we've bin blown out of our course, and have no business here at all. I'll only wait till the carpenter completes his repairs, and then be off for Batavia. Duty first; ...
— Blown to Bits - or, The Lonely Man of Rakata • Robert Michael Ballantyne

... apparent determination to watch until he should tire me out, and overcome by fatigue or sleep, I might fall from the tree, and thus become an easy victim. Seeing this, I desisted after a while, and settled myself down to wait as patiently as I might for him to tire of his watch, or for relief of some sort to arrive. Perhaps an hour had elapsed when I heard a noise on the opposite side of the clearing, and on looking in that direction I saw Wakometkla just emerging from the woods. The ...
— Seven and Nine years Among the Camanches and Apaches - An Autobiography • Edwin Eastman

... of the anteroom with an arm around the waist of each of the smaller girls. Quite a number of the West Side girls were either coming down the stairs, or had already gathered to wait for the doors to open into the ...
— A Little Miss Nobody - Or, With the Girls of Pinewood Hall • Amy Bell Marlowe

... insisted that a misunderstanding had occurred. "No,'' I said; "there is no misunderstanding; you have only treated me as you have treated other Americans. The American minister has ordered me to wait here and inform him, and all that I have now to ask you is that you give me the name of a hotel.'' At this be begged me to listen to him, and presently was pleading most piteously; indeed, he would have readily knelt and kissed my ...
— Volume I • Andrew Dickson White

... death sank upon his eyes. Then Amphinomus made a rush on the doorway. But Telemachus was too quick for him; he hurled his spear and struck him from behind between the shoulders, and he fell crashing on the floor. Telemachus sprang back, leaving the spear, for he dared not wait to draw it out. He darted to his father's side. "Father, we ought to have armor; I will go and get weapons ...
— The Children's Hour, Volume 3 (of 10) • Various

... second's hesitation, Fuselli sat down to wait until the others should leave. It was long after pay-day and his pockets were empty, so he had ...
— Three Soldiers • John Dos Passos

... attic, where they have always been kept," answered my mother. "Wait a few minutes, my dear boy, until I have found the keys of the boxes, and we will ...
— The Cruise of the "Esmeralda" • Harry Collingwood



Words linked to "Wait" :   break, cool one's heels, scupper, kick one's heels, hold on, await, lie in wait, work, hold the line, act, look for, postponement, stand by, hold, interruption, anticipate, lurk, ambush, hold back, hold off, look forward, inactivity, waylay, waitress, lying in wait, hang on, intermission, stick about, move, bushwhack, pause



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