while
Language: English
Part of speech: conj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ʍaɪl/
ipa: /waɪl/
ipa: /wæl/
ipa: /wɑl/
rhymes: -aɪl
homophone: wile
Etymology: From Middle English whyle, from Old English hwīl, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīlu, from Proto-Germanic *hwīlō (compare Dutch wijl, Low German Wiel, German Weile, Danish hvile (“rest”), Norwegian Bokmål hvile (“rest”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest”). Cognate with Albanian sillë (“breakfast”), Latin tranquillus, Sanskrit चिर (cirá), Persian شاد (šâd).
Senses: examples: text: He was sleeping while I was singing.
text: Driving while intoxicated is against the law.
text: I lived in Ávila for two lustra while I was a child.
text: While the powwow was going on the big woman came back again. She was consider'ble rumpled and scratched up, but there was fire in her eye.
ref: 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
text: While De Anza was exploring the Bay of San Francisco, seeking a site for the presidio, the American colonists on the eastern seaboard, three thousand miles away, were celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
ref: 1948, Carey McWilliams, North from Mexico / The Spanish-Speaking People of The United States, J. B. Lippincott Company, page 25:
text: Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.
ref: 2013 June 7, David Simpson, “Fantasy of navigation”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 36:
text: Ms. Syed, along with many of her American Muslim friends and Islamic-rights advocates, is all too familiar with what many refer to as the stigma of traveling while Muslim.
ref: 2016 November 7, Michael T. Luongo, “Traveling While Muslim Complicates Air Travel”, in The New York Times:
text: He added that the case took an emotional toll and left him humiliated by the accusations when, in fact, all he had been doing was "gardening while black".
ref: 2019 March 8, Tom Perkins, “'Gardening while black': lawsuit targets white accusers over 'outrageous' claims”, in The Guardian:
glosses: During the same time that.
examples: text: This case, while interesting, is a bit frustrating.
text: While I would love to help, I am very busy at the moment.
text: While Britain’s recession has been deep and unforgiving, in London it has been relatively shallow.
ref: 2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London Is Special, but Not That Special”, in New York Times, retrieved 28 Sep 2013:
glosses: Although.
examples: text: I'll wait while you've finished painting.
text: To dark is still used in Swaledale (Yorkshire) in the sense of to lie hid, as, 'Te rattens [rats] mun ha bin darkin whel nu [till now]; we hannot heerd tem tis last fortnith'.
ref: 1873, Richard Morris, Walter William Skeat, “Glossarial Index”, in Specimens of Early English, volumes II: From Robert of Gloucester to Gower, A.D. 1298—A.D. 1393, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 490:
glosses: Until.
examples: text: While you're at school you may live at home.
text: While there's quiet I can sleep.
text: Use your memory; you will sensibly experience a gradual improvement, while you take care not to load it to excess.
ref: 1725, Isaac Watts, Logick: Or, The Right Use of Reason in the Enquiry after Truth, […], 2nd edition, London: […] John Clark and Richard Hett, […], Emanuel Matthews, […], and Richard Ford, […], published 1726, →OCLC:
glosses: As long as.
Synonyms: sense: during the same time that
word: whilst
sense: although
word: as much as
word: even though
sense: until
word: till
word: until
sense: as long as
word: provided that
sense: as long as
word: providing
sense: as long as
word: so long as
word: as
word: when
word: while
word: whilom
Derived terms: build the plane while flying it
do-while loop
driving while black
fiddle while Rome burns
fix the roof while the sun is shining
get out while the getting's good
make hay while the sun shines
not while pussy's a cat
quit while one is ahead
sort-while-pick
strike the iron while it's hot
strike while the iron is hot
while loop
while one is about it
while one is at it
while we're young
while you're down there