wait on
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: waits on
form: waiting on
form: waited on
form: waited on
form: wait upon
Senses: examples: text: Is someone waiting on you yet?
text: How now, Simple! where have you been? I must wait on myself, must I?
ref: c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:
text: […] for such a large house there are very few servants, because master has never lived here much; and when he does come, being a bachelor, he needs little waiting on:
ref: 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter I, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 6:
text: “Run on, fellow. You can’t get waited on in here.”
“I’ll stay right here until I do. I know my rights. […] I’ll get waited on all right, or sue the place.”
ref: 1942, Zora Neale Hurston, chapter 9, in Dust Tracks on a Road, New York: Arno Press, published 1969, page 171:
synonyms: word: attend to
word: aid
word: attend
word: attend to
word: await
word: bestand
word: bestead
word: dance attendance
word: do
word: do for
word: serve
word: service
word: stay
word: tend
word: wait
word: wait on
word: wait upon
glosses: To provide a service to (someone); to act as a servant to (someone); to serve (someone) as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant.
examples: text: I'm waiting on you before we can leave.
text: Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 27:14:
text: Be pleased to write to me by Rogers; who will wait on you for your answer, at your own time.
ref: 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXVI”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume VI, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; […], →OCLC, page 89:
text: I'm not waiting on a lady / I'm just waiting on a friend
ref: 1981, Jagger/Richards, “Waiting On A Friend”, in Tattoo You, performed by The Rolling Stones:
glosses: To wait for (a person).
examples: text: I'm waiting on the light to change.
text: […] a time was coming […] when his waiting on events should have its reward.
ref: 1874, Thomas Hardy, “Oak's Advancement— A Great Hope”, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 223:
text: […] with grass mats over their heads and the raindrops puddling in their footprints, [they] waited on the weather.
ref: 1900 December – 1901 October, Rudyard Kipling, chapter XIII, in Kim, London: Macmillan and Co., published 1901, →OCLC, page 340:
text: It was as though they [the gulls] waited upon some signal; as though some decision had yet to be given.
ref: 1952, Daphne Du Maurier, “The Birds”, in Stories of Suspense, New York: Scholastic Book Services, published 1972, page 17:
glosses: To wait for (a thing, or an event to take place).
examples: text: the destruction that waits on Monarchs, who consider fidelity to them as the most degrading of all vices
ref: 1796, Edmund Burke, “Letter I. On the Overtures of Peace.”, in Two Letters Addressed to a Member of the Present Parliament on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of France, London: […] F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], published 20 October 1796, →OCLC, page 62:
text: Their wages wouldn’t even get them out of debt to my grandmother, not to mention the staggering bill that waited on them at the white commissary downtown.
ref: 1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 1, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, New York: Random House, pages 9–10:
synonyms: await
glosses: To be in store for (someone).
examples: text: In the Evening our Commander sent a Message to Mr. Jones, that if a Visit would not be troublesome he would wait on him.
ref: 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 13, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VII, page 68:
text: The ladies of Longbourn soon waited on those of Netherfield. The visit was returned in due form.
ref: 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 6, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 42:
text: […] I went, as my custom was, into one of the best railroad carriages on the road. […] I was soon waited upon by the conductor, and ordered out;
ref: 1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 25, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York; Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC, part II (Life as a Freeman), page 399:
text: Lest [my resolve] should break down, I took a stiff dose of whisky and waited on the Governor early.
ref: 1937, Robert Byron, The Road to Oxiana, New York: Oxford University Press, published 1982, Part 3, p. 114:
synonyms: attend
call on
glosses: To visit (someone) as a courtesy, on business or for ceremony.
examples: text: that ruine which waits upon such a supine temper
ref: 1667, attributed to Richard Allestree, chapter 3, in The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. […], London: […] R. Norton for T. Garthwait, […], →OCLC, page 49:
text: For Blessings ever wait on virtuous Deeds;
And tho’ a late, a sure Reward succeeds.
ref: 1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act V, page 66:
text: What is the worst of woes that wait on age?
ref: 1812–1818, Lord Byron, “(please specify |canto=I to IV)”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. , London: John Murray,, stanza 98, page 118:
glosses: To occur as a consequence of (something), to result from (something).
examples: text: Aaron and his sons […] shall wait on their priest’s office:
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 3:10:
synonyms: attend to
glosses: To carry out or perform (a duty, function, etc.).
topics: falconry
hobbies
hunting
lifestyle
glosses: To fly above its master, waiting till game is sprung.
raw_tags: of a hawk
glosses: To court (someone).
glosses: To obey and pay attention to (someone); to follow (a leader); to attend to (someone); to be subject to (someone).
Related terms: wait
wait on hand and foot
wait on tables