while
Part of speech: noun
conj
prep
verb
Morphological type: simple
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 and Norwegian Bokmål hvile (“rest”), Norwegian Nynorsk kvila (“rest”), Swedish vila (“rest”), Faroese and Icelandic hvíla (“rest”)) from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest”). Cognate with Albanian sillë (“breakfast”), Latin tranquillus, Sanskrit चिर (cirá), Persian شاد (šâd).
Inflected forms:
form: whiles
pos: noun
tags: archaic
informal
plural
form: whiles
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: whiling
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: whiled
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: whiled
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.
pos: noun
examples: He lectured for quite a long while.
It’s a long while since anyone lived there, so it’s a ruin now.
Do the good that's nearest Though it's dull at whiles.
There are whiles […] when ye are altogether too canny and Whiggish to be company for a gentleman like me.
Things were pretty dark for a while — several whiles, actually.
gloss: An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.
pos: noun
gloss: An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.
pos: noun
tags: Philippines
gloss: During the same time that.
pos: conj
examples: He was sleeping while I was singing.
Driving while intoxicated is against the law.
I lived in Ávila for two lustra while I was a child.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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".
gloss: Although.
pos: conj
examples: This case, while interesting, is a bit frustrating.
While I would love to help, I am very busy at the moment.
While Britain’s recession has been deep and unforgiving, in London it has been relatively shallow.
And while one isolated act of kindness may seem random, it can lead to much more.
gloss: Until.
pos: conj
tags: Northern-England
Scotland
examples: I'll wait while you've finished painting.
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'.
gloss: As long as.
pos: conj
examples: While you're at school you may live at home.
While there's quiet I can sleep.
Use your memory; you will sensibly experience a gradual improvement, while you take care not to load it to excess.
gloss: Until.
pos: prep
tags: Northern-England
Scotland
examples: I may be conveyed into your chamber; I'll lie under your bed while midnight.
gloss: To pass (time) idly.
pos: verb
tags: in-compounds
transitive
examples: I whiled away the hours whilst waiting for him to arrive
Some were whiling the time by admiring the figures on the cloth of tissue.
Here in seclusion, as a widow may, / The lovely lady whiled the hours away, […]
As if she was just whiling her time with them until his arrival.
gloss: To occupy or entertain (someone) in order to let time pass.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: They whiled them with such answere as suted to their purposes, and long adoe was made in weaving and unweaving Penelopes web, till the Spanish Armada was upon the Coast, and the very Ordnance proclaimed in their eares a surcease from further illusions.
He sat her on the corner of the carpenter's bench, and parried or diverted her questions about her father, and the desirability of wakening him by handing her the long curled shavings; and when these palled, he whiled her on by the impossible task of teaching him her version of the 'Three Golden Balls' a blank-verse poem, but rhythmically intoned, which he had taught her.
In other worlds I whiled me now Through many a dark night long.
Like a good father, he whiled him with stories about the past of his nation and discussed in detail the intricacies of his profession, teaching the child secrets of the craft that had been passed from generation to generation.
gloss: To elapse, to pass.
pos: verb
tags: archaic
intransitive
examples: The tedious hours whiled slowly on, 'till the succeeding afternoon, when the expected carriage made its appearance much sooner than they had promised themselves.
Years whiled. He aged, sank, sickened; and was not: / And it was said, 'A man intractable / And curst is gone.'
Synonyms: as
when
while
whilom
Antonyms: since
until
Derived words: after a while
all the while
awhile
breathing while
even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while
even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while
even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while
every once in a while
for a while
in a little while
in a while
meanwhile
no while
once in a while
paternoster while
the while
the whole while
wait-a-while
while-ere
whilere
whiles
whilst
worth one's while
worth while
worthwhile
build the plane while flying it
do-while loop
driving while black
driving while Mexican
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
while away
Translations:
lang: Arabic
word: مُدَّة
roman: mudda
lang: Arabic
word: فَتْرَة
roman: fatra
lang: Catalan
word: estona
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 一段時間 /一段时间
roman: yī duàn shíjiān
lang: Czech
word: chvíle
lang: Dutch
word: tijdje
lang: Dutch
word: momentje
lang: Dutch
word: een hele tijd
lang: Dutch
word: poosje
lang: Finnish
word: aika
lang: French
word: moment
lang: West-Frisian
word: skoft
lang: Galician
word: tempo
lang: Galician
word: intre
lang: Georgian
word: დრო
roman: dro
lang: Georgian
word: დროის მონაკვეთი
roman: drois monaḳveti
lang: German
word: Weile
lang: German
word: Weilchen n diminutive
lang: German
word: Zeitspanne
lang: Gothic
word: 𐍈𐌴𐌹𐌻𐌰
roman: ƕeila
lang: Greek
word: διάστημα
roman: diástima
lang: Greek
word: χρόνος
roman: chrónos
lang: Hungarian
word: idő
lang: Hungarian
word: egy ideig
lang: Hungarian
word: egy darabig
lang: Interlingua
word: tempore
lang: Irish
word: tamall
lang: Irish
word: scaitheamh
lang: Italian
word: periodo
lang: Italian
word: po'
lang: Italian
word: lasso di tempo
lang: Japanese
word: 期間
roman: kikan
lang: Kazakh
word: сол уақытта
roman: sol uaqytta
lang: Korean
word: 한참
roman: hancham
lang: Korean
word: 기간
roman: gigan
lang: Korean
word: 동안
roman: dong'an
lang: Central Kurdish
word: ماوە
roman: mawe
lang: Manchu
word: ᠪᡳᠯᠠᡤᠠᠨ
roman: bilagan
lang: Norwegian
word: stund
lang: Old English
word: hwīl
lang: Polish
word: chwila
lang: Polish
word: jakiś czas
lang: Portuguese
word: tempo
lang: Romanian
word: vreme
lang: Russian
word: вре́мя
roman: vrémja
lang: Russian
word: промежу́ток вре́мени
roman: promežútok vrémeni
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: greis
lang: Spanish
word: rato
lang: Swedish
word: stund
lang: Swedish
word: tag
lang: Thai
word: ขณะที่
lang: Turkish
word: -ken
lang: Turkish
word: iken
lang: Walloon
word: moumint
lang: Walloon
word: hapêye
lang: Walloon
word: houbonde
lang: Welsh
word: sbel