"But [unless] ye wait well and be privy, I wot right well, I am but
dead," quoth she.
Chaucer.
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.
Job xiv. 14.
They also serve who only stand and wait.
Milton.
Haste, my dear father; 't is no time to wait.
Dryden.
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To wait on or 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." Milton. "I must wait on myself, must I?" Shak. (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." Dr. H. More. (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." Bacon. (e) To attend to; to perform.
"Aaron and his sons . . . shall wait on their priest's office." Num.
iii. 10. (f) (Falconry) To fly above its master, waiting till game is
sprung; — said of a hawk. Encyc. Brit.
Wait (?), v. t. 1. To stay for; to rest or remain stationary in
expectation of; to await; as, to wait orders.
Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, And wait with longing
looks their promised guide.
Dryden.
2. To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany; to await.
[Obs.]
3. To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or
respect. [Obs.]
He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all His warlike troops, to
wait the funeral.
Dryden.
Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee, And everlasting anguish
be thy portion.
Rowe.
4. To cause to wait; to defer; to postpone; — said of a meal; as, to
wait dinner. [Colloq.]
Wait, n. [OF. waite, guaite, gaite, F. guet watch, watching, guard,
from OHG. wahta. See Wait, v. i.]