1. Stay where you are, do nothing:
– She put the food in the microwave and waited.
– The postman rang the bell, and then he waited.
– Wait in this room, the boss will come in five minutes.
2. Delay doing something until somebody/something comes or something happens:
– Wait until the light turns green.
– We have to wait with this work; it’s raining too hard.
- Wait (for) a certain period of time:
– They’ve been waiting (for) two hours.
- Wait for somebody/something:
– We’ll be waiting for you at the station.
– How long have you been waiting for the manager?
- Wait (for somebody/something) to do something:
– We’re waiting for the rain to stop before we go out.
– Hurry up! We‘re waiting to go.
- Wait in – stay at home (in the office, etc.), because you are expecting somebody to come, telephone, etc.:
– We waited in all the afternoon but the guests didn’t arrive.
– Shall I wait in after work if the decorators can’t finish in time?
- Wait on something/somebody (informal, especially American English) – wait for something to happen before you do or decide something:
– I’m waiting on the result of a blood test.
– Wait on the final exams before you start looking for a job.
- Wait on somebody – serve somebody, act as a servant to somebody, especially by serving food to them:
– She waited on customers all day at the department store.
– Help yourself, I’m too tired to wait on you.
– My husband just sits there in front of the TV and expects me to wait on him.
photo credit: Roberto Trm via photopin cc
