wait

B1 · Intermediate American English

v. to work as a server in a restaurant by bringing food and drinks to customers.

v. to serve customers in a catering establishment, typically used in the phrase 'wait tables'.

“He worked hard waiting tables at a busy diner to pay for college.”

“After years of waiting tables in high-end bistros, she decided to open her own boutique catering business.”

A2 · Elementary Countable noun

n. the amount of time you spend waiting for something to happen.

n. the duration of a delay or the period spent waiting.

“There was a long wait at the doctor's office this morning.”

“The three-hour wait at the border was exacerbated by a technical failure in the passport scanning system.”

C1 · Advanced Countable noun Computing Technical

n. a short pause when a computer waits for data or a command.

n. a period during which a processor or system is suspended while waiting for an external event or resource.

“The software entered a wait state while the hard drive finished saving the file.”

“Excessive wait states can significantly degrade system performance during high-intensity data processing tasks.”

A2 · Elementary Informal

interj. something you say to make someone stop talking or moving so you can think or ask a question.

interj. used to request a brief cessation of activity or speech, often to allow for clarification or a change of mind.

“Wait, I think I left my keys inside the house.”

“Wait, before you finalize the contract, we need to verify the delivery dates one last time.”