# while

/ˈhwaɪɫ/ (US) · /wˈaɪl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/while
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. at the same time

conjunction · CEFR A2

during the time that something else is happening.

For teachers: used to indicate that two actions or events are occurring simultaneously.

- I like to listen to music while I am cleaning the house.
- The researchers monitored the subjects' heart rates while they performed the cognitive tasks to see how stress affected their performance.

### 2. contrast or although

conjunction · CEFR B1

used to show a difference between two things or to mean 'although'.

For teachers: used as a contrastive connector to introduce a concessive clause or to highlight a difference between two subjects.

- While I understand your point, I still disagree with the final decision.
- While the first experiment yielded promising results, the subsequent trials failed to replicate the initial findings under more rigorous conditions.

### 3. a period of time

noun · CEFR A2

a length of time, usually a short or medium period.

For teachers: an indefinite period of time, often used in prepositional phrases like 'for a while' or 'after a while'.

- We sat on the park bench for a while and watched the birds.
- It may take a while for the new software to become fully integrated into our daily workflow, so please be patient with the transition.

### 4. to pass time

verb · CEFR C1 · Literary

to spend time in a relaxed way while waiting for something.

For teachers: to pass time in a leisurely or idle manner, almost exclusively used in the phrasal construction 'while away'.

- They whiled away the rainy afternoon playing board games in the hotel lobby.
- The travellers whiled away the long hours of the layover by browsing the duty-free shops and reading old magazines.

Usage: Almost always used as 'while away' followed by a time-related object like 'the hours' or 'the afternoon'.

## Examples

- I am going to sit here for a while.
- We haven't seen our neighbors for a long while, so we should check on them.
- After the initial shock of the announcement, there was a while where nobody spoke, as the team collectively processed the implications of the merger.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.