third-person singular verb
A person stays in a place or remains ready until someone arrives or something happens.
He waits for the bus every morning.
The cat waits patiently for its food.
American English
How to pronounce waits
verb · nounA1Very common word
WAYTS
/weɪts/
One syllable.
Form of wait
Waits is both the plural of the noun wait and the third-person singular form of the verb wait.
A person stays in a place or remains ready until someone arrives or something happens.
Practice out loudMeanings & examples
third-person singular verb
A person delays an action until later or until more is known.
She waits to hear from the doctor.
He waits before making a decision.
plural noun
Waits are periods of time spent staying somewhere until someone or something arrives or something happens.
Long waits at the airport can be tiring.
The clinic has shorter waits in the afternoon.
third-person singular verb
A person serves customers, especially in a restaurant or store.
She waits on customers at a busy café.
He waits tables on weekends.
Useful expressions
to wait before deciding what will happen
We’ll wait and see what happens.
to be very excited about something that will happen soon
I can’t wait to see you.
to ask someone to pause briefly or to show surprise
Wait a minute—this isn’t my bag.