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Wait vs Standby - What's the difference?

wait | standby |

As verbs the difference between wait and standby

is that wait is to delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by "wait for". while standby is wait briefly: an alternative spelling of nocap=1|lang=en.

As nouns the difference between wait and standby

is that wait is a delay while standby is state of readiness without being immediately involved.

wait

English

Alternative forms

* (l)

Verb

(en verb)
  • To delay movement or action until the arrival or occurrence of; to await. (Now generally superseded by "wait for".)
  • * Dryden
    • Awed with these words, in camps they still abide, / And wait with longing looks their promised guide.
  • * 1992 , (Hilary Mantel), A Place of Greater Safety , Harper Perennial 2007, p. 30:
    • The Court had assembled, to wait events, in the huge antechamber known as the Œil de Boeuf.
  • To delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness.
  • * (John Milton)
    • They also serve who only stand and wait .
  • * (John Dryden)
    • Haste, my dear father; 'tis no time to wait .
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or otherwise his man would be there with a message to say that his master would shortly join me if I would kindly wait .}}
  • (US) To wait tables; to serve customers in a restaurant or other eating establishment.
  • (obsolete) To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.
  • * Dryden
    • He chose a thousand horse, the flower of all / His warlike troops, to wait the funeral.
  • * Rowe
    • Remorse and heaviness of heart shall wait thee, / And everlasting anguish be thy portion.
  • (obsolete) To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany.
  • (obsolete) To defer or postpone (a meal).
    • to wait dinner

    Usage notes

    * In sense 1, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See

    Synonyms

    * (delay until event) hold one's breath

    Derived terms

    * can't wait * wait staff * wait state * wait for * wait on * wait tables * waiter * waiting room * waitperson * waitress * waitron

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A delay.
    • I had a very long wait at the airport security check.
  • An ambush.
    • They laid in wait for the patrol.
  • * Milton
    • an enemy in wait
  • (obsolete) One who watches; a watchman.
  • (in the plural, obsolete, UK) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.
    • (Halliwell)
  • (in the plural, archaic, UK) Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen. [formerly waites, wayghtes.]
  • * (rfdate)
    • Hark! are the waits abroad?
  • * (rfdate)
    • The sound of the waits , rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mild watches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony.

    Related terms

    * wake * watch

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * English control verbs English intransitive verbs 1000 English basic words ----

    standby

    English

    Alternative forms

    * stand-by

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • State of readiness without being immediately involved.
    • ''The troops were on standby in case of an attack.
  • (travel) Waiting at the airport in the hope of getting a seat on a flight that is already booked out.
  • Something that is standard, well-tested, or frequently used.
    • That recipe is an old standby , and she keeps the ingredients around in case of unexpected guests.

    Verb

    • Standby while I check that for you.

    Quotations

    * (English Citations of "standby") English nouns with irregular plurals