/əˈweɪt/
OriginFrom Middle English awaiten, from Old Northern French awaitier (“to lie in wait for, watch, observe”), originally especially with a hostile sense; itself from a- (“to”) + waitier (“to watch”). More at English wait.
- formal, transitiveTo wait for.
“I await your reply to my letter.”
“Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat, / Chief of the angelic guards, awaiting night;”
“I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and ”
- transitiveTo expect.
- transitiveTo be in store for; to be ready or in waiting for.
“Glorious rewards await the good in heaven; eternal suffering awaits mortal sinners in hell.”
“Standing foursquare in the heart of the town, at the intersection of the two main streets, a "jog" at each street corner left around the market-house a little public square, which at this hour was wel”
“O Eve, some further change awaits us nigh.”
- intransitive, transitiveTo serve or attend; to wait on, wait upon.
- intransitiveTo watch, observe.
- intransitiveTo wait; to stay in waiting.
- obsoleteA waiting for; ambush.
- obsoleteWatching, watchfulness, suspicious observation.
“Also, madame, syte you well that there be many men spekith of oure love in this courte, and have you and me gretely in awayte, as thes Sir Aggravayne and Sir Mordred.”
“For all that night, the whyles the Prince did rest […] He watcht in close awayt with weapons prest […].”
Formsawaits(present, singular, third-person) · awaiting(participle, present) · awaited(participle, past) · awaited(past) · awaits(plural)