Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A period of time: stay for a while; sang all the while. See Usage Note at awhile.
- n. The time, effort, or trouble taken in doing something: The project wasn't worth my while.
- conj. As long as; during the time that: It was lovely while it lasted.
- conj. At the same time that; although: While the grandparents love the children, they are strict with them.
- conj. Whereas; and: The soles are leather, while the uppers are canvas.
- v. To spend (time) idly or pleasantly: while the hours away.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A time; a space of time; especially, a short space of time during which something happens or is to happen or be done.
- n. Time spent upon anything; expenditure of time, and hence of pains or labor; trouble: as, to do it is not worth one's while.
- During or in the time that; as long as.
- At the same time that: often used adversatively.
- Till; until.
- Synonyms While, Though. While implies less of contrast in the parallel than though, sometimes, indeed, implying no contrast at all. Thus we say, “While I admire his bravery, I esteem his moderation;” but “though I admire his courage, I detest his cruelty.”
- At times; sometimes; now and then: used in correlation as while … while. Compare whiles, adv.
- To cause to pass; spend; consume; kill: said of time: usually followed by away.
- To occupy the time of; busy; detain.
- To pass; elapse, as time.
Wiktionary
- n. A certain duration of time, a period of time.
- conj. During the same time that.
- conj. although
- conj. until
- v. To pass (time) idly.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Space of time, or continued duration, esp. when short; a time.
- n. That which requires time; labor; pains.
- v. To cause to pass away pleasantly or without irksomeness or disgust; to spend or pass; -- usually followed by
away . - v. To loiter.
- conj. During the time that; as long as; whilst; at the same time that.
- conj. Hence, under which circumstances; in which case; though; whereas.
- prep. Until; till.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old English hwīl; see kweiə- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“Gibreel, with the Imam riding him like a carpet, swoops lower, and in the steaming night it looks as if the streets are alive, they seem to be writhing, like snakes; while in front of the palace of the Empress's defeat a new hill seems to be growing, _while we watch, baba, what's going on here?”
The Satanic Verses
“Alexander, dum inter prīmōrēs pugnat, sagittā ictus est, _Alexander, while he was fighting in the van, was struck by an arrow_; dum haec geruntur, in fīnēs Venellōrum pervēnit, _while these things were being done, he arrived in the territory of the Venelli_.”
“I do not know -- but someday you and all in the world will see it, when the Earth people are kind to each other -- not once in a while, but every day -- _all the while_ --”
“Even while we write, and for years back, a charge lies in the department of the Minister of Finance, against the present Premier of the Dominion, accusing that unscrupulous individual of conspiring with a whisky dealer, _while he himself was First Minister of the Crown_, to defraud the revenue -- a charge made by the present Assistant Commissioner of Customs and”
Ridgeway An Historical Romance of the Fenian Invasion of Canada
“Thou hast immanacled while Heaven sees good," he explains that "_while_ here has the sense of _so long as_.”
“I. i.33 (231,5) [be better employ'd, and be nought a while] Warburton explained [ "be nought a while" as "a mischief on you"] If _be nought a while_ has the signification here given it, the reading may certainly stand; but till I learned its meaning from this note, I read,”
“But I swear that she shall never marry him while I live, "he ended in a kind of shout and the domed and painted ceiling echoed back his words --" _while I live_ "after which the room was silent, save for the heavy thumping of his heart.”
“The court, however, sentenced Tuncel to 10 1/2 years in prison for a separate crime, his role in a bombing a McDonald's restaurant in 2004 in Black Sea port city of Trabzon and ordered his release from prison since he already completed his term while awaiting a verdict.”
“But when given the opportunity to use the term while sharing the stage with Romney during a debate Monday night in New Hampshire, he balked.”
“Harris, who discovered the label while pregnant with her second child, set out to create jeans that would fit her busy lifestyle as a mother of two.”
mollusque Whiling away, huh? Nov 12, 2007
oroboros Although. Nov 12, 2007