Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

wait-a-while

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.23 in modern English

Syllables: wait--a-while
IPA

19

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Synonym of wait-a-bit.

noun

Any of several thorny Australian vines or shrubs which impede passage, especially Acacia cuspidifolia of Western Australia, Smilax australis of eastern Australia and the Northern Territory, and lawyer vine.

Australian usage

Example Sentences

"In the new clearing by the creek where he had felled most of the big stuff, she attacked the landscape with anger, grubbing out the wait-a-while and bush-sword that was still guzzling round the stumps."

Etymology

Originally after South African Dutch wacht-en-beetje; compare wait-a-bit.

Origin

Source language: Dutch

Word Breakdown

Root: wacht-en-beetje

Usage

Australian usage

Inflected Forms

wait-a-whiles (plural)

Synonyms

wait-a-bit

Questions

What does wait-a-while mean?: Synonym of wait-a-bit.
Where does wait-a-while come from?: It is traced to Dutch.

How to pronounce wait-a-while

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