wait on

• wait upon

wait on (third-person singular simple present waits on, present participle waiting on, simple past and past participle waited on)

1. To provide a service to (someone); to act as a servant to (someone); to serve (someone) as a waiter or waitress in a restaurant.

   Synonyms: attend to; see also Thesaurus:serve

   Is someone waiting on you yet?

   • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

     How now, Simple! where have you been? I must wait on myself, must I?

   • 1847 October 16, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], chapter I, in Jane Eyre. An Autobiography. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 6:

     […] for such a large house there are very few servants, because master has never lived here much; and when he does come, being a bachelor, he needs little waiting on:

   • 1942, Zora Neale Hurston, chapter 9, in Dust Tracks on a Road‎, New York: Arno Press, published 1969, page 171:

     “Run on, fellow. You can’t get waited on in here.”
     “I’ll stay right here until I do. I know my rights. […] I’ll get waited on all right, or sue the place.”

2. (colloquial) To wait for (a person).

   I'm waiting on you before we can leave.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 27:14:

     Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart:

   • 1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XXVI”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume VI, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson;  […], →OCLC, page 89:

     Be pleased to write to me by Rogers; who will wait on you for your answer, at your own time.

   • 1981, Jagger/Richards (lyrics and music), “Waiting On A Friend”, in Tattoo You, performed by The Rolling Stones:

     I'm not waiting on a lady / I'm just waiting on a friend

3. (colloquial) To wait for (a thing, or an event to take place).

   I'm waiting on the light to change.

   • 1874, Thomas Hardy, “Oak's Advancement— A Great Hope”, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 223:

     […] a time was coming […] when his waiting on events should have its reward.

   • 1900 December – 1901 October, Rudyard Kipling, chapter 13, in Kim (Macmillan’s Colonial Library; no. 414), London: Macmillan and Co., published 1901, →OCLC, page 340:

     […] with grass mats over their heads and the raindrops puddling in their footprints, [they] waited on the weather.

   • 1952, Daphne Du Maurier, “The Birds”, in Stories of Suspense‎, New York: Scholastic Book Services, published 1972, page 17:

     It was as though they [the gulls] waited upon some signal; as though some decision had yet to be given.

4. To be in store for (someone).

   Synonym: await

   • 1796, Edmund Burke, “Letter I. On the Overtures of Peace.”, in Two Letters Addressed to a Member of the Present Parliament on the Proposals for Peace with the Regicide Directory of France, London: […] F[rancis] and C[harles] Rivington, […], published 20 October 1796, →OCLC, page 62:

     the destruction that waits on Monarchs, who consider fidelity to them as the most degrading of all vices

   • 1969, Maya Angelou, chapter 1, in I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings‎, New York: Random House, pages 9–10:

     Their wages wouldn’t even get them out of debt to my grandmother, not to mention the staggering bill that waited on them at the white commissary downtown.

5. (archaic) To visit (someone) as a courtesy, on business or for ceremony.

   Synonyms: attend, call on

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter 13, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book 7, page 68:

     In the Evening our Commander sent a Message to Mr. Jones, that if a Visit would not be troublesome he would wait on him.

   • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 6, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 42:

     The ladies of Longbourn soon waited on those of Netherfield. The visit was returned in due form.

   • 1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 25, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York, Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC, part II (Life as a Freeman), page 399:

     […] I went, as my custom was, into one of the best railroad carriages on the road. […] I was soon waited upon by the conductor, and ordered out;

   • 1937, Robert Byron, The Road to Oxiana‎, New York: Oxford University Press, published 1982, Part 3, p. 114:

     Lest [my resolve] should break down, I took a stiff dose of whisky and waited on the Governor early.

6. (archaic) To occur as a consequence of (something), to result from (something).
   • 1667, attributed to Richard Allestree, chapter 3, in The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. […], London: […] R. Norton for T. Garthwait, […], →OCLC, page 49:

     that ruine which waits upon such a supine temper

   • 1697, [William] Congreve, The Mourning Bride, a Tragedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act V, page 66:

     For Blessings ever wait on virtuous Deeds;
     And tho’ a late, a sure Reward succeeds.

   • 1812–1818, Lord Byron, “Canto 2”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. , London: John Murray,, stanza 98, page 118:

     What is the worst of woes that wait on age?

7. (archaic) To carry out or perform (a duty, function, etc.).

   Synonym: attend to

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 3:10:

     Aaron and his sons […] shall wait on their priest’s office:

8. (falconry, of a hawk) To fly above its master, waiting till game is sprung.

• wait
• wait on hand and foot
• wait on tables