while

1. 1

   An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.

   • It’s a long while since anyone lived there, so it’s a ruin now.
   • We had to wait a short while.
2. 2

   An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.; An uncertain long period of time

   • I'm afraid it will be a while until the doctor can see you.
3. 3

   An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.; An uncertain short moment.Philippines

1. 1

   During the same time that.

   • He was sleeping while I was singing.
   • Driving while intoxicated is against the law.
2. 2

   Although.

   • This case, while interesting, is a bit frustrating.
   • While I would love to help, I am very busy at the moment.
3. 3

   Until.Northern-EnglandScotland

   • I'll wait while you've finished painting.
4. 4

   As long as.

   • While you're at school you may live at home.
   • While there's quiet I can sleep.

syn. as · when · while · whilom

ant. since · until

1. 1

   Until.Northern-EnglandScotland

   • I may be conveyed into your chamber; I'll lie under your bed while midnight.

1. 1

   To pass (time) idly.in-compoundstransitive

   • I whiled away the hours whilst waiting for him to arrive
2. 2

   To occupy or entertain (someone) in order to let time pass.transitive

   • In other worlds I whiled me now Through many a dark night long.
   • Like a good father, he whiled him with stories about the past of his nation and discussed in detail the intricacies of his profession, teaching the child secrets of the craft that had been passed from generation to generation.
3. 3

   To elapse, to pass.archaicintransitive

   • The tedious hours whiled slowly on, 'till the succeeding afternoon, when the expected carriage made its appearance much sooner than they had promised themselves.
   • Years whiled. He aged, sank, sickened; and was not: / And it was said, 'A man intractable / And curst is gone.'

1. 1

   Alternative spelling or misspelling of wile.alt-ofalternativemisspelling

   • There it lies before me sparkling in the sun, whiling me as it often does from my pen or book to gaze upon its loveliness.
   • Perhaps the coziness of his seat, and the absence of the sun's rays from the side of the house where he was seated, had some agency in whiling him into a delicious sleep;