Thesaurus:wait
English
Verb
Sense: to delay movement or action until some event or time; to remain neglected or in readiness
Synonyms
- abide (obsolete)
- back that train up
- bide (archaic or dialect)
- bide one's time (idiomatic)
- expect (obsolete)
- defer
- hang on (idiomatic)
- hold on (idiomatic)
- hold one's breath (idiomatic)
- hold one's horses (idiomatic)
- hold one's water (idiomatic)
- hold out (idiomatic)
- mark time
- stand by (idiomatic)
- stay
- twiddle one's thumbs (idiomatic)
- wait
Antonyms
- act
- grasp [⇒ thesaurus]
- grasp the nettle
- jump at the chance
- jump on
- go it blind (slang)
- jump the gun (idiomatic)
- shoot first and ask questions later (US, idiomatic)
- shoot from the hip (idiomatic)
Hyponyms
- cool one's heels (idiomatic)
- kick one's heels (idiomatic)
See also
- Thesaurus:wait for (transitive)
- Thesaurus:deferment
- Thesaurus:procrastinate
Further reading
- “133. lateness” in Roget's Thesaurus, T. Y. Crowell Co., 1911.
- “wait” in Moby Thesaurus II, Grady Ward, 1996.