WAIT ON

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does wait on mean? 

• WAIT ON (verb)
  The verb WAIT ON has 1 sense:

1. work for or be a servant to

  Familiarity information: WAIT ON used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WAIT ON (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Work for or be a servant to

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

assist; attend; attend to; serve; wait on

Context example:

The minister served the King for many years

Hypernyms (to "wait on" is one way to...):

aid; assist; help (give help or assistance; be of service)

Verb group:

serve (devote (part of) one's life or efforts to, as of countries, institutions, or ideas)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "wait on"):

valet (serve as a personal attendant to)

fag (act as a servant for older boys, in British public schools)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody with something

Sentence example:

Sam cannot wait on Sue

 Context examples 

You should wait on these aims, but you can order needed repairs if you like or paint a room a new color.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

And first I must beg you to set Hannah at liberty, and get somebody else to wait on you.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“As soon as ever Mr. Bingley comes, my dear,” said Mrs. Bennet, “you will wait on him of course.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

However, he is coming, I assure you: yes, indeed, on purpose to wait on you all.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Em'ly got to France, and took service to wait on travelling ladies at a inn in the port.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Oh, Lucy, Lucy, I cannot be angry with you, nor can I be angry with my friend whose happiness is yours; but I must only wait on hopeless and work.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“I repeat again,” added Sir Thomas, “that Thornton Lacey is the only house in the neighbourhood in which I should not be happy to wait on Mr. Crawford as occupier.”

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Wait on ’im yourself, then, and chuck up the sponge when things begin to go wrong.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Don't go to school, I'm a businessman—girl, I mean. I go to wait on my great-aunt, and a dear, cross old soul she is, too," answered Jo.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Mrs. Jennings, however, assured him directly, that she should not stand upon ceremony, for they were all cousins, or something like it, and she should certainly wait on Mrs. John Dashwood very soon, and bring her sisters to see her.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)