while
Listen:Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
while/wʌɪl/
▶noun
- 1 (a while) a period of time.
■ for some time.
- 2 (the while) at the same time; meanwhile.
■ literary during the time that.
- 1 at the same time as.
- 2 whereas (indicating a contrast).
■ although.
– phrases
worth while (or worth one's while) worth the time or effort spent.
worth while (or worth one's while) worth the time or effort spent.
– origin OE hwīl ‘period of time’, of Gmc origin; the conjunction is an abbrev. of OE thā hwīle the ‘the while that’.
usage: On the distinction between worth while and worthwhile, see usage at worthwhile.
'while' also found in these Oxford entries:
aborning
- advisement
- Amidah
- amoral
- anacoluthon
- appraise
- Asian
- babysit
- back-stabbing
- ballon
- banker
- barrel roll
- basal metabolic rate
- bib
- bigamy
- biopiracy
- blind man's buff
- block
- blow
- blow-dry
- boater
- boot
- breaststroke
- brisé
- buntline
- burn
- butter
- cabaret
- cam
- camera
- camp
- Caribbean
- cast
- censure
- chain gang
- champagne socialist
- childcare
- circular breathing
- climacteric
- clotted cream
- cold-rolled
- collective noun
- complement
- contrapposto
- convince
- copyholder
- couch
- counter
- cover
- credible
