What does While mean?
Definitions for While
ʰwaɪl, waɪlwhile
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word While.
Princeton's WordNet
while, piece, spell, patchnoun
a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition
"he was here for a little while"; "I need to rest for a piece"; "a spell of good weather"; "a patch of bad weather"
Wiktionary
whilenoun
A certain duration of time, a period of time.
He lectured for quite a long while.
whileverb
To pass (time) idly.
whileconjunction
During the same time that.
He was sleeping while I was singing.
whileconjunction
although
This case, while interesting, is a bit frustrating.
whileconjunction
until
Etymology: hwil. Cognate with wil.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
While, Whiles, Whilstadverb
Whiles is now out of use.
Etymology: hwile , Saxon.
Whiles I was protector,
Pity was all the fault that was in me. William Shakespeare, Henry VI.What we have, we prize not to the worth,
Whiles we enjoy it; but being lackt and lost,
Why, then we rack the value. William Shakespeare.Repeated, while the sedentary earth
Attains her end. John Milton.Use your memory, and you will sensibly experience a gradual improvement, while you take care not to over-load it. Isaac Watts, Logick.
Whiles by the experiment of this ministration they glorify God, for your professed subjection unto the Gospel. 2 Cor. ix.
Can he imagine that God sends forth an irresistible strength against some sins, whilst in others he permits men a power of repelling his grace? Decay of Piety.
Whilenoun
Time; space of time.
Etymology: weil, German; hwile , Saxon.
If my beauty be any thing, then let it obtain this much of you, that you will remain some while in this company, to ease your own travel and our solitariness. Philip Sidney.
I have seen her rise from her bed, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.
One while we thought him innocent,
And then w’ accus’d the consul. Ben Jonson, Catiline.I hope all ingenuous persons will advertise me fairly, if they think it worth their while, of what they dislike in it. Digby.
Pausing a while, thus to herself she mus’d. John Milton.
How couldst thou look for other, but that God should condemn thee for the doing of those things for which thine own conscience did condemn thee, all the while thou wast doing of them? John Tillotson.
That which I have all this while been endeavouring to convince men to, is no other but what God himself doth particularly recommend. John Tillotson.
Few, without the hope of another life, would think it worth their while to live above the allurements of sense. Francis Atterbury.
What fate has disposed of the papers, ’tis not worth while to tell. John Locke.
To Whileverb
To loiter.
Etymology: from the noun.
Men guilty this way never have observed that the whiling time, the gathering together, and waiting a little before dinner, is the most aukwardly passed away of any. Spectator.
Wikipedia
While
While is a word in the English language that functions both as a noun and as a subordinating conjunction. Its meaning varies largely based on its intended function, position in the phrase and even the writer or speaker's regional dialect. As a conjunction, it is synonymous with the word whilst, a form often considered archaic in American English, as well as in some style guides on both sides of the Atlantic.
ChatGPT
while
A "while" is a programming construct that allows a set of instructions to be repeated as long as a certain condition is true. It is often used in loops, where the instructions within the while loop are executed repeatedly until the condition becomes false.
Webster Dictionary
Whilenoun
space of time, or continued duration, esp. when short; a time; as, one while we thought him innocent
Whilenoun
that which requires time; labor; pains
Whileverb
to cause to pass away pleasantly or without irksomeness or disgust; to spend or pass; -- usually followed by away
Whileverb
to loiter
While
during the time that; as long as; whilst; at the same time that; as, while I write, you sleep
While
hence, under which circumstances; in which case; though; whereas
While
until; till
Etymology: [AS. hwl; akin to OS. hwl, hwla, OFries. hwle, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG. wla, hwla, hwl, Icel. hvla a bed, hvld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan. hvile, Goth. hweila a time, and probably to L. quietus quiet, and perhaps to Gr. the proper time of season. 20. Cf. Quiet, Whilom.]
Wikidata
While
"While" is a word in the English language that functions both as a noun and as a subordinating conjunction. Its meaning varies largely based on its intended function, position in the phrase and even the writer or speaker's regional dialect. As a conjunction, it is synonymous with the word "whilst", a form often considered archaic in American and Canadian English, as well as in some style guides on both sides of the Atlantic.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
While
hwīl, n. a space of time: trouble spent.—adv. during the time that: at the same time that, as long as.—v.t. to cause to pass without irksomeness (with away).—conjs. While, Whilst, as long as: at the same time that: (Shak.) until; Whiles (B.), while, at the same time that.—adv. (Scot.) at times (orig. gen. of A.S. hwíl).—advs. Whī′lom, Whī′lome (Milt.), formerly, once (orig. dat. pl. of A.S. hwíl, time).—Every once in a while, now and then; The while (Shak.), in the meantime; The whilst (Shak.), while: in the meantime; Worth while, worth the trouble and time taken. [A.S. hwíl; Goth. hweila, Ger. weile.]
Editors Contribution
while
A period of known time.
While at the shop we saw some new cheese we thought we'd try.
Submitted by MaryC on March 19, 2020
Suggested Resources
While
While vs. Whilst -- In this Grammar.com article you will learn the differences between the words While and Whilst.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
WHILE
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, While is ranked #103655 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The While surname appeared 173 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname While.
75.7% or 131 total occurrences were White.
16.1% or 28 total occurrences were Black.
4.6% or 8 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'While' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #149
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'While' in Written Corpus Frequency: #554
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'While' in Nouns Frequency: #744
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of While in Chaldean Numerology is: 2
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of While in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3
Examples of While in a Sentence
It’s been that way for quite a while now, but as soon as I step in the building, I kind of wear that on my sleeves, i think that the guys, they’re looking forward to that. [ It’s ] a little bit of a different angle as far as the way that I teach versus our wideout coach or the offensive coordinator or somebody else. It’s a little bit different. It’s like learning from your brother rather than hearing it from your dad.
Share prices are boosted by ample liquidity. Chinese authorities are desperate to support share prices while the European Central Bank has also clearly indicated an easing in December, people who sold shares in the summer on concerns about slowdown in China are buying back. But they are turning a blind eye to the poor state of economic fundamentals.
What is clear is that the common culprit across the globe is the burning of fossil fuels -- coal, oil and gas -- worsened by the cutting down of our forests, what we need to see is our leaders thinking seriously about our health and the climate by looking at a fair transition out of fossil fuels while telling us clearly the level of our air quality, so that steps can be taken to tackle this health and climate crisis.
We have 50 rangers waiting to be deployed but they are held up waiting for official approval and firearms from the government, mali is standing by while the elephants are being slaughtered ... If we continue at this rate, they will all be gone in three years.
Today, it’s you don’t like the border wall while tomorrow you could have an anti-war mayor who refuses to work with defense contractors.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for While
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- عندما, بينماArabic
- estona, mentre, malgratCatalan, Valencian
- byť, chvíle, zatímcoCzech
- medens, mensDanish
- obwohl, Weilchen, Zeitspanne, solange, Weile, währendGerman
- καθώς, αν και, καίτοι, διάστημα, χρόνος, ενόσω, ενώ, περνώ, μολονότιGreek
- dum, kvankamEsperanto
- aunque, vagar, rato, siempre y cuando, mientrasSpanish
- aika, sillä aikaa kun, vaikka, samaan aikaan kunFinnish
- moment, quoique, tant, pendant que, bien que, tandis queFrench
- skoftWestern Frisian
- agus, tamallIrish
- greisScottish Gaelic
- mentres, namentres, entrementres, tempoGalician
- जबHindi
- ben que, tempore, durante queInterlingua
- seraya, sementaraIndonesian
- dum ke, dumIdo
- benché, malgrado, mentreItalian
- 時, 間, ...ながらJapanese
- 하는 동안Korean
- ماوه, ئهگهرچیKurdish
- dumLatin
- kamērLatvian
- макар, иако, додекаMacedonian
- sementara, semasaMalay
- terwijl, tijdje, momentje, poosje, een hele tijdDutch
- stund, medan, mensNorwegian
- yínee'Navajo, Navaho
- chociaż, gdy, chwila, jakiś czasPolish
- embora, enquanto, malgrado, tempoPortuguese
- deși, în timp ceRomanian
- хотя, в то время, как, вре́мя, [[промежу́ток]] [[время, до тех пор, пока, покаRussian
- dok, докSerbo-Croatian
- stund, tag, fastän, medanSwedish
- rağmen, iken, -kenTurkish
- جبکہUrdu
- moumint, mågré ki, sol tins ki, houbonde, tins ki, hapêye, cwekiWalloon
- בשעתYiddish
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