Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use whilst in a sentence

40 example sentences · adverb, conjunction

Whilst means often preceded by the: During the time; meanwhile. Example: “Drivers must switch off engines whilst on stand.”

Examples of whilst by meaning

conjunctionDuring the whole, or until the end, of the time that; as long as, at the same time.

  • Drivers must switch off engines whilst on stand.
  • “In the event of a parcel arriving for him whilst he was away, what would be done with it?”1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 155

conjunctionBesides; in addition.

  • Modern engine sheds of advanced design have also been built at Radyr, Abercynon, and elsewhere, whilst other depots have been remodelled and re-equipped.1939 September, D. S. Barrie, “The Railways of South Wales”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 161
  • It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue.1963, Margery Allingham, “The Boy in the Corner”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 214

More sentences with whilst

  • Whilst it may be sunny today, the weather forecast is predicting rain.From the entry sunny
  • Whilst this rubric is not written into law, it should always be followed.From the entry rubric
  • The driver was hurt and went to hospital whilst the uninjured passengers went home.From the entry uninjured
  • The police uncovered his unsuspected drug dealing whilst investigating another matter.From the entry unsuspected
  • She's so strong, she can throw a mid-range whilst the other ones have to throw a driver.From the entry mid-range
  • The engineer called round whilst you were away.From the entry call
  • Whilst running to the checkpoint, I was wallbanged.From the entry wallbang
  • Payload princess is an unappreciated position to find oneself in. Rarely does anyone congratulate you for actually sitting on the objective whilst everyone else frolics on ahead.From the entry payload princess
  • Orient's tended to result from set pieces, whilst Ebbsfleet's came from open play.2020 August 6, Steve Leach, Twenty Football Towns, Saraband, →ISBN. From the entry open play
  • Whilst such a change would throw off Tōgō's firing solution, it would also disrupt Suvorov's own.2019 September 18, Drachinifel, 20:27 from the start, in Battle of Tsushima - When the 2nd Pacific Squadron thought it couldn't get any…. From the entry firing solution
  • The wildlife of the morfa, the saltmarshes, reflects the diversity of their setting whilst being distinctly Welsh.2017 October 19, Clive Chatters, Saltmarsh, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 125. From the entry morfa
  • Toast your bread and butter generously whilst it is still hot.2016, Michael Zee, “Ontbijt: A Dutch Breakfast”, in SymmetryBreakfast: Cook, Love, Share, London: Bantam Press, →ISBN, section 11 (Not…. From the entry hagelslag
  • I had one over the eight whilst I was in the pub.2016 October 20, G.E.Larrisey, From Care to Somewhere, page 131. From the entry one over the eight
  • She continued to rotate on the spot whilst the coffee machine chugged away.2015, Debbie McGowan, Two By Two, page 240. From the entry chug away
  • Whilst the swarms which surround you are annoying, they do not bite.2011, Denis Brook, Phil Hinchliffe, North to the Cape: A Trek from Fort William to Cape Wrath, page 49. From the entry cleg
  • Yer really buyin′ a chippy?” Tom smiled whilst nodding his head.2009, John Wise, chapter 12, in Sweet Dreams, →ISBN, page 308. From the entry chippy
  • Whilst the grottesca candelaber pilaster “antiquize”, the figurative scenes narrate Christian stories.2008, Metamorphosed Margins: The Case for a Visual Rhetoric of the Renaissance Grottesche Under the Influence of Ovid’s Metamorphoses…. From the entry antiquize
  • According to substance dualism, mind and body, whilst quite distinct, interact with one another.2005, Ian Ravenscroft, Philosophy of Mind: A Beginner's Guide, New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 10. From the entry substance dualism
  • Whilst searching for Miss Right, enjoy yourself with the Misses Wrong.2001 March 27, S.T. Pickrell, “The Rules”, in alt.romance (Usenet), archived from the original on 25 Mar 2026. From the entry Miss Wrong
  • Warrant officers execute warrants whilst process servers distribute court summonses and cajole debtors.1973, Paul Rock, Making People Pay, page 162. From the entry warrant officer
  • Whilst the fever is rampant, the body is rendered relatively futile, and its normal activities are affected.1953, Alice Bailey, Esoteric Healing, Lucis Press Limited, pages 313-314. From the entry overexcessive
  • A marauding gent from a country area, whilst visiting, switched a wire or two behind a panel.1951 January, “New South Wales: Eastern Suburbs”, in Amateur Radio, volume 19, number 1, Melbourne: Wireless Institute of Australia, page 16. From the entry swiftie
  • I wrung the promise of that bill from His Majesty whilst he was still a throneless wanderer.1923, Rafael Sabatini, chapter 3, in Fortune's Fool. From the entry throneless
  • From around us came shuffling and whispering whilst he gazed reminiscingly at the star-glinted sea.1920, Adventure, page 36. From the entry reminiscingly
  • Some fans looked to validate their romantic pairing (‘shipping’ Cloti or Clerith), whilst others looked for definitive answers.2022, James McLean, “Kingdom(s) Come: Character Remediations and Polyperspectivity of the Final Fantasy franchise in Kingdom Hearts and…. From the entry Clerith
  • Whilst there’s a sort of Unionist “fungasm” about internal disputes (see Deerin’s masterclass) there’s also mass chaos in their understanding.2021 February 22, Mike Small, “England is finally waking up to the fact that the Union is in peril”, in The National. From the entry fungasm
  • If you still want to have a highly-characterised breakdown whilst still being original about it, here are some alternatives.2021 October 16, Dan Saxotweet, “Alternatives To Becoming The Joker”, in Lemon Press. From the entry become the Joker
  • Whilst the dress is not vastly different between e-girls and e-boys, the content they put out seems to be.2020, Francesca Ionescu, "E Girl And E Boy Phenomena", Q3 (Cardiff University), Issue 9, 29 April 2020, page 2. From the entry e-boy
  • Whilst early conceptualizations of juvenocracy rest on assumptions about existing structures, later theorizing rests on an affirmation of contingency.2020, Annika Skoglund, Mats Börjesson, “Juvenocracy: Juvenocratic Spaces”, in Daniel Thomas Cook, editor, The SAGE Encyclopedia of…. From the entry juvenocracy
  • Finally, the conclusory section contains useful comments about the exploited learning tools and their results, whilst promising points are posed.2018 July 9, Stamatis Karlos, Aikaterini Karanikola, Vangjel Kazllarof, Sotiris Kotsiantis, “Local weighted Averaged 2-Dependence…. From the entry conclusory
  • LiveJournal and AO3 rely largely on tags, whilst Fanfiction.net has genre and character filters as well as a keyword search.2017, Judith May Fathallah, Fanfiction and the Author:How Fanfic Changes Popular Cultural Texts, page 39. From the entry AO3
  • Whilst caring for a congregation is fundamental, it is a long way from being the only tool in the priestcraft toolbox.2016 May 2, Kelvin Holdsworth, “The Seven Actual Marks of Mission”, in Thurible.net, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2025. From the entry priestcraft
  • "Vigilant?" asked the dock tramp, “and what will the mutton shunters be doing whilst we are remaining vigilant?”2016, George Mann -, Associates of Sherlock Holmes. From the entry mutton shunter
  • Rodgers' pregame press conference was rammed, whilst Pellegrini's was attended by one man and his dog as tumbleweeds drifted by.2015, Neil Collins, Red Mist: A Fan's View of the 2014/15 Season, →ISBN, page 24. From the entry one man and his dog
  • “Stay put whilst I shed some light on the subject.2012, Lou Cameron, Stringer and the Wild Bunch. From the entry treachersome
  • Bugging is done “feet first” which helps the user push off rocks, etc. whilst navigating the rapids of a river.2012, Melville Saayman, editor, Introduction to Sports Tourism and Event Management, Sun Press, page 341. From the entry river bug

Meaning of whilst

  1. adverb Often preceded by the: During the time; meanwhile.
  2. conjunction During the whole, or until the end, of the time that; as long as, at the same time.
  3. conjunction Within, or before the end, of the time that.

Full definition of whilst

Questions about whilst in a sentence

How do you use whilst in a sentence?
Whilst is used as an adverb and conjunction. For example: “Drivers must switch off engines whilst on stand.”
What is a short sentence with whilst?
“Drivers must switch off engines whilst on stand.”
What does whilst mean?
Whilst means often preceded by the: During the time; meanwhile.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: whilst (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use whilst in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/whilst. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.