Word.ws English Dictionary

waiting game

waiting game noun: a strategy or course of action in which one or more parties refrain from direct action until circumstances change in their favor.

Noun

waiting game (plural waiting games)

  1. (idiomatic) A strategy or course of action in which one or more parties refrain from direct action until circumstances change in their favor.
    • to play the waiting game
    • […] inasmuch as nothing was really and rationally to be hoped for but a long continuance of the siege and wearying out of the English, they were naturally a little afraid of Joan's impetuous notions. He said— “You see, we are sure that the waiting game is the best, whereas you would carry...1895 November, Louis de Conte, translated by [Jean François Alden] [pseudonyms; Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain)], “Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc. […]”, in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine...

Examples of waiting game in a sentence

  • He said— “You see, we are sure that the waiting game is the best, whereas you would carry everything by storm.”1895 November, Louis de Conte, translated by [Jean François Alden] [pseudonyms; Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain)], “Personal...
  • With Sam the only menace, I had been prepared to play a purely waiting game, watching proceedings from afar, ready to give my help if necessary.1913, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 14, in The Little Nugget:
  • It was a waiting game, and whichever waited the longer was bound to win.1914, Jack London, “The Siege of the Lancashire Queen”, in Tales of the Fish Patrol:
  • I hear a voice but it's not yours / I count the score / I can't go on playing the waiting game1989, Andy Connell, Corinne Drewery, “Waiting Game”, performed by Swing Out Sister:

Forms of waiting game

pluralwaiting games

Questions about waiting game

What does waiting game mean?
Waiting game means a strategy or course of action in which one or more parties refrain from direct action until circumstances change in their favor.
How do you use waiting game in a sentence?
He said— “You see, we are sure that the waiting game is the best, whereas you would carry everything by storm.”
What part of speech is waiting game?
Waiting game is a noun.
What is the plural of waiting game?
The plural of waiting game is waiting games.

Words near waiting game in the dictionary

  1. waiting for
  2. waiting for Godot
  3. waiting for the ball to drop
  4. waiting for the cat to jump
  5. waiting for the other shoe to drop
  6. waiting game
  7. waiting games
  8. waiting in the wings
  9. waiting list
  10. waiting lists
  11. waiting maid

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: waiting game (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-waiting game.ogg.

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