Word.ws English Dictionary

waits

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Canada/weɪts/

waits is the plural of wait.

waits is the third-person singular simple present indicative of wait.

Meaning of wait

Noun

wait (plural waits)

  1. A delay.
    • I had a very long wait at the airport security check.
  2. An ambush.
    • They lay in wait for the patrol.
  3. (obsolete) One who watches; a watchman.
  4. (UK, in plural, obsolete) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians.
    • […]as he returned home to his owne house, the waits should sound the hautboies all the way1659, T[itus] Livius [i.e., Livy], “[Book XVII]”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Romane Historie […], London: […] W. Hunt, for George Sawbridge, […], →OCLC
  5. (UK, in plural) Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen.
    • Hark! are the waits abroad?1609–1612, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “The Captaine”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii

See all 15 meanings of wait

Noun

waits pl (plural only)

  1. (UK, plural, plural-only) A group of singers or musicians performing in the streets, especially around Christmas.

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Waits

Waits

  1. An English surname originating as an occupation, a variant of Waite.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Waits

Waits

  1. (plural) plural of Wait

Phrases with waits

10 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with waits

12 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about waits

What does waits mean?
Waits means a group of singers or musicians performing in the streets, especially around Christmas.
What is waits the plural of?
Waits is the plural of wait.
What part of speech is waits?
Waits can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce waits?
Waits is pronounced /weɪts/ (Canada).

Words near waits in the dictionary

  1. waitrix
  2. waitron
  3. waitrons
  4. Waitrose effect
  5. Waitrosey
  6. waits
  7. waits a minute
  8. waits and sees
  9. waits around
  10. waits for
  11. waits for Godot

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: waits (page history and authors); Waits (page history and authors); wait (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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Cite this entry: “waits.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/waits. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.