wait on
verb
variants
or less commonly wait upon
waited on also waited upon; waiting on also waiting upon; waits on also waits upon
1
a
: to attend as a servant
b
: to supply the wants of : serve
2
: to make a formal call on
3
: to wait for
Examples of wait on in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Six hours from now your dining room table will be bustling with friends waiting on your French onion soup for a dinner party.
—
Jesse Raub, Bon Appetit Magazine, 30 Mar. 2026
Sherwood’s presentation was informal; the company is waiting on a reply for the state, and has applied for no local wetlands or zoning permits so far.
—Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 30 Mar. 2026
The delay and uncertainty mean Duryea and hundreds of small towns are still waiting on the federal government to disburse money that Congress already appropriated, says Andrew Rumbach, who studies disaster policy at the Urban Institute think tank.
—Rebecca Hersher, NPR, 30 Mar. 2026
Meanwhile, some of the top free agents have had to sit and wait on the open market for months, no one apparently wanting to meet their asking price.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 28 Mar. 2026
Nothing erodes confidence faster than fumbling for lockboxes, waiting on unresponsive listing agents, or showing a space that clearly doesn’t fit.
—Allen Buchanan, Oc Register, 28 Mar. 2026
Cleveland’s still waiting on its first title in 78 years, and the people in the bleachers in Milwaukee and San Diego have been holding out for 57 trips around the sun.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 27 Mar. 2026
The Blue Jays are waiting on righties Shane Bieber, José Berríos and Trey Yesavage; the Orioles on second baseman Jackson Holliday and third baseman Jordan Westburg; the Red Sox on first baseman Triston Casas.
—Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
But faced with an overwhelming surge of migrants, the Obama administration in 2016 adopted a metering policy that required people to wait on the Mexican side of the border.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026
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Jesse Raub, Bon Appetit Magazine, 30 Mar. 2026
Sherwood’s presentation was informal; the company is waiting on a reply for the state, and has applied for no local wetlands or zoning permits so far.
—Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 30 Mar. 2026
The delay and uncertainty mean Duryea and hundreds of small towns are still waiting on the federal government to disburse money that Congress already appropriated, says Andrew Rumbach, who studies disaster policy at the Urban Institute think tank.
—Rebecca Hersher, NPR, 30 Mar. 2026
Meanwhile, some of the top free agents have had to sit and wait on the open market for months, no one apparently wanting to meet their asking price.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 28 Mar. 2026
Nothing erodes confidence faster than fumbling for lockboxes, waiting on unresponsive listing agents, or showing a space that clearly doesn’t fit.
—Allen Buchanan, Oc Register, 28 Mar. 2026
Cleveland’s still waiting on its first title in 78 years, and the people in the bleachers in Milwaukee and San Diego have been holding out for 57 trips around the sun.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 27 Mar. 2026
The Blue Jays are waiting on righties Shane Bieber, José Berríos and Trey Yesavage; the Orioles on second baseman Jackson Holliday and third baseman Jordan Westburg; the Red Sox on first baseman Triston Casas.
—Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
But faced with an overwhelming surge of migrants, the Obama administration in 2016 adopted a metering policy that required people to wait on the Mexican side of the border.
—Los Angeles Times, 24 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Wait on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wait%20on. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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