wait-a-while

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English

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Etymology

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Originally after South African Dutch wacht-en-beetje; compare wait-a-bit.

Noun

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wait-a-while (plural wait-a-whiles)

  1. (South Africa) Synonym of wait-a-bit. [from 19th c.]
  2. (Australia) Any of several thorny Australian vines or shrubs which impede passage, especially Acacia cuspidifolia of Western Australia, Smilax australis of eastern Australia and the Northern Territory, and lawyer vine.
    • 1979, Thea Astley, Hunting the Wild Pineapple, Nelson, page 136:
      In the new clearing by the creek where he had felled most of the big stuff, she attacked the landscape with anger, grubbing out the wait-a-while and bush-sword that was still guzzling round the stumps.