wait up

English

Verb

wait up (third-person singular simple present waits up, present participle waiting up, simple past and past participle waited up)

1. To stay awake waiting for somebody to return.
   • 1980, Joe Garner, Never Fly Over an Eagle's Nest, page 66:

     Anyway, Dad waited up for them. It must have been about midnight when they came in.

   • 2005, Kathryn E. Livingston, All About Motherhood, page 55:

     It is one a.m. on a Sunday morning and I'm waiting up for my teenage son, who was supposed to be home at midnight.

   • 2008, Michael Panar, Changes‎^[1]:

     One night, Lana came home, while her dad waited up for her.

   • 2011, Catherine Greenman, Hooked, page 203:

     Dad waited up at first, but by the end of sophomore year he was always in bed.

   • 2011, Susan Calder, Deadly Fall, page 99:

     My dad waited up for us, pacing all over the place.

2. (colloquial, often used in the imperative, US) To wait.

   Hey, wait up! I forgot my umbrella.

   We have to wait up for Steve.

Translations

stay awake

• Swedish: vänta uppe, stanna uppe

wait

• Japanese: 少々 (ja) (shōshō)