2 PHRASAL VERB [usu imper] If you ask someone to wait up , you are asking them to go more slowly or to stop and wait for you. [AM , INFORMAL ] □ [V P ] I was running down the hill shouting, 'Michael, Michael, man, wait up'.
wait|er /we I tə r / (waiters )
1 N‑COUNT A waiter is a man who works in a restaurant, serving people with food and drink.
2 → see also dumb waiter
wai t|ing ga me (waiting games ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] If you play a waiting game , you deal with a situation by deliberately doing nothing, because you believe you will gain an advantage by acting later, or because you are waiting to see how other people are going to act. □ He's playing a waiting game. He'll hope to hang on until the pressure is off.
wai t|ing list (waiting lists ) N‑COUNT [oft on N ] A waiting list is a list of people who have asked for something which cannot be given to them immediately, for example medical treatment, housing, or training, and who must therefore wait until it is available. □ [+ for ] There were 20,000 people on the waiting list for a home.
wai t|ing room (waiting rooms ) also waiting-room N‑COUNT A waiting room is a room in a place such as a railway station or a clinic, where people can sit down while they wait.
wait|ress /we I trəs/ (waitresses , waitressing , waitressed )
1 N‑COUNT A waitress is a woman who works in a restaurant, serving people with food and drink.
2 VERB A woman who waitresses works in a restaurant serving food and drink. □ [V ] She had been working in a pub, cooking and waitressing. ● wait|ress|ing N‑UNCOUNT □ She does a bit of waitressing as a part-time job.
waive /we I v/ (waives , waiving , waived )
1 VERB If you waive your right to something, for example legal representation, you choose not to have it or do it. □ [V n] He pleaded guilty to the murders of three boys and waived his right to appeal.
2 VERB If someone waives a rule, they say that people do not have to obey it in a particular situation. □ [V n] The art gallery waives admission charges on Sundays.
waiv|er /we I və r / (waivers ) N‑COUNT A waiver is when a person, government, or organization agrees to give up a right or says that people do not have to obey a particular rule or law. □ [+ of ] …a waiver of constitutional rights.
wake ◆◇◇ /we I k/ (wakes , waking , woke , woken ) The form waked is used in American English for the past tense. 1 VERB When you wake or when someone or something wakes you, you become conscious again after being asleep. □ [V ] It was cold and dark when I woke at 6.30. □ [V + to ] Bob woke slowly to sunshine pouring in his window. □ [V to-inf] She woke to find her dark room lit by flashing lights. □ [V n] She went upstairs to wake Milton. ● PHRASAL VERB Wake up means the same as wake . □ [V P ] One morning I woke up and felt something was wrong. □ [V n P ] At dawn I woke him up and said we were leaving.
2 N‑COUNT [usu sing, with poss] The wake of a boat or other object moving in water is the track of waves that it makes behind it as it moves through the water. □ [+ of ] Dolphins sometimes play in the wake of the boats.
3 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A wake is a gathering or social event that is held before or after someone's funeral. □ A funeral wake was in progress.
4 PHRASE If one thing follows in the wake of another, it happens after the other thing is over, often as a result of it. □ The governor has enjoyed a huge surge in the polls in the wake of last week's convention.
5 PHRASE [usu with poss] Your waking hours are the times when you are awake rather than asleep. □ It was work which consumed most of his waking hours.
6 PHRASE If you leave something or someone in your wake , you leave them behind you as you go. □ Adam stumbles on, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake.
7 PHRASE If you are following in someone's wake , you are following them or their example. □ In his wake came a waiter wheeling a trolley. □ …the endless stream of female artists who released albums in her wake.
▸ wake up
1 PHRASAL VERB If something such as an activity wakes you up , it makes you more alert and ready to do things after you have been lazy or inactive. □ [V P n] A cool shower wakes up the body and boosts circulation. [Also V n P ]
2 → see also wake 1
▸ wake up to PHRASAL VERB If you wake up to something, you become aware of it. □ [V P P n] People should wake up to the fact that people with disabilities have got a vote as well.
wake|ful /we I kfʊl/ ADJ Someone who is wakeful finds it difficult to get to sleep and wakes up very often when they should be sleeping. ● wake|ful|ness N‑UNCOUNT □ It is never a good idea to take sleeping tablets regularly for this kind of wakefulness.
wak|en /we I kən/ (wakens , wakening , wakened ) VERB When you waken , or when someone or something wakens you, you wake from sleep. [LITERARY ] □ [V n] The noise of a door slamming wakened her. □ [V ] Women are much more likely than men to waken because of noise. ● PHRASAL VERB Waken up means the same as waken . □ [V n P ] 'Drink this coffee–it will waken you up.' □ [V P ] If you do waken up during the night, start the exercises again.