to wait around
94
2.5
- phrasal verb
- /weɪt əˈraʊnd/
- Informal
- I decided to wait around at the cafe until my friend arrived.
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Watch on YouTubeAnd you can't just wait around for things to fix themselves.
- And you can't just wait around for things to fix themselves.
- Or maybe you find yourself spending hours waiting around for that perfect idea.
- So you can't wait around for him to get strong.
- Most people don't wait around for the candy.
- So the ninjas are just been waiting around, smoking cigarettes, playing mahjong, waiting.
- Well, you know, you can wait around for someone to tell you that you're the one who can do it or it's your turn, or you can just do it yourself, right?
- A human being can wait around and try to kill its captor or it can defer.
Examples
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They just sit and wait around without doing anything about it.
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We can't wait around all day.
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Or maybe you find yourself spending hours waiting around for that perfect idea.
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You just wait around for calls.
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We cannot wait around for anyone to do this for us.
Academic text (2010) -
And you can't just wait around for things to fix themselves.
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I think you'd better wait around here for a while.
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We can't just wait around and hope for someone to call us like last time.
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We've waited around here long enough tonight.
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I can't wait around for the next departure.
Synonyms
445
3.4
To wait a short time or keep going through a hard time
431
3.2
To wait for something with hope or excitement
371
1.1
To spend time sitting and doing very little without a clear purpose
334
2.0
To stay in a place without doing anything important
326
2.9
Stay in a place to wait for something
78
3.7
To wait patiently and not act
33
5.4
To stand or wait in a place without a clear reason
25
7.4
Wait patiently and stay calm during a delay
25
7.4
To wait patiently for the right time to act
17
3.7
To spend time doing nothing useful
7
5.8
To do nothing while you wait for something to happen
6
4.4
To stay in a place without a clear reason
5
6.3
Spend time waiting without making progress, doing unproductive things
2
7.5
To pass time by doing something not useful while you wait
1
4.4
To spend time doing very little and relaxing
1
7.5
Wait for a good chance before acting
Do nothing while waiting for something to happen
To wait doing nothing because you are delayed or bored
Antonyms
How Idle
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to spend time doing nothing in particular while expecting something to happen' is directly derivable from combining 'wait' (to stay or postpone action) with 'around' (in or about a place, aimlessly). This verb + particle composition is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern in English, so a B1 learner who knows both words should be able to infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Wait around creates a simple picture: you stand or stay near a place and do nothing while you expect someone or something. The word around shows staying close by, so wait around means 'to spend time doing nothing while expecting something to happen or someone to arrive'.