to wait up
170
3.6
- phrasal verb
- /weɪt ʌp/
- Informal
:
quedarse despierto
- His wife, Betty, was waiting up for him.
- wait up all night
- mother was waiting up
- wife was waiting up
Examples
-
Don't wait up for me.
-
You have to wait up for me, though.
-
For safety, they had been waiting up in a tree for two or three hours.
Academic text (2011) -
When I got in late the other night, my father was waiting up for me.
Fiction book (2000) -
Robert and I will wait up for you.
Fiction book (1996) -
I'm not going to bed; I'm waiting up for you.
Fiction book (1994) -
"Did you wait up for me just to figure that out?" he asked, more urgently.
Fiction book (2000) -
And I hate to make all of us East Coasties wait up that late too.
Blog text (10) -
I'll be waiting up until you get home, 'cause I can't sleep without you, baby.
-
When I got in late the other night, my father was waiting up for me.
Synonyms
253
2.4
To be awake later than usual
47
1.8
To stay awake late and not go to bed
Antonyms
How Long
- Informal
253
2.4
- Informal
170
3.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to stay awake until someone arrives' is directly derivable from combining 'wait' (to stay or postpone action) with 'up' (not asleep/out of bed), so a learner who knows both words can infer staying awake while waiting. This verb+particle composition and the use of 'up' to indicate an awake/state meaning is common and therefore readily comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The phrasal verb wait up comes from the simple image of someone staying awake for another person, with wait meaning 'to stay' and up meaning 'awake'. That's why it means 'to stay awake until someone arrives', often to meet or welcome them.