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to queue

to queue

20 3.4
To form or join a line while waiting
  • verb
  • /kjuː/
  • UK
translation icon : hacer cola
  • There are people queuing around the other side of the bar.
  • people queue
  • lines of buses queued

We want our phone to magically recharge while we're queuing for coffee, right?

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Examples

  • The Immigration Hall is filled with passengers arriving from Earth, queued up in three long lines.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • People would be queuing round the block to have a chat with him.

    Brian and Charles (2022)

  • You have to queue up like everyone and wait.

    Torn Curtain (1966)

  • But I still have to queue up and apply for this and that, which is hard.

    Visions of Europe (2004)

  • People are usually happy to queue if they feel it is fair.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Eventually, people have to queue, spilling out onto the street.

    Academic text (2008)

  • Women spent hours each day queuing at shops, though the food often sold out quickly.

  • A day and a half still to go till the big match, but at Manchester Airport fans have been queuing to leave since three o'clock this morning.

    David Beckham: Infamous (2022)

  • At the concert, fans had to queue to get in while eagerly chatting about their favorite bands.

  • Before the store opened for the big sale, a long line formed as shoppers started to queue outside.

Synonyms

to line up
vsto queue
115 2.6

Put people or things in a straight row

is mainly about waiting rather than arranging or positioning
to stand in line
vsto queue
  • US
76 1.7

To wait in a line of people for your turn

is the same action but named differently in other phrases
to file
vsto queue
61 3.7

To move in a line one after another

describes moving in order rather than simply waiting
to line up for
vsto queue
26 2.1

To wait in a line to get something

focuses on forming or joining rather than the reason for waiting
to wait your turn
vsto queue
17 2.0

Be patient and let others go before you until it is your turn

describes forming or joining an organized row rather than just patience
to queue up
vsto queue
  • UK
3 3.1

To wait in a line to buy something or enter a place

is the same action but often expressed with a particle verb form

Antonyms

to scatter
110 2.7

To make people or animals move quickly in different directions

to disband
43 4.3

To stop being a group, for example a band or committee

Phrasal Verbs

to queue up
  • UK
3 3.1

To wait in a line to buy something or enter a place

to queue up
  • Specialized
1 3.5

To add items to a list so they play or run later

to jump the queue
  • UK
1 4.8

Move ahead of people waiting in a line to skip your turn

to get on the end of the queue
  • UK
2.9

Join the back of a line of people waiting

Compounds

push-down queue
  • Specialized
7.7

A pile where the last item put on is the first taken off

How Ordered

to file in
9 3.5
to line up
115 2.6
to queue
  • UK
20 3.4
to gather
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

queue infinitive
queued past
queued past participle
queuing present participle
queues third person singular

Etymology

The verb queue comes from the noun queue 'tail'; to queue is to form or join a line that follows behind others, just like parts of a tail follow one after another.