wait up

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English

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Pronunciation

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  • Audio (US):(file)

Verb

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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

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