awhile

for a short time; for an interval of time: Please stay awhile.

Not to be confused with:

a while – a period of time: He had to wait a while for the bus. It has been a while since they’ve seen each other.

a·while

(ə-wīl′, -hwīl′)

adv.

For a short time.

Usage Note: The adverb awhile and the noun phrase a while can lead to confusion because they sound the same and the noun phrase can function like an adverb. Noun phrases denoting time periods can often be used as adverbs, as one day in We'll move to Seattle one day. The same is true for a while. Thus Let's stop and rest a while is correct, since a while is here equivalent to "one day" in the previous phrase. Similarly, Let's stop and rest awhile is correct, where awhile functions as an adverb with a similar function to phrases like for an hour. · Care should be taken with prepositional phrases. Only a while can follow a preposition in a prepositional phrase, since only noun phrases can be the objects of prepositions. Thus I'll stay for a while is acceptable, but not I'll stay for awhile. (Note that if the preposition is dropped, both I'll stay a while and I'll stay awhile are acceptable, since the noun phrase a while can be used adverbially.)

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

awhile

(əˈwaɪl)

adv

for a brief period

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

a•while

(əˈʰwaɪl, əˈwaɪl)

adv.

for a short time or period: Stay awhile.

[before 1000; Middle English; Old English āne hwīle (dat.); see a¹, while]

usage: The adverb awhile is always spelled as one word: We rested awhile. The noun phrase a while is used, esp. in edited writing, when a preposition is expressed: We rested for a while. The one-word form, however, is appearing more frequently after a preposition: We rested for awhile.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adv.

awhile - for a short time; "sit down and stay awhile"; "they settled awhile in Virginia before moving West"; "the baby was quiet for a while"

for a while

awhile

adverb for a while, briefly, for a moment, for a short time, for a little while He worked awhile as a pharmacist.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

لِفَتْرَة قَصيرَه

chvilku

lidt

λίγο

egy kis ideig

stundarkorn

un momento

truputį

uz īsu brīdi

en stund litt

na chvíľku

birazkısa bir süre için

片刻

awhile

[əˈwaɪl] (esp US) ADV → un rato, algún tiempo
not yet awhile → todavía no

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

awhile

[əˈ^hwaɪl] adv → un moment, quelque temps

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

awhile

adv (liter) → eine Weile; not yet awhile! → noch eine ganze Weile nicht!

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

awhile

[əˈwaɪl] adv → (per) un po'

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

awhile

(əˈwail) adverb

for a short time. Wait awhile.

awhile

adv. por un rato, por algún tiempo;

to wait ___ → esperar un poco

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

So he sat at the feet of one awhile, and then he sat awhile at the feet of the other, and at last he applied his ear to the keyhole of the casket containing the Ashes of Madame Blavatsky.

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"I'd pray awhile to one, ponder awhile, then go on to another.

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I gazed awhile On her cold smile; Too cold-too cold for me-- There passed, as a shroud, A fleecy cloud, And I turned away to thee,

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By the time they have lounged up and down the promenade of the Equator awhile, they start for the Oriental waters in anticipation of the cool season there, and so evade the other excessive temperature of the year.

Gently he insinuates his vast bulk among them again and revels there awhile, still in tantalizing vicinity to young Lothario, like pious Solomon devoutly worshipping among his thousand concubines.

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Joe harassed him awhile, and then he got away and crossed back again.

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Then she turned and walked away; stopping to listen awhile to the music which La Petite was making.

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Mirrors her charms upon the silver shoal; And I have ta'en the lute, my only friend: The vibrant chords beneath my fingers blend; They sob awhile, then as they slip control

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For awhile there was silence, save for the moaning of the huddled and restless cattle.

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I walked awhile among the rocks: the sky was perfectly clear, and the sun so hot, that I was forced to turn my face from it: when all on a sudden it became obscure, as I thought, in a manner very different from what happens by the interposition of a cloud.

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They are betrayed into the hands of the Turks; are detained awhile at Mazna; are threatened by the Bassa of Suaquem.

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"I'd like a story where somebody lived once in awhile."

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