while

while  (hwl, wl)

n.

1. A period of time: stay for a while; sang all the while. See Usage Note at awhile.

2. The time, effort, or trouble taken in doing something: The project wasn't worth my while.

conj.

1. As long as; during the time that: It was lovely while it lasted.

2. At the same time that; although: While the grandparents love the children, they are strict with them.

3. Whereas; and: The soles are leather, while the uppers are canvas.

tr.v. whiled, whil·ing, whiles

To spend (time) idly or pleasantly: while the hours away.

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[Middle English, from Old English hwl; see k^wei- in Indo-European roots.]

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while [waɪl]

conj also whilst [waɪlst]

1. (subordinating) at the same time that please light the fire while I'm cooking

2. (subordinating) all the time that I stay inside while it's raining

3. (subordinating) in spite of the fact that while I agree about his brilliance I still think he's rude

4. (coordinating) whereas; and in contrast flats are expensive, while houses are cheap

5. (subordinating; used with a gerund) during the activity of while walking I often whistle

prep & conj

Scot and northern English dialect another word for until you'll have to wait while Monday for these sheets you'll never make any progress while you listen to me

n

1. (usually used in adverbial phrases) a period or interval of time once in a long while

2. trouble or time (esp in the phrase worth one's while) it's hardly worth your while to begin work today

the while at that time he was working the while See also whiles

[Old English hwīl; related to Old High German hwīla (German Weile), Gothic hveila, Latin quiēs peace, tranquīlus tranquil]

Usage: It was formerly considered incorrect to use while to mean in spite of the fact that or whereas, but these uses have now become acceptable

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

while - a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition; "he was here for a little while"; "I need to rest for a piece"; "a spell of good weather"; "a patch of bad weather" spell, patch, piece time - an indefinite period (usually marked by specific attributes or activities); "he waited a long time"; "the time of year for planting"; "he was a great actor in his time" cold snap, cold spell - a spell of cold weather hot spell - a spell of hot weather snap - a spell of cold weather; "a cold snap in the middle of May"

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while

conjunction

at the same time as, during the time that, for the period that Her parents look after her daughter while she works.

noun

time, period, stretch, spell, patch (Brit. informal), interval, period of time, stint They walked on in silence for a while.

while something away (with time as object) pass, spend, kill, occupy, use up, beguile She whiled away the hours watching old movies on TV.

Translations

while [waɪl]

A. N

1. a while (= some moments) → un ratito; (= some minutes, hours) → un rato; (= some weeks, months) → un tiempo
after a while → al cabo de un rato, al rato
all the while → todo el tiempo
I lived in Paris for a while → viví un tiempo en París
let it simmer for a while → deje que hierva un rato a fuego lento
it will be a good while before he gets here → tardará(un rato)en venir aún, todavía falta(un rato)para que venga(LAm)
a little while ago → hace poco
a long while ago → hace mucho
once in a while → de vez en cuando
it takes quite a while → lleva tiempo
in a short while → dentro de poco, al rato(LAm)
stay a while with us → quédate un rato con nosotros
the while → entretanto, mientras tanto
he looked at me the while → mientras tanto me estaba mirando

2.
it is worth while to ask whether → vale la pena preguntar si ...
we'll make it worth your while → te compensaremos generosamente
it's not worth my while → no me vale la pena

B. CONJ

1. (= during the time that) → mientras
while this was happening → mientras pasaba esto
she fell asleep while reading → se durmió mientras leía
while you are away → mientras estés fuera
to drink while on duty → beber estando de servicio

2. (= as long as) → mientras(que)
it won't happen while I'm here → no pasará mientras(que)yo esté aquí

3. (= although) → aunque
while I admit it is awkward → aunque reconozco que es difícil

4. (= whereas) → mientras que
I enjoy sport, while he prefers reading → a mí me gusta el deporte, mientras que él prefiere la lectura

while away VT + ADV to while away the time or the hours → pasar el tiempo or el rato

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while [ˈ^hwaɪl]

n → moment m
for a while → pendant un moment
I lived in London for a while → J'ai vécu à Londres pendant un moment.
after a while → au bout d'un moment
quite a while → un bon moment
I haven't seen him for quite a while → Cela fait un bon moment que je ne l'ai pas vu.
a while ago → il y a un moment
He was here a while ago → Il était là il y a un moment.
a book that I read a little while ago
BUT un livre que j'ai lu il y a peu de temps.
quite a while ago → il y a un bon moment
in a while → dans un moment
all the while → pendant tout ce temps-là

to be worth sb's while → valoir la peine, Ne discute pas avec lui, cela n'en vaut pas la peine.
It's worth your while to book in advance → Cela vaut la peine de réserver à l'avance.

conj

(at the same time as) → pendant que
You hold the torch while I look inside → Tiens la lampe électrique pendant que je regarde à l'intérieur.

(when) → pendant que
While I was in London she was in Paris → Pendant que j'étais à Londres, elle était à Paris.
She never went there while her husband was alive
BUT Elle ne n'y est jamais allé du vivant de son mari.
There was never any trouble while we were living there
BUT Il n'y a jamais eu de problème quand nous vivions là-bas.

(= as, whereas) → alors que
Isobel is very dynamic, while Kay is more laid-back → Isobel est très dynamique, alors que Kay est plus relax.

(= though) (with clause) → quoique + subj; (with adjective) → quoique
While I'm fond of him, I don't actually want to marry him → Quoique je l'aime bien, je ne veux pas vraiment l'épouser.
Your letter, while complete in other regards, avoided the subject of cost → Votre lettre, quoique complète à d'autres égards, évitait la question du coût.

while away

vt sep [+ time] → passer

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while

n

→ Weile f, → Weilchen nt (inf); for a while → (für) eine Weile, eine Zeit lang; (= a short moment) → (für) einen Augenblick or Moment; a good or long while → eine ganze or lange Weile, eine ganze Zeit lang; for/after quite a while → ziemlich or recht lange, (für) eine geraume/nach einer geraumen Weile (geh); a little or short while → ein Weilchen (inf), → kurze Zeit; it’ll be ready in a short while → es wird bald fertig sein; a little while ago → vor Kurzem; a long while ago → vor einer ganzen Weile, vor längerer or langer Zeit; some while ago → vor einiger Zeit; all the while → die ganze Zeit (über)

the while (liter) → derweil, unterdessen

to be worth (one’s) while to … → sich (für jdn) lohnen, zu …; we’ll make it worth your while → es soll ihr Schaden nicht sein

conj

→ während; (= as long as) → solange; she fell asleep while reading → sie schlief beim Lesen ein; he became famous while still young → er wurde berühmt, als er noch jung war; you must not drink while on duty → Sie dürfen im Dienst nicht trinken

(= although) while one must admit there are difficulties … → man muss zwar zugeben, dass es Schwierigkeiten gibt, trotzdem …; while the text is not absolutely perfect, nevertheless … → obwohl (zwar) der Text nicht einwandfrei ist, … trotzdem; it is difficult to be fair while at the same time being honest → es ist schwierig, fair und gleichzeitig auch gerecht zu sein

(= whereas) → während

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while [waɪl]

1. n

a. a while → un po' (di tempo)
for a little while → per un po'
for a long while → per un bel po', a lungo
after a while → dopo un po'
for a while → per un po', per un certo periodo
in a while → tra poco
once in a while → ogni tanto, una volta ogni tanto
it will be a good while before he gets here → gli ci vorrà un bel po' (di tempo) per arrivare qui
a little while ago → poco fa
in between whiles → nel frattempo
all the while → tutto il tempo

b. we'll make it worth your while → faremo in modo che non ti penta
it might be worth your while to ... → forse ti converrebbe...

2. conj

a. (during the time that) → mentre; (as long as) → finché, mentre
while this was happening → mentre avveniva questo
she fell asleep while reading → si addormentò mentre stava leggendo
it won't happen while I'm here → non accadrà finché sono qui io

b. (although) → benché + sub, sebbene + sub, anche se
while I agree with what you have said → benché sia d'accordo or anche se sono d'accordo con ciò che hai detto

c. (whereas) → mentre
I enjoy sport, while he prefers reading → a me piace lo sport, mentre lui preferisce la lettura

while away vt + adv (time, hours) → far passare

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while [waɪl]

1. n

a. a while → un po' (di tempo)
for a little while → per un po'
for a long while → per un bel po', a lungo
after a while → dopo un po'
for a while → per un po', per un certo periodo
in a while → tra poco
once in a while → ogni tanto, una volta ogni tanto
it will be a good while before he gets here → gli ci vorrà un bel po' (di tempo) per arrivare qui
a little while ago → poco fa
in between whiles → nel frattempo
all the while → tutto il tempo

b. we'll make it worth your while → faremo in modo che non ti penta
it might be worth your while to ... → forse ti converrebbe...

2. conj

a. (during the time that) → mentre; (as long as) → finché, mentre
while this was happening → mentre avveniva questo
she fell asleep while reading → si addormentò mentre stava leggendo
it won't happen while I'm here → non accadrà finché sono qui io

b. (although) → benché + sub, sebbene + sub, anche se
while I agree with what you have said → benché sia d'accordo or anche se sono d'accordo con ciò che hai detto

c. (whereas) → mentre
I enjoy sport, while he prefers reading → a me piace lo sport, mentre lui preferisce la lettura

while away vt + adv (time, hours) → far passare

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while

conj while [wail]

(alsowhilstwailst)

1 during the time that I saw him while I was out walking. terwyl بينَما докато když mens während ενώ mientras sel ajal kui درطی samaan aikaan kun pendant que כַאֲשֶר अरसा dok (a)míg, mialatt ketika á meðan mentre ～する間に …하는 동안에 tuo metu, kai; kol tobrīd, kad sementara terwijl mens; under, så lenge podczas (gdy) enquanto în timp ce пока; в то время как keď medtem ko dok medan, under det att ขณะที่ (yap)arken, iken 正當... в той час як جس وقت میں trong khi 当...的时候

2 although While I sympathize, I can't really do very much to help. hoewel مع أنَّ въпреки ačkoli selvom wenn auch αν και, μολονότι aunque kuigi اگرچه vaikka bien que בִּזמָן שֶׁ- हालांकि iako bár meskipun enda þótt sebbene ～であるのに …에 반하여, …인데도 nors lai gan walaupun hoewel selv om aczkolwiek embora deşi хотя hoci čeprav iako även om ถึงแม้ว่า ...-diği hâlde, ...-se de 雖然 незважаючи на те, що حالانکہ mặc dù 虽然，尽管

n

a space of time It took me quite a while; It's a long while since we saw her. 'n rukkie فَتْرَه، بُرْهَه време chvíle, doba stykke tid die Weile χρονικό διάστημα algún tiempo; mucho tiempo aeg, tükk aega برای مدتی aika (assez) longtemps; quelque temps פֶּרֶק זְמָן समय neko vrijeme, dosta vremena (bizonyos) idő (jangka waktu) lama tími, stund po', momento しばらくの間 (짧은) 시간, 기간, 동안 laiko tarpas, valandėlė labs brītiņš tempoh masa yang tidak pasti poos tid(srom), stund chwila, pewien czas um bocado ceva timp промежуток времени chvíľa, doba čas dugo vremena stund, tid ชั่วขณะหนึ่ง zaman süresi 一段時間 час, відрізок часу وقت một lúc 一会儿

while away

to pass (time) without boredom He whiled away the time by reading. spandeer, bestee, verwyl يَقْضي الوَقْت، يَقْتُل الوَقْت прекарвам неусетно strávit fordrive sich (die Zeit) vertreiben περνώ, σκοτώνω την ώρα μου pasar el tiempo/rato aega veetma سپرى کردن kuluttaa aikaa (faire) passer לְהַעֲבִיר זְמָן आनंद लेते हुए समय बिताना protratiti vrijeme eltölt (időt) merintang waktu láta tímann líða (passare il tempo) 過ごす 시간이 바쁘게 지나가다 leisti īsināt laiku menghabiskan masa verdoen fordrive, få tida til å gå zabijać czas, skracać sobie passar o tempo a face să treacă (timpul) коротать время stráviť prijetno preživeti ubiti vreme fördriva ทำให้เวลาผ่านไป sıkılmadan vakit geçirmek 消磨 проводити час وقت گزارنا sử dụng thời gian 消磨

worth one's while

worth one's time and trouble It's not worth your while reading this book, because it isn't accurate. die moeite werd, die loon werd جَدير بالوَقْت الذي يُنفَق عَلَيْه заслужавам си stát za to være umagen værd der Mühe wert που αξίζει τον κόπο valer la pena tasuma, kasu olema ارزش سپری کردن زمان را نداشتن maksaa vaivan qui vaut la peine (de) שָווֵה לְך लाभदायक biti vrijedan vremena megéri a fáradságot sem borgar sig (che non vale la pena) ～する価値がある ...할 가치가 있는 verta, apsimoka (nav) vērts berbaloi de moeite waard (være) umaken verd, (ikke) lønne seg wart zachodu valer a pena care merită efortul стоить затраченного времени, усилий stáť za to vredno truda vredan truda คุ้มค่ากับเวลาที่เสียไป değer 值得某人花時間和力氣 вартий; доцільний جو کسی کے وقت کا صحیح مصرف ہو tận dụng thời gian 值得

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while → حينما, فترة وجيزة chvíle, když mens, tid während, Weile ενώ, χρονικό διάστημα mientras, rato ajanjakso, sillä aikaa kun moment, pendant que dok, vrijeme mentre, tempo ･･･する間, 間 …하는 동안에, 잠시 terwijl, tijdje så lenge, stund chwila, podczas, gdy enquanto, momento время, пока medan, stund ขณะที่, ชั่วขณะหนึ่ง iken, sırada khoảng thời gian, trong khi 一会儿, 虽然