waist 
6804 
There is a small kno]) at the small jiai t or mtint [of an 
hour-glass shaped salt-cellav]. 
South Koixington tiatidbook, College Corp. Plate. 
The date of refounding this bell (lf>76) is cast upon its 
Tram. Ukt.Soe.of LancashireandCheshire.'S. fi.,y.l3S. 
Especially -(a) The narrowest part of the body of musical waistcoating (wast ' kot - ing, eoUoq. wes ' kot 
instruments of the violin kind, formed by the bouts, or in- ing), n. A textile fabric made especially for 
Who keeps the outward door there? here's fine shuflling! 
You waistcoateer, you must go back. 
Fletcher, Humorous Lieutenant, i. 1. 
I knew you a waistcoatefr in the garden alleys, 
And would come to a sailor's whistle. 
Massinger, City Madam, iii. 1. 
men's waistcoats, and different from cloth in- 
tended to be used for coats and trousers. These 
stuffs usually contain silk, and are of a fancy 
pattern. 
Mrs. Cai'ver bespoke from hira two pieces of waistcoat- 
itvj. Miss Edgeworth, The Dun, p. 816. (Davies.) 
'waist-deep (wast'dep), a. and adv. So deep 
as to reach or be covered from the feet up to 
the waist: as, the ford yi&s waist-deep. 
The eager Knight leap'd in the sea 
Wai^-deep, and first on shore was he. 
Scott, Lord of the Isles, v. 14. 
Peasant waist. See peasanf a„ o««l,nv waisted (was'ted), «. [Formerly also wa«to?; 
waist-anchor (wast'ang^kor), «. An anchor *< ^^,^ +^^^2.] Havingawaist (of some speci- 
fied shape or type). 
Med. I never saw a Coat letter cut. 
Sir Fop. It makes me show Ions-wasted. 
Etherege, Man of Mode, iii. 2. 
yard curves of the ribs neai- the middle of the body. 
Xaut., the central part of a ship. 
Quarter your selves in order, some abaft ; 
Some in the Ships waste, all in martial order. 
Heywood, Fortune by Land and Sea (Works, ed. 1874, VI. 
(416). 
(c) The middle part of a period of time. 
In the dead waist [var. vast] and middle of the night, 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 2. 198. 
'Tis now about the immodest waist of night. 
Marxton, Malcontent, ii. 3. 
This was .about the wa^e of day. 
Looes of Hero and Leander, p. 114. 
stowed ill the waist; a sheet-anchor, 
waistband (wast'baiid), «. 1. A band meant 
to encircle the waist, especially such a band 
forming part of a garment and serving to stif- 
fen or maintain it: as, the WrtiS<6aH(J of a skirt, ^aister (was'ter), «. [< wnirf + -ed.] 1. A 
A pair of dreadnought pilot-trousers, whereof the «iats(- _ . - . . , ,, , , 
band was so very broad and high that it became a suc- 
cedaneum for a waistcoat. Dickens, Dombey and Son, xxiii. 
2. A separate or outer girdle or belt. [Rare.] 
waist-belt (wast'belt), n. A belt worn about 
the waist. 
wait 
4t. The act of watching ; watchfulness. 
The uimbleuesB & wayt of the dog too take hiz auaun- 
tage, and the fors & experiens of the bear agayn to auoid 
Robert haneham. Letter from Kenilworth (1575). 
5t. An ambush; a trap; a plot: obsolete ex- 
cept in the phrase to lie in wait. 
Kals semblance hath a visage ful demure, 
Lightly to catche the ladies in a waiU; 
"Where-fore we must, if that we wil endure, 
Make right good watche. 
Political Poems, etc. (ed. Fumivall), p. 78. 
6. The act of waiting: as, a wait for the train 
at a station. — 7. Time occupied in waiting; 
delay; an interval of waiting; specifically, in 
theatrical language, the time between two acts. 
Compare stage-wait. 
It was thought I had suffered enough in my long -wait 
for the trial. Mrs. Oliphanl, The Ladies Lindores, p. 98. 
During the wait between the first and second parts the 
Prince sent for Herr Schoenberger, a pianist who had 
pleased him very much, and personally complimented him. 
T. C. Crawford, English Life, p. 141. 
To lay wait. See !ai/l.— To lie In ■wait. See lie^.— 
Waits' badge, a badge formerly worn by town musicians, 
usually an escutcheon with the aims of the borough. Such 
badges exist in the treasuries of English towns and corpo- 
rations. 
^^^^r^^o^a r^^;, '^ ^^ w^* a^i<^^:— ^-rr '^°!;,x 
in the waist of the vessel until qualified for more 
responsible duties. — 2. On a naval vessel, for- 
merly, one of a class of old men who have been 
disabled or grown gray without rising in the 
She wore a tight-fitting bodice of cream-white flannel yraist-hieh (wast'hi), a. [Formerly also wast- 
,d „et.ico.ats of L-rav flannel, whde she had a watstbelt w^^^ _ ^ S ^^ .V^ ^ ^^.^l'-^ ^L ^.^^ ^^J^^^ ^^.^^_ 
Contemptible villages, ... the grasse wast-high, un- 
moved, uneaten. Sandys, Travailes, p. 117. 
waist-panel (wast'pan"el), n. The panel imme- 
diately above the lowest panel on the outside 
of a carriage-body. Car-Builder's Diet. [Eng.] 
and petticoats of gray flannel, while she had 
and pouch of brilliant blue. 
W. Black, Piiucess of Tliule, vn, 
waist-boat (wast'bot), n. A boat carried in 
the waist of a vessel; specifically, in whaliny, 
the second mate's boat, carried in the waist 
on the port side. 
waist-boater (wast'b6"ter), n. The officer of waist-piece (wast'pes), n. The steel skirt, or 
the boat carried in the waist of a whaler ; the great braguette, of the armor of the fourteenth 
second mate century. Compare cut under tasset. 
waist-Cloth ('wast'kloth), v. 1 . A piece of cloth waist-rail (wast/ral), n. A horizontal piece in 
worn bv the natives in India around the waist 
and hanging below it, and, as often worn 
passed between the thighs. Compare dhotce.— 
2. Naut.: (n) Hammock-cloths of the waist 
nettings. Bamer.ily. (6t) pl- Cloths hung about 
the cage-work of a ship's hull, to protect the 
men in action. Naves. 
The rest of the day we spent in accommodating our Boat ; 
in stead of thoules wee made stickes like Bcdstaues, to 
the framing of the side of a passenger-can-iage. 
Car-Builder's Diet. [Eng.] 
waist-torfiue (wast'tork), «. A girdle, properly 
one of twisted or spiral bars, worn by the north- 
ern nations in the early middle ages. Compare 
cut under torque. 
waist-tree (wast'tre), n. A spare spar formerly 
placed along the waist of a ship where there were 
no bulwarks. Also called rough-tree. 
which we fastened so many of our Massawomek Targets wait (wat), n. [i ormerly also, eiToneously, 
jiYH'fif/ii; < ME. waite, Jcaj/te, a watchman, spy, < 
OF. waite, gaite, a guard, sentinel, watchman, 
spy, later, guet, watch, ward, heed, also the 
watch or company appointed to watch (= Pr. 
gach, gayt), < OHG. wahta-, MHG. w«7ite, G. 
waclit, a watchman ; cf. Goth, wakttvo, a watch, 
< AS. wacan = Goth. wakai),et<i., wake, watch: 
see Wrttel, watch. In senses 4, 5, 6, etc., the 
noun is from the verb.] If. A watchman; a 
guard; also, a spy. Prompt. Parv.,i>. 513. 
And wysly bes ware [beware] waytys to the towne. 
On yche half forto hede, that no hanne fall. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 6266. 
2. One of a body of musicians, especially in 
the seventeenth century in England. Originally 
the waits seem to have been watchmen who sounded liorns, 
or in some other noisy wayannounced their beiugonw.itch. 
Bands of musicians seem to have borne the name generally 
at a later time, and it is still preserved in England, as ap- 
plied to persons who sing out of doors at Christmas time, 
and seek gratuities from house to house. 
A wayte, that nightelye from Mychelmas to Slireve 
Thorsdaye pipethe the watche withen this courte fewer 
tymes. . . . Also this yeoman waight, at the makinge of 
KnyKhtes of the Bath, for his attendance upon them by 
nyghte-time, in watchinge in the chappelle, hath he to his 
fee all the watcliinge clothing that the knyght shall wear 
upon him. 
Rymer, quoted in Chambers's Book of Days, II. 743. 
We will have the city waites down with us, and a noise 
of trumpets. Shirley, Witty Fair One, iv. 2. 
There is scarce a young man of any fashion who does 
not make love with the town music. The waits often help 
him through his courtship ; and my friend Banister has 
told me he was proffered five hundred pounds by a young 
fellow to play but one winter under the window of a lady. 
Taller, No. 222. 
A strain of music seemed to break forth in the air just 
below the window. I listened, and found it proceeded 
from a band, which I concluded to be the waits from some 
neighboring village. Irring, Sketch-Book, p. 263. 
3t. An old variety of hautboy or shawm : so 
called because much used by the waits. 
Gretc lordys were at the assent, 
Waytys blewe, to mete they wente. 
.VS. Cantab. Ff. ii. 38, f. 69. (BaXliwell.) 
The waits or holwys. 
Butler, Principles of Musick (1636), quoted in 
[Chambers's Book of Days, II. 743. 
that invironed her as least clothes. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, I. 185. 
My Lord did give me orders to write for fiags and Scar- 
lett waistcloathes. Pepys, Diary, May 7, 1660. 
waistcoat (wast'kot, eolloq. wes'kot or -kot), n. 
[Formerly also wastcote, wascote, also dial. 
tceslit; < waist -f coat^.] A name of various 
garments, (a) A body-garment for men, foi-merly worn 
under the doublet, and apparently intended to show 
through its slashes, or where it was left unbuttoned. 
Ruffes for your hands, wast-cotes wrought with silke. 
Ueywood, Fair Maid of the Exchange (Works, ed. 1874, 
This morning my brother's man In-ought me a new black 
baize ivaiste-coate, faced with silk, which I put on,from this 
day laying by half-shirts for this winter. 
Pepys, Diary, Nov. 1, 1663. 
(i<) A garment without sleeves worn under a coat. They 
were formerly long, reaching sometimes to the thighs, 
and were made of rich and bright-colored material ; now 
they are woin much shorter. They are generally single- 
breasted, but double-breasted waistcoats have been in 
fashion at different times. 
He had on a blue silk icaistcoat with an extremely broad 
gold lace. Walpule, Letters, II. 369. 
The dangerous wai^cvat, called by cockneys "vest." 
0. W. Holmes, Urania. 
(c) A garment worn by women in imitation of a man's waist- 
coat. Compare (a). 
In a stuffe Wascote and a Peticote 
Like to a chambermayd. 
T. Cranley, Reformed Whore (1635). (Fairholt, I. 300.) 
The queen, who looked in this dress — a white laced 
waiat'Coate and a crimson short pettycoate - . . . myghty 
pretty. Pepys, Diary, July 13, 1663. 
The dress bodice is fitted with two waistcoats, one of 
pale 6cru conled silk overlaid witli green and gold sou- 
tache braid, tlie other of silk striped white and green 
alternately. New York Evening Post, March 8, 1890. 
Sleeved waistcoat. See sleeved. 
waistcoateert (wast-ko-ter', eolloq. wes-ko- 
ter'), )(. [Formerly also spelled wastcoatecr, 
wast-couiecr, icastcoatier ; < waistcoat + -ecr.l 
One who wears a wai.stcoat as a principal 
garment, without a coat or upper gown ; in 
the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in 
Ijondon, a prostitute (itrobably from being so 
dressed). 
tir, waitier, gaiter, gaitier, guetter, F. guetter 
(Walloon weitier) = Pr. gaitar, gachar = It. 
guatare, watch, ward, mark, heed, note, lie in 
wait for, < OF. waite, gaits, a guard, sentinel: 
see icait, n. Cf. atcait^.'] I. iiitrans. If. To 
watch; be on the watch; lie in wait; look out. 
He wauled after no pompe and reverence. 
Chaucer, Gen. ProL to C. T., 1. 626. 
William ful wistly wayted out at an hole, 
& seie breme burnes busi in ful brijt armes. 
Waiiamo/Palcme (E. E. T. S.X L 2320. 
2. To look forward to something; be in expec- 
tation : often with for. 
She wayteth whan hir herte wolde hreste. 
Chaucer, Merchant's Tale, 1. 862. 
SU. And so, good rest 
Pro. As wretches have o'er night 
That wait for execution in the mom. 
Shak., T. G. of V., iv. 2. 134. 
Both waited patiently, and yet both prayed for the ac- 
celerating of that which they waited /or: Daniel for the 
deliverance, Simeon for the Epiphany. 
Donne, Sermons, iv. 
3. To stay or rest in patience or expectation; 
remain in a state of quiescence or inaction, as 
till the arrival of some person or event, or till 
the proper moment or favorable opportunity for 
action : often with for. 
Bid them prepare within ; 
I am to blame to be thus waited /or. 
Shak., J. C, ii. 2. 118. 
Do but wait till I despatch my tailor, and I'll discover 
my device to you. 
Dekker and Webster, Northward Ho, liu 1. 
They also serve who only stand and wait. 
Milton, Sonnets, xiT. 
The dinner waits, and we are tlr'd. 
Cmcper, John Gilpin. 
Wait till we give you a dictionary. Sir ! It takes Boston 
to do that thing. Sir ! 0. IT. Holmes, Professor, iL 
A tide of fierce 
Invective seem'd to teait behind her lipfl, 
As tmits a river level with the dam. 
Beady to burst and flood the world with foam. 
Tennyson, Princess, iv. 
4. To remain in readiness to execute orders; 
be ready to serve ; be in waiting ; perform the 
duties of an attendant or a servant; hence, to 
serve ; supply the wants of persons at table. 
Thou [a page] art fitter to be woni in my cap than to wait 
at my heels. SAaJr., 2 Hen. IV„ i. 2. 18. 
How one of the Serving-men, untrain'd to wait, spilt the 
White-broth! Brome, Jovial Crew, v. 
Three large men, like doctors of divinity, wait behind 
the table, and furnish everything that appetite can ask 
for. Thackeray, Mrs. Perkins s BalL 
To wait on or upon. [On, prep.] (at) To watch; guard. 
Loke that ye waite well vpon me, and yef it be myster 
Cometh me to helpe. Merlin (E. K T. S.), iii. 647. 
(6t) To look at ; look toward. 
The eyes of all wait upon thee ; and thou givest them 
their meat in due season. Ps. cxlv. 16. 
It is a point of cunning to wait upoti him with whom you 
speak, with your eye. Bacon, Cunning (ed. 1887X 
(ct) To lie in wait for. 
This somnour evere waitynge on his prey. 
Chaucer, Friar's Tale, 1. 76. 
(d1) To expect ; look for. 
1 wot the in witte to waite on myn end. 
Destruction o/ Troy (E. E. T. S.), L 7943. 
(ft) To attend to ; perform, as a duty. 
According to the grace that is given unto us, whether 
prophecy, let us prophesy, ... or ministry, let us in»«« 
on our ministering. Rom. iii. 7. 
