While Meaning
/ʍaɪl/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounAn uncertain duration of time, a period of time.
nounAn uncertain duration of time, a period of time., An uncertain long period of time
Sentence Examples
Seriously though, episode 21 made me almost cry while laughing.
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
We must have been burgled while we were asleep.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She listened to music on her headphones ____ she studied for the exam.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I would like to stay here for a ____ and enjoy the beautiful view of the valley before we continue our journey today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English whyle, from Old English hwīl, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīlu, from Proto-Germanic *hwīlō (compare Dutch wijl, Low German Wiel, German Weile, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hvile (“rest”), Norwegian Nynorsk kvila (“rest”), Swedish vila (“rest”), Faroese and Icelandic hvíla (“rest”)) from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest”). Cognate with Albanian sillë (“breakfast”), Latin tranquillus, Sanskrit चिर (cirá), Persian شاد (šâd).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Do the good that's nearest Though it's dull at whiles."
— 1857, Charles Kingsley, [Letters and Memories]:
"There are whiles […] when ye are altogether too canny and Whiggish to be company for a gentleman like me."
— 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 22, in Kidnapped, page 158:
"Things were pretty dark for a while — several whiles, actually."
— 2017, Anne Thériault, “The Monster Book of Questions and Answers”, in Kelly Jensen, editor, Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World, Algonquin Young Readers, page 27:
"While the powwow was going on the big woman came back again. She was consider'ble rumpled and scratched up, but there was fire in her eye."
— 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
"While De Anza was exploring the Bay of San Francisco, seeking a site for the presidio, the American colonists on the eastern seaboard, three thousand miles away, were celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence."
— 1948, Carey McWilliams, North from Mexico / The Spanish-Speaking People of The United States, J. B. Lippincott Company, page 25:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She listened to music on her headphones ____ she studied for the exam.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I would like to stay here for a ____ and enjoy the beautiful view of the valley before we continue our journey today.