From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
while
n : 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" [syn: piece,
spell, patch]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
While \While\, n. [AS. hw[imac]l; akin to OS. hw[imac]l,
hw[imac]la, OFries. hw[imac]le, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG.
w[imac]la, hw[imac]la, hw[imac]l, Icel. hv[imac]la a bed,
hv[imac]ld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan. hvile, Goth. hweila a time,
and probably to L. quietus quiet, and perhaps to Gr. ? the
proper time of season. [root]20. Cf. Quiet, Whilom.]
1. Space of time, or continued duration, esp. when short; a
time; as, one while we thought him innocent. "All this
while." --Shak.
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This mighty queen may no while endure. --Chaucer.
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[Some guest that] hath outside his welcome while,
And tells the jest without the smile. --Coleridge.
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I will go forth and breathe the air a while.
--Longfellow.
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2. That which requires time; labor; pains. [Obs.]
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Satan . . . cast him how he might quite her while.
--Chaucer.
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At whiles, at times; at intervals.
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And so on us at whiles it falls, to claim
Powers that we dread. --J. H.
Newman.
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The while, The whiles, in or during the time that;
meantime; while. --Tennyson.
Within a while, in a short time; soon.
Worth while, worth the time which it requires; worth the
time and pains; hence, worth the expense; as, it is not
always worth while for a man to prosecute for small debts.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
While \While\, v. i.
To loiter. [R.] --Spectator.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
While \While\, conj.
1. During the time that; as long as; whilst; at the same time
that; as, while I write, you sleep. "While I have time and
space." --Chaucer.
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Use your memory; you will sensibly experience a
gradual improvement, while you take care not to
overload it. --I. Watts.
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2. Hence, under which circumstances; in which case; though;
whereas.
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While as, While that, during or at the time that. [Obs.]
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
While \While\, prep.
Until; till. [Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot.]
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I may be conveyed into your chamber;
I'll lie under your bed while midnight. --Beau. & Fl.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
While \While\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Whiled; p. pr. & vb. n.
Whiling.]
To cause to pass away pleasantly or without irksomeness or
disgust; to spend or pass; -- usually followed by away.
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The lovely lady whiled the hours away. --Longfellow.
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From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
while
<programming> The loop construct found in nearly all
imperative programming languages which executes one or more
instructions (the "loop body") repeatedly so long as some
condition evaluates to true. In contrast to a repeat loop,
the loop body will not be executed at all if the condition is
false on entry to the while.
For example, in C, a while loop is written
while (<expr>) <statement>;
where <expr> is any expression and <statement> is any
statement, including a compound statement within braces
"..".
(1995-03-14)