overwait

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English

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Etymology

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From over- +‎ wait.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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overwait (third-person singular simple present overwaits, present participle overwaiting, simple past and past participle overwaited)

  1. (transitive) To wait for an excessive amount of time; wait beyond the time allowed or expected; wait too long.
    • 1915, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, The Journal of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute:
      I didn't waste any time getting to sleep, and the orderly didn't overwait his time, either. I miscalculated on the moon and the depth of our chasm. I expected the moon to appear some time before midnight, but she didn't.
    • 2000, Jeff Walling, Daring to Dance With God:
      I'm convinced we behave like this because most of us overwait for times of respite, and then we try to cram a month's peace into two weeks of hectic vacationing.

Noun

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overwait (uncountable)

  1. The period of time one overwaits; an excessive duration of waiting; delay.
    • 1912, The English reports:
      But they have objected that this word oppresse is incertain; for he may be oppressed with overwait, or hunger and cold.