Wait, n.
 1. The act of waiting; a delay; a halt.
    There is a wait of three hours at the border Mexican town of El Paso.   --S. B. Griffin.
 2. Ambush.  “An enemy in wait.”
 3. One who watches; a watchman.  [Obs.]
 4. pl. Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians; not used in the singular.  [Obs.]
 5. pl. Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen.  [Written formerly wayghtes.]
    Hark! are the waits abroad?   --Beau. & Fl.
    The sound of the waits, rude as may be their minstrelsy, breaks upon the mild watches of a winter night with the effect of perfect harmony.   --W. Irving.
 To lay wait, to prepare an ambuscade.
 To lie in wait. See under 4th Lie.
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