DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 While n.
 1. Space of time, or continued duration, esp. when short; a time; as, one while we thought him innocent.  “All this while.”
    This mighty queen may no while endure.   --Chaucer.
 [Some guest that] hath outside his welcome while,
 And tells the jest without the smile.   --Coleridge.
    I will go forth and breathe the air a while.   --Longfellow.
 2. That which requires time; labor; pains.  [Obs.]
    Satan . . . cast him how he might quite her while.   --Chaucer.
 At whiles, at times; at intervals.
 And so on us at whiles it falls, to claim
 Powers that we dread.   --J. H. Newman.
 -- 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.