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.