"while away" meaning in English

See while away in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: whiles away [present, singular, third-person], whiling away [participle, present], whiled away [participle, past], whiled away [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} while away (third-person singular simple present whiles away, present participle whiling away, simple past and past participle whiled away)
  1. (transitive) To spend (time) idly but pleasantly Tags: transitive Synonyms: kill Translations (spend (time) idly): 消磨 (xiāomó) (Chinese Mandarin), viettää aikaa (Finnish), vertrödeln (German), vertreiben (German), totschlagen [colloquial] (German), περνώ (pernó) (Greek), meil (Irish), корота́ть (korotátʹ) [imperfective] (Russian), скорота́ть (skorotátʹ) [perfective] (Russian), fördriva (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-while_away-en-verb-tqF8J2nr Disambiguation of 'spend (time) idly': 99 1
  2. (intransitive) To elapse, to pass. Tags: intransitive
    Sense id: en-while_away-en-verb-nwW~~M7N Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs formed with "away", Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Interlingua translations, Terms with Irish translations, Terms with Mandarin translations, Terms with Portuguese translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations, Terms with Vietnamese translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 11 89 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "away": 15 85 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 21 79 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 14 86 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 9 91 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 22 78 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 16 84 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 21 79 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 16 84 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 21 79 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 15 85 Disambiguation of Terms with Interlingua translations: 13 87 Disambiguation of Terms with Irish translations: 16 84 Disambiguation of Terms with Mandarin translations: 16 84 Disambiguation of Terms with Portuguese translations: 15 85 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 16 84 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 14 86 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 14 86 Disambiguation of Terms with Vietnamese translations: 16 84

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "whiles away",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whiling away",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whiled away",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whiled away",
      "tags": [
        "past"
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "while away (third-person singular simple present whiles away, present participle whiling away, simple past and past participle whiled away)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We whiled away the hours playing cards.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter II, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:",
          "text": "Heaven knows what pains the author has been at, what bitter experiences he has endured and what heartache suffered, to give some chance reader a few hours' relaxation or to while away the tedium of a journey.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 294:",
          "text": "A posse of Dublin Metropolitan police superintended by the Chief Commissioner in person maintained order in the vast throng for whom the York street brass and reed band whiled away the intervening time by admirably rendering on their blackdraped instruments the matchless melody endeared to us from the cradle by Speranza's plaintive muse.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To spend (time) idly but pleasantly"
      ],
      "id": "en-while_away-en-verb-tqF8J2nr",
      "links": [
        [
          "spend",
          "spend"
        ],
        [
          "time",
          "time"
        ],
        [
          "idly",
          "idly"
        ],
        [
          "pleasantly",
          "pleasantly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To spend (time) idly but pleasantly"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "98 2",
          "word": "kill"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "cmn",
          "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
          "roman": "xiāomó",
          "sense": "spend (time) idly",
          "word": "消磨"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "spend (time) idly",
          "word": "viettää aikaa"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "spend (time) idly",
          "word": "vertrödeln"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "spend (time) idly",
          "word": "vertreiben"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "spend (time) idly",
          "tags": [
            "colloquial"
          ],
          "word": "totschlagen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "el",
          "lang": "Greek",
          "roman": "pernó",
          "sense": "spend (time) idly",
          "word": "περνώ"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "spend (time) idly",
          "word": "meil"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "korotátʹ",
          "sense": "spend (time) idly",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "корота́ть"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "skorotátʹ",
          "sense": "spend (time) idly",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "скорота́ть"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "spend (time) idly",
          "word": "fördriva"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "11 89",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 85",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"away\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 79",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "9 91",
          "kind": "other",
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        {
          "_dis": "22 78",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "16 84",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "21 79",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "16 84",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "21 79",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Greek translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 85",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 87",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Interlingua translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "16 84",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
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        {
          "_dis": "16 84",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Mandarin translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "15 85",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "16 84",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
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        {
          "_dis": "16 84",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2010, Lori Davis, Second Wind, page 65:",
          "text": "The rest of the night hours whiled away for the prisoners as few slept.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Hank Carver, House of Cards: Five Full Contact Years as a Las Vegas Nightclub Bouncer:",
          "text": "The hours whiled away and I steadily kept drinking, even though it had been years since I'd done any serious imbibing.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, Kester James Finley, Twisted Reunions (The Keeper Chronicles, Book 2):",
          "text": "As the hours whiled away, they discussed everything magical they had learned and how Odele had managed to become a Keeper and survive a full year without help or interference.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To elapse, to pass."
      ],
      "id": "en-while_away-en-verb-nwW~~M7N",
      "links": [
        [
          "elapse",
          "elapse"
        ],
        [
          "pass",
          "pass"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To elapse, to pass."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "while away"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"away\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Interlingua translations",
    "Terms with Irish translations",
    "Terms with Mandarin translations",
    "Terms with Portuguese translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations",
    "Terms with Vietnamese translations"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "whiles away",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whiling away",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whiled away",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "whiled away",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "while away (third-person singular simple present whiles away, present participle whiling away, simple past and past participle whiled away)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "We whiled away the hours playing cards.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, chapter II, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC:",
          "text": "Heaven knows what pains the author has been at, what bitter experiences he has endured and what heartache suffered, to give some chance reader a few hours' relaxation or to while away the tedium of a journey.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 12: Cyclops]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 294:",
          "text": "A posse of Dublin Metropolitan police superintended by the Chief Commissioner in person maintained order in the vast throng for whom the York street brass and reed band whiled away the intervening time by admirably rendering on their blackdraped instruments the matchless melody endeared to us from the cradle by Speranza's plaintive muse.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To spend (time) idly but pleasantly"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "spend",
          "spend"
        ],
        [
          "time",
          "time"
        ],
        [
          "idly",
          "idly"
        ],
        [
          "pleasantly",
          "pleasantly"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To spend (time) idly but pleasantly"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2010, Lori Davis, Second Wind, page 65:",
          "text": "The rest of the night hours whiled away for the prisoners as few slept.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2015, Hank Carver, House of Cards: Five Full Contact Years as a Las Vegas Nightclub Bouncer:",
          "text": "The hours whiled away and I steadily kept drinking, even though it had been years since I'd done any serious imbibing.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018, Kester James Finley, Twisted Reunions (The Keeper Chronicles, Book 2):",
          "text": "As the hours whiled away, they discussed everything magical they had learned and how Odele had managed to become a Keeper and survive a full year without help or interference.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To elapse, to pass."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "elapse",
          "elapse"
        ],
        [
          "pass",
          "pass"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To elapse, to pass."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "kill"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "cmn",
      "lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
      "roman": "xiāomó",
      "sense": "spend (time) idly",
      "word": "消磨"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "spend (time) idly",
      "word": "viettää aikaa"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "spend (time) idly",
      "word": "vertrödeln"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "spend (time) idly",
      "word": "vertreiben"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "spend (time) idly",
      "tags": [
        "colloquial"
      ],
      "word": "totschlagen"
    },
    {
      "code": "el",
      "lang": "Greek",
      "roman": "pernó",
      "sense": "spend (time) idly",
      "word": "περνώ"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "spend (time) idly",
      "word": "meil"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "korotátʹ",
      "sense": "spend (time) idly",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "корота́ть"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "skorotátʹ",
      "sense": "spend (time) idly",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "скорота́ть"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "spend (time) idly",
      "word": "fördriva"
    }
  ],
  "word": "while away"
}

Download raw JSONL data for while away meaning in English (4.6kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.