"worth while" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more worth while",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most worth while",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "worth while (comparative more worth while, superlative most worth while)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1873, John Murray (publishers.), Handbook for travellers in Scotland (page 261)",
          "text": "About 6 ft. from the ground is fastened \"the joug,\" an iron collar in the wall, used to confine prisoners before it was thought worth while to build prisons or cages for them."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1918, William Strunk, Jr., The Elements of Style",
          "text": "Strictly applicable only to actions: \"Is it worth while to telegraph?\" ... The use of worth while before a noun (\"a worth while story\") is indefensible.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1964 December, “Southern raises capacity of Borough Market Junction”, in Modern Railways, page 416",
          "text": "When Mr. Charles Hopkins was General Manager of the SR he expressed to us the view that it would be worth while in the cause of regular and reliable operation to reduce the number of trains passing through such bottlenecks as Borough Market Junction on the South Eastern Division.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Dated spelling of worthwhile."
      ],
      "id": "en-worth_while-en-adj-65FESDAQ",
      "links": [
        [
          "worthwhile",
          "worthwhile#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "worth while"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more worth while",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most worth while",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "worth while (comparative more worth while, superlative most worth while)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English adjectives",
        "English dated forms",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1873, John Murray (publishers.), Handbook for travellers in Scotland (page 261)",
          "text": "About 6 ft. from the ground is fastened \"the joug,\" an iron collar in the wall, used to confine prisoners before it was thought worth while to build prisons or cages for them."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1918, William Strunk, Jr., The Elements of Style",
          "text": "Strictly applicable only to actions: \"Is it worth while to telegraph?\" ... The use of worth while before a noun (\"a worth while story\") is indefensible.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1964 December, “Southern raises capacity of Borough Market Junction”, in Modern Railways, page 416",
          "text": "When Mr. Charles Hopkins was General Manager of the SR he expressed to us the view that it would be worth while in the cause of regular and reliable operation to reduce the number of trains passing through such bottlenecks as Borough Market Junction on the South Eastern Division.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Dated spelling of worthwhile."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "worthwhile",
          "worthwhile#English"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "worth while"
}