wait on

verb

1. to serve at the table of

2. to act as an attendant or servant to

3. archaic,  to visit

interjection

1. stop! hold on!

Idioms and Phrases

Also, wait upon . Serve, minister to, especially for personal needs or in a store or restaurant. For example, Guests at the Inn should not expect to be waited on—they can make their own beds and get their own breakfast . [Early 1500s]

Make a formal call on, as in They waited on the ambassador . [c. 1500]

Also, wait upon . Await, remain in readiness for, as in We're waiting on their decision to close the school . This usage, a synonym of wait for , dates from the late 1600s but in the mid-1800s began to be criticized by many authorities. However, by the late 1900s it had come into increasingly wider use and is again largely accepted.

Example Sentences

We're waiting on a housing estate in a leafy suburb where most of the houses have perfectly-maintained front lawns and expensive cars on the drives.

From BBC

Still, he wasn’t one to sit idly by, waiting on a problem to solve itself.

From Los Angeles Times

As the evacuation team arrives, Vitalii Kalinichenko, 56, is waiting on the doorstep of his apartment block, with a plastic bag full of belongings in hand.

From BBC

Mumbai's local trains - a lifeline for millions of commuters - have seen heavy disruptions with thousands of people waiting on platforms on Tuesday as services were delayed for hours.

From BBC

Email and text results are unaffected but those waiting on certificates in the Outer Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland have been told to expect delays.

From BBC