adv. [ Adj. a + while time, interval. ] For a while; for some time; for a short time. [ 1913 Webster ]
I am as fair now as I was erewhile. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. Till then or now; heretofore; formerly. [ Archaic ]
Weighing otherwhiles ten pounds and more. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. Once; for a time. [ 1913 Webster ]
Though, under color of shepherds, somewhile
There crept in wolves, full of fraud and guile. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. At that time; at the same time. [ Obs. ] Laud. [ 1913 Webster ]
n.
n. [ AS. hwīl; akin to OS. hwīl, hwīla, OFries. hwīle, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG. wīla, hwīla, hwīl, Icel. hvīla a bed, hvīld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan. hvile, Goth. hweila a time, and probably to L. quietus quiet, and perhaps to Gr. &unr_; the proper time of season. √20. Cf. Quiet, Whilom. ]
This mighty queen may no while endure. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
[ Some guest that ] hath outside his welcome while,
And tells the jest without the smile. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]
I will go forth and breathe the air a while. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]
Satan . . . cast him how he might quite her while. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
At whiles,
Powers that we dread. J. H. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ]
The while,
The whiles
Within a while,
Worth while,
v. t.
The lovely lady whiled the hours away. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. i. To loiter. [ R. ] Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]
conj.
Use your memory; you will sensibly experience a gradual improvement, while you take care not to overload it. I. Watts. [ 1913 Webster ]
While as,
While that
prep. Until; till. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
I may be conveyed into your chamber;
I'll lie under your bed while midnight. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. [ While + ere ] A little while ago; recently; just now; erewhile. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Helpeth me now as I did you whilere. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
He who, with all heaven's heraldry, whilere
Entered the world. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. [ See While, n., and -wards. ]
The good knight whiles humming to himself the lay of some majored troubadour. Sir. W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]
The whiles.
conj. During the time that; while. [ Archaic ] Chaucer. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]
Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him. Matt. v. 25. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ See Whelk a mollusk. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
pron. Which. [ Obs. or Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ Whilk is sometimes used in Chaucer to represent the Northern dialect. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. [ AS. hwīlum, properly, at times, dative pl. of hwīl; akin to G. weiland formerly, OHG. hwīlōm, See While, n. ] Formerly; once; of old; erewhile; at times. [ Obs. or Poetic ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]
Whilom, as olde stories tellen us,
There was a duke that highte Theseus. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
adv. [ From Whiles; cf. Amongst. ] While. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]
Whilst the emperor lay at Antioch. Gibbon. [ 1913 Webster ]
The whilst,
[ 1913 Webster ]