to queue up
Preserved but no longer current.
A term that came into pro- minence during the World Wars, especially in connexion with the food shortage, when hun- dreds of people had to wait for hours in long lines before they could obtain their "rations" at the butcher's, grocer's, etc.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to queue up” mean?
A term that came into pro- minence during the World Wars, especially in connexion with the food shortage, when hun- dreds of people had to wait for hours in long lines before they could obtain their "rations" at the butcher's, grocer's, etc.
Is “to queue up” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.