wait in the wings
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To be ready to take action or replace someone at a moment's notice
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
sẵn sàng hành động hoặc thay thế ai đó ngay lập tức
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: actors waiting offstage
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The understudy waited in the wings, ready to perform if needed
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “wait in the wings” mean?
To be ready to take action or replace someone at a moment's notice Literally: actors waiting offstage
Is “wait in the wings” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.