English · Word Candidate

while

/ʍaɪl/

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: whiles · whiling · whiled

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Một khoảng thời gian không xác định

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Noun

Examples

He lectured for quite a long while.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 2

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

An uncertain duration of time, a period of time. — An uncertain long period of time

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Một khoảng thời gian dài không xác định

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Noun

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 3

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

During the same time that.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Vào cùng thời điểm

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Conjunction

Examples

He was sleeping while I was singing.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 4

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Although.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Mặc dù

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Conjunction

Examples

This case, while interesting, is a bit frustrating.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “while” mean?

An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.

Is “while” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.