the whiles

2 definitions found

the whiles - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  While \While\, n. [AS. hw[imac]l; akin to OS. hw[imac]l,
     hw[imac]la, OFries. hw[imac]le, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG.
     w[imac]la, hw[imac]la, hw[imac]l, Icel. hv[imac]la a bed,
     hv[imac]ld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan. hvile, Goth. hweila a time,
     and probably to L. quietus quiet, and perhaps to Gr. ? the
     proper time of season. [root]20. Cf. Quiet, Whilom.]
     1. Space of time, or continued duration, esp. when short; a
        time; as, one while we thought him innocent. "All this
        while." --Shak.
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              This mighty queen may no while endure. --Chaucer.
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              [Some guest that] hath outside his welcome while,
              And tells the jest without the smile. --Coleridge.
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              I will go forth and breathe the air a while.
                                                    --Longfellow.
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     2. That which requires time; labor; pains. [Obs.]
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              Satan . . . cast him how he might quite her while.
                                                    --Chaucer.
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     At whiles, at times; at intervals.
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              And so on us at whiles it falls, to claim
              Powers that we dread.                 --J. H.
                                                    Newman.
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     The while, The whiles, in or during the time that;
        meantime; while. --Tennyson.
  
     Within a while, in a short time; soon.
  
     Worth while, worth the time which it requires; worth the
        time and pains; hence, worth the expense; as, it is not
        always worth while for a man to prosecute for small debts.
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  Whiles \Whiles\, adv. [See While, n., and -wards.]
     1. Meanwhile; meantime. [R.]
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              The good knight whiles humming to himself the lay of
              some majored troubadour.              --Sir. W.
                                                    Scott.
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     2. sometimes; at times. [Scot.] --Sir W. Scott.
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     The whiles. See under While, n.
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