Etymology

From Old EnglishCategory:English terms derived from Old English#AWHILE āne (“(for) a”) hwīle (“while”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈwaɪl/, /əˈʍaɪl/Category:English 2-syllable words#AWHILECategory:English 2-syllable words#AWHILECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#AWHILE

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#AWHILE
• Rhymes: -aɪlCategory:Rhymes:English/aɪl#AWHILECategory:Rhymes:English/aɪl/2 syllables#AWHILE

Adverb

awhile (not comparable)Category:English lemmas#AWHILECategory:English adverbs#AWHILECategory:English uncomparable adverbs#AWHILECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#AWHILECategory:Pages with entries#AWHILECategory:Pages with 1 entry#AWHILE

1. For some time; for a short time.

   Sit with me awhile.Category:English terms with usage examples#AWHILE

   • 1911, Rufus Estes, Good Things to Eat, as Suggested by Rufus‎, page 83:

     Take two cupfuls of rolled oats, put in bread pan, turn on four cupfuls of boiling water, stir for awhile.

     Category:English terms with quotations#AWHILE

   • 1944 May and June, “When the Circle was Steam Operated”, in Railway Magazine, page 137:

     Engine No. 18 went off into a shed to rest awhile, and No. 7, a precisely similar one, backed on to the train in her place.

     Category:English terms with quotations#AWHILE

   • 1979, The Boomtown Rats, “Wind Chill Factor (Minus Zero)”, in The Fine Art of Surfacing:

     I'll slip beneath these sheets and shiver here awhile / I find this happening more frequently these days

     Category:English terms with quotations#AWHILE

2. (USCategory:American English#AWHILE, south-central PennsylvaniaCategory:Pennsylvania English#AWHILE) In the meantime; during an implicit ongoing process.

   Can I get you a drink awhile?Category:English terms with usage examples#AWHILE

References

• “'Awhile' vs. 'A While'”, in Merriam-Webster‎, archived from the original on 17 October 2023: “Generally, the two-word form "a while" should be used when following a preposition ("I will read for a while"), or with the words ago or back ("a while ago/back").”
• “a while (also rarely one while)” under “while, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000: “(chiefly with the prepositions after, for, in, †within) […]”