# whiles

Pronunciation: say "WYLZ" /(h)waɪlz/

## Noun

1. Plural of while. Rare; speakers usually rephrase with times or periods. — plural of while
   - Simple: Plural of while. Rare: people usually say times or periods instead.

## Verb

2. Third-person singular simple present of while. — third-person singular simple present indicative of while
   - Simple: The form of while used in the present with he, she, it, or a singular noun such as the dog or water.
   - _She whiles away the rainy afternoons with crossword puzzles._
   - _My grandfather whiles the evening away telling old stories._

## Conjunction

3. During the time that; at the same time as. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: At the same time that something else is happening.
   - _Whiles the harvest lasted, every able hand worked the fields from dawn._
   - _The old shepherd would hum to himself whiles he mended the fences._

## Adverb

4. On some occasions but not on others, from time to time. *(archaic, Scotland)*
   - Simple: Sometimes, but not all the time.
   - _We get snow up here whiles, even in late April._
   - _The path was easy enough, though whiles the mud rose past our ankles._
5. In the meantime; during the intervening time. *(archaic, Scotland)*
   - Simple: During the time in between, while something else is happening.
   - _The men rode ahead to scout the pass; whiles, the wagons waited in the valley._
   - _She put the kettle on, and whiles, laid out the cups and the bread._

## Origin

Formed from the noun "while" with the adverbial suffix "-s"; compare "whilst."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/whiles (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).