From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha whilea whileSHORT TIMEa period of time, especially a short one It takes a while to recover from the operation.in a while Mr Thomas will be with you in a while.for a while At last, he could relax for a while.a little/short while Wait a little while before deciding. We talked for quite a while (=a fairly long time) on the phone. → while
Examples from the Corpus
a while• A little while later, Rick returned with the drinks.• After a while, I realised he was serious.• After a while, I realized what he meant.• It's been a while since I read the book, and I can't remember much about it, to be honest.• It's been a while since we last heard from Jo.• So you guys were in Brazil for a while, huh?• Can I hold her for a little while?• How's Lynne? I haven't seen her for a while.• He was furious, and it took him a while to calm down.• I haven't played chess in a really long while.• I haven't worn that jacket in a while.• It took me a while before I could understand him.• He's been going out with her quite a while now, hasn't he?• 'Is that a photo of him?' 'Yeah, that was taken a while back - his hair's longer now.'• He fought for the title a while ago.• Can you wait a while? 