whiles

English

Pronunciation

Etymology

From while + -s.

Adverb

whiles (not comparable)

  1. (archaic or Scotland) sometimes; at times
    • 1927, John Buchan, Witch Wood, published 1988, page 14:
      Man, I've diverted myself whiles with the science of the stars, and can make a shape at calculating a nativity.
  2. (archaic or Scotland) meanwhile
    • Sir Walter Scott
      the good knight whiles humming to himself the lay of some majored troubadour

Conjunction

whiles

  1. (archaic or dialectal) while
    • c. 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act I scene ii:
      Portia: [] Whiles we shut the gate upon one wooer, another knocks at the door.
    • c. 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act IV scene i:
      for it so falls out, / That what we have we prize not to the worth / Whiles we enjoy it; but being lack'd and lost, / Why, then we rack the value, then we find / The virtue that possession would not show us / Whiles it was ours.

Noun

whiles

  1. plural of while

Verb

whiles

  1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of while

Scots

Pronunciation

  • enPR: wīlz, IPA(key): /waɪlz/
  • Rhymes: -aɪlz

Adverb

whiles

  1. Sometimes
    Whiles thay gang tae the strand, but maistly tae the bens- Sometimes they go to the beach, but mostly to the mountains
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