while noun

ADJ. brief, little, short | fair, good, long, some Things continued quiet for some while.

VERB + WHILE take I'll mend it for you, but it could take a while.

PREP. after a ~ After a while, I began to get bored with my job. | for a/the ~ They chatted for a while. There's no need to do anything for the while. | in a ~ I'll be back in a while.

PHRASES all the while The bird hopped across the lawn, keeping a sharp lookout all the while. | once in a while Everybody makes a mistake once in a while (= occasionally). | (for) quite a while He kept me waiting for quite a while. | a while back The problems started a while back.