WHILE: Synonyms and Related Words. What is Another Word for WHILE?

Need another word that means the same as “while”? Find 23 synonyms and 30 related words for “while” in this overview.

The synonyms of “While” are: patch, piece, spell, time, stretch, stint, span, season, interval, period, period of time, length of time, duration, run, phase, stage, term, pass, spend, occupy, use up, kill, beguile

While as a Noun

Definitions of "While" as a noun

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “while” as a noun can have the following definitions:

• During the time that.
• A period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition.
• A period of time.
• For some time.
• At the same time; meanwhile.

Synonyms of "While" as a noun (17 Words)

duration	The period of time during which something continues. A flight of over eight hours duration.
interval	A component of activity in interval training. An interval of mourning.
length of time	Continuance in time.
patch	A short set of commands to correct a bug in a computer program. A program patch that fixes a bug.
period	A set of elements occupying a horizontal row in the periodic table. The ale will be available for a limited period.
period of time	A unit of geological time during which a system of rocks formed.
phase	Each of the electrical windings or connections of a polyphase machine or circuit. The final phases of the war.
piece	A figure or token used to make moves in a board game. He needed a piece of granite.
run	A running pace. The assembly line was on a 12 hour run.
season	A period of the year characterized by a particular climatic feature or marked by a particular activity, event, or festivity. It was the Christmas season.
span	The wingspan of an aircraft or a bird. An eight span bridge.
spell	A time period for working (after which you will be relieved by someone else. He whispered a spell as he moved his hands.
stage	The theater as a profession usually the stage. I was in the early stages of pregnancy.
stint	Limitation of supply or effort. His varied career included a stint as a magician.
stretch	The fact or condition of a muscle being stretched. By no stretch of the imagination.
term	Agreed conditions under which a war or other dispute is brought to an end. The general term of an algebraic equation of the n th degree.
time	Time or an amount of time as reckoned by a conventional standard. Tunes in waltz time.

Usage Examples of "While" as a noun

• He was here for a little while.
• She retired a little while ago.
• Beseeching him, the while his hand she wrung.
• He starts to draw, talking the while.
• We chatted for a while.
• Can I keep it a while?

While as a Verb

Definitions of "While" as a verb

According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “while” as a verb can have the following definitions:

• Pass time in a leisurely manner.

Synonyms of "While" as a verb (6 Words)

beguile	Trick (someone) into doing something. They were beguiled into signing a peace treaty.
occupy	Occupy the whole of. The young prince will soon occupy the throne.
pass	Pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life. Racegoers had formed card schools and cash was passing briskly.
spend	Spend completely. Spend money.
use up	Use up consume fully.

Usage Examples of "While" as a verb

• A diversion to while away the long afternoons.

Associations of "While" (30 Words)

as	Used to emphasize an amount. Birds were singing and the child sang as sweetly.
coeval	A person of roughly the same age as oneself; a contemporary. These lavas were coeval with the volcanic activity.
concomitant	Naturally accompanying or associated. She loved travel with all its concomitant worries.
concurrent	Occurring or operating at the same time. She was given nine months concurrent for each offence.
dalliance	Playful behavior intended to arouse sexual interest. Berkeley was my last dalliance with the education system.
duration	Continuance in time. A flight of over eight hours duration.
epoch	An arbitrarily fixed date that is the point in time relative to which information (as coordinates of a celestial body) is recorded. The Victorian epoch.
era	A major division of geological time an era is usually divided into two or more periods. His death marked the end of an era.
existing	Presently existing. Opponents of the existing political system.
hitherto	Until now or until the point in time under discussion. Hitherto part of French West Africa Benin achieved independence in 1960.
interim	An interim dividend profit etc. An interim agreement.
just	Of an opinion or appraisal well founded justifiable. Simon really messed things up Didn t he just.
life	An account of the series of events making up a person s life. The ice cream vendors were the only signs of life.
meantime	During the intervening time. In the meantime I ll make some enquiries of my own.
meanwhile	At the same time. Meanwhile I will not think about the problem.
middle	The middle area of the human torso usually in front. There is a dearth of talent at middle level.
now	Used, especially in conversation, to draw attention to a particular statement or point in a narrative. It worked up to right now.
pending	About to happen; imminent. Business still pending.
period	A set of elements occupying a horizontal row in the periodic table. A change soon put a period to my tranquility.
present	Formally present a debutante a representative of a country etc. We cannot represent this knowledge to our formal reason.
provisory	Subject to a proviso; conditional. A provisory clause.
regularly	With a constant or definite pattern, especially with the same space between individual items. Leaves arranged regularly along the stem.
simultaneous	Occurring or operating at the same time. A simultaneous withdrawal of troops.
sync	Make synchronous and adjust in time or manner. Images flash on to your screen in sync with the music.
synchronize	Cause to occur or operate at the same time or rate. Both media synchronize national interests with multinational scope.
synchronous	Making or denoting an orbit around the earth or another celestial body in which one revolution is completed in the period taken for the body to rotate about its axis. Synchronous oscillations.
temporary	A worker especially in an office hired on a temporary basis. A temporary job.
time	A portion of time in history or characterized by particular events or circumstances. Williams timed his pass perfectly from about thirty yards.
timing	The regulation of occurrence, pace, or coordination to achieve a desired effect (as in music, theater, athletics, mechanics. The introduction of new signal timings.
zeitgeist	The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time. The story captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s.