Library / English Dictionary

MEANWHILE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The time between one event, process, or period and another

Example:

meanwhile the socialists are running the government

Synonyms:

interim; lag; meantime; meanwhile

Classified under:

Nouns denoting time and temporal relations

Hypernyms ("meanwhile" is a kind of...):

interval; time interval (a definite length of time marked off by two instants)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "meanwhile"):

interregnum (the time between two reigns, governments, etc.)

 II. (adverb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

During the intervening time

Example:

in the meantime the police were notified

Synonyms:

in the meantime; meantime; meanwhile

Classified under:

Adverbs

Sense 2

Meaning:

At the same time but in another place

Example:

meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Classified under:

Adverbs

Credits

 Context examples: 

Meanwhile, the mission's Cosmic Dust Analyzer continues its search for dust particles emitted from Dione.

(Cassini to Make Last Close Flyby of Saturn Moon Dione, NASA)

Meanwhile I will simply show you how capable my apparatus is of supporting the weight of each of us.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Meanwhile, Mars will signal the Sun, another sign your star is surely on the rise.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Mr. Collins, meanwhile, was meditating in solitude on what had passed.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Meanwhile, have you anything more to tell us about the case?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Meanwhile I have already set inquiries on foot.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Meanwhile, one should not rely on the apparently cellular or “biological” aspect of a structure, because it could have an abiotic origin.

(Place discovered on earth with no microbial life, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Meanwhile, significant evidence showed a paradoxical impact of memory on face color since under most circumstances, no one expects a face to be green, the study’s lead investigator, Bevil Conway, said.

(Rosy health and sickly green: color associations play robust role in reading faces, National Institutes of Health)

The subject of improving grounds, meanwhile, was still under consideration among the others; and Mrs. Grant could not help addressing her brother, though it was calling his attention from Miss Julia Bertram.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Time, you may be sure, will make one or the other of us think differently; and, in the meanwhile, we need not talk much on the subject.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)