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wait time
DCHP-3 (May 2024)
Spelling variants:wait-time
n — also in Healthcare, Administration
a period of time spent waiting.
Type: 5. Frequency — The clipped term wait time is much more frequent than the original waiting time in Canada, as illustrated in Chart 1. This is part of a larger, longitudinal change in reducing inflections in English that began already in the Old English period. The reduction of the -ing in compound nouns is a more recent development within this overall pattern, one that began slowly in the 1970s (see Image 1), as the 1976 quotation illustrates. The change applies also to other forms, e.g. shipping time becomes ship time or sailing boat becomes sail boat.
The term wait time is not included in OED-3 however, it does include "waiting time" defined as "[t]ime spent waiting".
The term wait time is not included in OED-3 however, it does include "waiting time" defined as "[t]ime spent waiting".
Quotations
1976
Three high-speed elevators will really move people: they're programmed for an average wait-time of only 35 seconds.
1982
Third, "Every member of the organization has to understand the cost of quality" because the loss of it includes "excess inventories, staggering carrying costs, machine wait time, scrap, off-line repairs, warranty costs, customer complaints, lost sales, profit decline."
1987
After 2 years of research the ULTIMA Super Blos Chip is finally here, and virtually 100% of IBM PC compatible. You Can install the ULTIMA yourself in just minutes. Fully legal. International copyright. Reduces wait time drastically.
1990
Paul Thielen, manager of Immigration Canada at Coutts, hopes to cut the wait time by assigning a scheduling officer to their cases.
1999
"I have been told that the wait time over the weekend was down to about a minute," Lorie Wells said.
2005
For example, the report said that one week was a medically acceptable wait time for an MRI or CAT scan, while the current wait can be months long.
2010
While Fort McMurray is meeting the provincial wait-time goals, it does have its own issues, said Dr. Brian Dufresne, chief of the emergency department.
2011
Other than having to open a small package and waiting for your water to boil, there is no wait time for instant coffee.
2023
In light of studies showing patients admitted to ERs are waiting longer to get into an acute care bed, CTVNews.ca has collected wait time data over a recent time period from a selection of hospitals in cities across Canada, to give you a snapshot of the wait times Canadians are dealing with.
References
- OED-3
- Dollinger (2015b)
Images
Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 29 May 2024
