Definition of "whilst"

(archaic or obsolete except dialectal) Often preceded by the: During the time; meanwhile.  quotations

(Britain, Australia, literary or rare in North America) Synonym of while

1. During the whole, or until the end, of the time that; as long as, at the same time.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • I ſaw a Smith ſtand with his hammer (thus) / The whilſt his Iron did on the Anuile coole.

     c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene ii], page 16, column 1

   • […] Ile nere be drunk whilſt I liue againe, but in honeſt, ciuill, godly company for this tricke: if I be drunke, Ile be drunke with thoſe that haue the feare of God, and not with drunken knaues.

     c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene i], page 40, column 2

   • VVell, make your mirth, the whilſt I bear my miſery: / Honeſt minds vvould have better thoughts.

     1633 May 21 (licensing date; Gregorian calendar), John Fletcher, [James Shirley], The Night-Walker, or The Little Thief. A Comedy, […], London: […] Andrew Crook[e], published 1661, Act I

   • And thus with lame pretences they revive / Thoſe Lines when Dead, he bluſh'd at whilſt alive: / As if Mankind could not diſcern their Evil, / Without a naked Viſion of the Devil.

     1703, [Daniel Defoe], More Reformation. A Satyr upon Himself. […], [London: s.n.], page 12

   • Elizabeth, as she affectionately embraced her, whilst tears filled the eyes of both, lost not a moment in asking whether any thing had been heard of the fugitives.

     1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter V, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], page 92

   • The locomotive [...] was quietly "blowing off" on one Ross "pop" valve, whilst the rhythmic clanging of the fireman's shovel, the black smoke pouring from her chimney, and the harsh sound of the blower told of the proximity of departure time.

     1942 July-August, Philip Spencer, “On the Footplate in Egypt”, in Railway Magazine, page 208

2. Within, or before the end, of the time that.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • [P]ray, step down to the cellar and fetch us a bottle of the Burgundy, 1678—it is the fourth bin from the right-hand turn—And I say, Craigie—you may fetch up half-a-dozen whilst you are about it—Egad, we'll make a night on't.

     1819, Jedadiah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume II (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], page 172

3. Although; in contrast; whereas.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • His company must do his minions grace, / Whil'ſt I at home ſtarue for a merrie looke: / Hath homelie age th'alluring beauty tooke / From my poore cheeke?

     c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene i], page 88, column 1

   • So then I am not lame, poore, nor diſpiſ'd, / VVhilſt that this ſhadow doth ſuch ſubſtance giue, / That I in thy abundance am ſuffic'd, / And by a part of all thy glory liue: […]

     1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 37”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […]‎, London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley

   • There is a place near St. Paul's in London, called in the old records "Diana's chamber," where, in the days of king Edward I. thousands of the heads of oxen were digged up; whereat the ignorant wondered, whilst the learned well understood them to be the proper sacrifices to Diana, whose great temple was built thereabout.The spelling has been modernized.

     1655, Thomas Fuller, “Section I. The First Century.”, in James Nichols, editor, The Church History of Britain, […], new edition, volume I, London: […] [James Nichols] for Thomas Tegg and Son, […], published 1837, book I, subsection 2 (Their Principal Idols), page 6

   • Whilst her appearance was an utter failure (as her husband felt with a sort of rage), Mrs. Rawdon Crawley's début was, on the contrary, very brilliant.

     1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Brussels”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, page 253

4. Besides; in addition.  quotations  examples

   Quotations

   • Modern engine sheds of advanced design have also been built at Radyr, Abercynon, and elsewhere, whilst other depots have been remodelled and re-equipped.

     1939 September, D. S. Barrie, “The Railways of South Wales”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, page 161

   • The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue.

     1963, Margery Allingham, “The Boy in the Corner”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, page 214

5. Only if; provided that; as long as.  examples