hurry up and wait

phrase

US, informal

—used to describe a situation in which one is forced to spend a lot of time waiting

My father says that all he did in the army was hurry up and wait.

—sometimes used as a noun phrase

Traveling often involves a lot of hurry up and wait.

Examples of hurry up and wait in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But the firing and the fallout make for an invigoratingly melodramatic chapter in a movie that is, again, about a vibe of in-betweenness, of hurry up and wait. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 7 Oct. 2026

While tariffs on many countries remain in limbo, consumers and retailers simply have to hurry up and wait for further information on how prices—and margins—could be impacted. — Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 24 June 2025

The team can’t hurry up and wait to be a true contender, fielding half-measure rosters around Rafael Devers and Masataka Yoshida filled with patch-job veterans and open auditions for inchoate prospects. — Christopher L. Gasper, BostonGlobe.com, 15 June 2023

Rhymes for hurry up and wait

• borosilicate
• decontaminate
• deoxycholate
• deteriorate
• differentiate
• diisocyanate
• dinoflagellate
• excommunicate
• incapacitate
• insubordinate
• intercorporate
• interpenetrate