Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

While \While\, n. [AS. hw[=i]l; akin to OS. hw[=i]l, hw[=i]la,
   OFries. hw[=i]le, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG. w[=i]la, hw[=i]la,
   hw[=i]l, Icel. hv[=i]la a bed, hv[=i]ld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan.
   hvile, Goth. hweila a time, and probably to L. quietus quiet,
   and perhaps to Gr. ? the proper time of season. [root]20. Cf.
   {Quiet}, {Whilom}.]
   1. Space of time, or continued duration, esp. when short; a
      time; as, one while we thought him innocent. ``All this
      while.'' --Shak.

            This mighty queen may no while endure. --Chaucer.

            [Some guest that] hath outside his welcome while,
            And tells the jest without the smile. --Coleridge.

            I will go forth and breathe the air a while.
                                                  --Longfellow.

   2. That which requires time; labor; pains. [Obs.]

            Satan . . . cast him how he might quite her while.
                                                  --Chaucer.

   {At whiles}, at times; at intervals.

            And so on us at whiles it falls, to claim Powers
            that we dread.                        --J. H.
                                                  Newman.
      

   {The while}, {The whiles}, in or during the time that;
      meantime; while. --Tennyson.

   {Within a while}, in a short time; soon.

   {Worth while}, worth the time which it requires; worth the
      time and pains; hence, worth the expense; as, it is not
      always worth while for a man to prosecute for small debts.