/waɪl; [US] hwaɪl; hwaɪl/
n [sing]
1 (period of) time （一段）时间
*She worked in a bank for a while before studying law. 她学法律之前在银行工作过一段时间.
* For a long while we had no news of him. 很长一段时间我们没有他的消息.
* I'll be back in a little while, ie soon. 我一会儿就回来.
* It took quite a while (ie a long time) to find a hotel. 很长时间才找到一家旅馆.
* We waited for three hours, all the while hoping that someone would come and fetch us. 我们等候了三个小时, 一直希望能有人来接我们.
2 (idm 习语) once in a while => once. worth sb's while => worth.

v (phr v) while sth away pass (a period of time) in a leisurely way 逍遥自在地度过（一段时间）
*We whiled away the time at the airport reading magazines. 我们在机场阅读杂志消磨时间.
* It's easy to while a few hours away in a museum. 在博物馆里很容易打发掉几个小时.

/waɪl; [US] hwaɪl; hwaɪl/ (also whilst / waIlst; ?@ hwaIlst; hwaIlst/) conj
1 (a) during the time that; when 在...期间; 当...的时候
*He fell asleep while (he was) doing his homework. 他做着做着功课就睡着了.
* While I was in Madrid there was a carnival. 我在马德里的时候正赶上狂欢节.
* While (locked up) in prison, she wrote her first novel. 她在狱中写出了第一部小说.
(b) at the same time as 与...同时
*While Mary was writing a letter, the children were playing outside. 玛丽写信时孩子都在外面玩儿.
* He listens to the radio while driving to work. 他去上班一边开着车一边听音乐.
* I lived in a hostel while I was a student. 我求学期间住在青年招待所里.
2 (used to show a contrast 用以表示对比或相反的情况)
*I drink black coffee while he prefers it with cream. 我爱喝清咖啡而他喜欢加奶油的.
* English is understood all over the world while Turkish is spoken by only a few people outside Turkey itself. 英语世界通行, 但土耳其语离开本国就很少有人说了.
3 (fml 文) although 虽然
*While I admit that there are problems, I don't agree that they cannot be solved. 尽管我承认有问题存在, 但我不同意说这些问题不能解决.