queue
KYOO
/kjuː/
A line or sequence of people or vehicles awaiting their turn to be attended to or to proceed.
Implies an orderly, sequential line, commonly used in British English, whereas American English prefers line.
The story behind the word. From Old French cue or coe, meaning tail, which traces back to Latin cauda. It originally referred to a line of people resembling a long tail.
Word relationships
- line: Line is standard American English, whereas queue is preferred in British English and often implies a more structured, orderly wait.
- disorganized crowd: Disorganized crowd lacks any linear structure or sequential order of service.
Commonly confused with
- mob: A mob is a chaotic, potentially violent crowd, whereas a queue is a peaceful, organized line.
Word family
- queued (verb): past tense of queue
- queuing (verb): present participle of queue
Collocations
- jump the queue
- join the queue
- orderly queue
- virtual queue
Idioms & expressions
- cue up
Example sentences
- "We had to stand in a winding queue for nearly two hours just to get a seat on the popular ride." Waiting for a ride
- "The eager fans queued up outside the arena overnight to secure front-row tickets." Using as a verb
Memory hook
The word queue is just the letter Q followed by four silent letters waiting in line. A long tail of people waiting.
When not to use
Do not use to describe a disorganized crowd or mob of people waiting without structure.
Fun facts
- In computer science, a queue is a data structure where the first element added is the first one to be removed, known as First-In, First-Out (FIFO).
Related words
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