queue
noun /kjuː/
/kjuː/
Idioms - (British English)(North American English line)a line of people, cars, etc. waiting for something or to do something
- There were long queues at polling stations.
- the bus queue
- the front/head/back/end of the queue
- queue for something I had to join a queue for the toilets.
- Patients face lengthy queues for treatment.
- queue of somebody/something There was a queue of traffic waiting to turn right.
- There's a queue of people trying to get in.
- in a queue How long were you in the queue?
- Shoppers had to wait in long queues.
- I have to stand in a queue at immigration.
- I took my place in the queue.
Homophones cue | queuecue queue/kjuː//kjuː/- cue noun
- I took this as my cue to leave.
- queue noun
- There was a long queue at the ticket office.
- queue verb
- I had to queue for ages before it was my turn.
Collocations ShoppingShoppingShopping- go/go out/be out shopping
- go to (especially British English) the shops/(especially North American English) a store/(especially North American English) the mall
- do (British English) the shopping/(especially North American English) the grocery shopping/a bit of window-shopping
- (North American English, informal) hit/hang out at the mall
- try on clothes/shoes
- indulge in some retail therapy
- go on a spending spree
- cut/cut back on/reduce your spending
- be/get caught shoplifting
- donate something to/take something to/find something in (British English) a charity shop/(North American English) a thrift store
- buy/sell/find something at (British English) a car boot sale/(British English) a jumble sale/a garage sale/(North American English) a yard sale
- find/get/pick up a bargain
- load/push/wheel (British English) a trolley/(North American English) a cart
- stand in/wait in (British English) the checkout queue/(North American English) the checkout line
- (North American English) stand in line/ (British English) queue at the checkout
- bag (especially North American English) (your) groceries
- pack (away) (especially British English) your shopping
- stack/stock/restock the shelves at a store (with something)
- be (found) on/appear on supermarket/shop shelves
- be in/have in/be out of/run out of stock
- deal with/help/serve customers
- run a special promotion
- be on special offer
- make/complete a purchase
- buy/purchase something online/by mail order
- make/place/take an order for something
- buy/order something in bulk/in advance
- accept/take credit cards
- pay (in) cash/by (credit/debit) card/(British English) with a gift voucher/(North American English) with a gift certificate
- enter your PIN number
- ask for/get/obtain a receipt
- return/exchange an item/a product
- be entitled to/ask for/demand a refund
- compare prices
- offer (somebody)/give (somebody)/get/receive a 30% discount
Extra ExamplesTopics Shoppingb1, Transport by car or lorryb1- Long queues are building up on the city's exit roads.
- More unemployed people are joining the dole queue each week.
- Please form an orderly queue.
- The queue stretched for more than a mile.
- The queue's not moving at all.
- a long queue of shoppers
- the country's soaring prices and growing food queues
- the queue for tickets
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- endless
- long
- growing
- …
- form
- line up in
- join
- …
- form
- build up
- grow
- …
- in a/the queue
- queue for
- queue of
- …
- the back of the queue
- the end of the queue
- the front of the queue
- …
- (computing) a list of items of data stored in a particular order
Word Originlate 16th cent. (as a heraldic term denoting the tail of an animal): from French, based on Latin cauda ‘tail’. Compare with cue ‘long stick used for playing billiards, pool and snooker’. Sense (1) dates from the mid 19th cent.
Idioms
jump the queue (British English)
(US English jump the line)
- to go to the front of a line of people without waiting for your turn