queue

UK: /ˈkjuː/ US: /kju/ ,(kyo̅o̅)

Inflections of 'queue' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

queues

v 3rd person singular

queuing

v pres p

queued

v past

queued

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

queue /kyu/   n., v., queued, queu•ing. 
n. [countable]

1. a file or line, esp. of people waiting their turn.
2. Computing a number of items waiting in a certain order for electronic action in a computer system:
   a queue for printing jobs.

v. 

3. to form in a line while waiting:
   [no object* (~ + up)] People had queued (up) for hours to buy tickets.
4. Computing to arrange or organize (electronic data) into a queue:
   [~ + object] The computer program queues the various print jobs.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

queue  (kyo̅o̅), n., v., queued, queu•ing. 
n. 

1. a braid of hair worn hanging down behind.
2. a file or line, esp. of people waiting their turn.
3. Computing a FIFO-organized sequence of items, as data, messages, jobs, or the like, waiting for action.

v.i., v.t. 
4. to form in a line while waiting (often fol. by up).
5. Computing to arrange (data, jobs, messages, etc.) into a queue.
• Latin cauda, cōda tail
• Middle French
• 1585–95
queu′er, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

queue / kjuː/ noun

1. a line of people, vehicles, etc, waiting for something
   US and Canadian word: line
2. a list in which entries are deleted from one end and inserted at the other
3. a pigtail
4. jump the queue ⇒
   See queue-jump

verb (queues, queuing, queueing, queued)

1. (intransitive) often followed by up: to form or remain in a line while waiting
2. to arrange (a number of programs) in a predetermined order for accessing by a computer

Etymology: 16th Century (in the sense: tail); C18 (in the sense: pigtail): via French from Latin cauda tail