等
děng
Feet nailed down while the clock walks past: 等
The picture Your feet stay stuck to one spot while time keeps walking past you. 等 holds its place until the moment comes; 走 leaves instead of holding.
Where the picture shows up in 等
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standing in place
请在这儿等一下。
qǐng zài zhèr děng yí xià
Please wait here a moment.
A hand pointing at one spot on the floor, telling the feet to stay on it
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clock sliding past
我等了半个小时，车还没来。
wǒ děng le bàn gè xiǎo shí, chē hái méi lái
I waited half an hour and the bus still had not come.
A person still at the same bus stop while the minute hand swings half way around
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holding on for your turn
医生让我在外面等着。
yī shēng ràng wǒ zài wài miàn děng zhe
The doctor told me to wait outside.
Sitting on the chair by the exam room door, not rising until the name is called
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parking it at a later moment
等他来了再说吧。
děng tā lái le zài shuō ba
Let us talk about it after he gets here.
Holding the words in your hand and refusing to put them down until the door opens
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stopping something moving
等一等，我还没准备好。
děng yi děng, wǒ hái méi zhǔn bèi hǎo
Hold on, I am not ready yet.
Catching the arm of someone already walking ahead so their feet halt
Doubling it as 等一等 makes the wait very short
All of it in one picture
等 is a single post driven into the ground. Feet that do not move mean standing there, and a long stretch of clock sliding past means a long wait. Sitting in a hospital corridor until your name is called is the same post, and saying you will do it after he comes parks the task at a moment that has not arrived yet. Plant the post in front of someone already moving and it stops them where they are.