The time spent waiting for another event; time in between.
"While we waited for the train, we enjoyed our coffee during the meantime."
In plain English: The meantime is just the period of time that passes while you are waiting for something else to happen.
"While we wait for dinner in the meantime, let's open some wine."
Usage: Use meantime as a noun to refer specifically to the period of time while you wait, often appearing after "in" or "for." It is interchangeable with meanwhile, but only functions grammatically when preceded by an article like "the," whereas meanwhile can stand alone.
during the intervening time
"meanwhile I will not think about the problem"
"meantime he was attentive to his other interests"
"in the meantime the police were notified"
during the interval; meanwhile
"While we waited in the meantime, the sun began to set behind the mountains."
In plain English: It means during the time while you are waiting for something else to happen.
"While we wait for the bus in the meantime, let's have some coffee."
The word meantime comes from Middle English menetime, which combined the words for "mean" and "time." It entered modern usage as an adverb through a shortened form that originally appeared with the preposition "in.