Does the expression "there's a while" exist?

Question

This doubt have been bugging me for a while. Does the expression "there's a while" exists? The meaning of it would be something like "it have been happening for a few minutes" or "for some time" but a short time, examples:

• 1 - There's a while he is staring at me. = He has been staring at me for a few minutes.

• 2 - There's a while she's playing with the dog. = She has been playing with the dog for some time.

I searched everywhere, but couldn't find anything about it. I swear I saw/listened to it somewhere. Does anyone know anything about it?

Answer 1

The phrase "there's a while" sounds wrong to me and I would not use it myself. Here's why:

The word "while" is used to reference an unspecified amount of time and that lack of specificity is the problem. A physical object, like a house, is specific ("there's a house"). Concepts and other intangible things can also be specific ("there's a reason"). The ambiguity of "while" suggests you cannot use it in the phrase "there is a...".