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"It’ll take me a little while longer to get ready" (Cambridge dictionary).
What does the word "while" means in that sentence? I'm trying to understand the sentence and I simply couldn't. (I understand that the meaning of "It'll take me a little" equals to "It'll take me a short time" but the rest isn't clear.
"A little while" is an idiomatic expression that literally means, "some relatively short amount of time", e.g.
I'll see you in a little while.
As with many time-related expressions, the actual duration of "a little while" is pretty flexible, ranging anywhere from a few seconds to a few hours (or longer) depending on context:
The reaction has to run just a little while longer ... almost ready ... there! Pour in the contents of that flask to neutralize the reaction.
Dinner won't be ready for a little while, so why don't we watch a movie while we wait?
