W W (dŭb"'l ū), the twenty-third letter of the English alphabet, is usually a consonant, but sometimes it is a vowel, forming the second element of certain diphthongs, as in few , how . It takes its written form and its name from the repetition of a V, this being the original form of the Roman capital letter which we call U . Etymologically it is most related to v and u . See V, and U. Some of the uneducated classes in England, especially in London, confuse w and v , substituting the one for the other, as weal for veal , and veal for weal ; wine for vine , and vine for wine , etc. See Guide to Pronunciation , §§ 266-268.

Wa'n't Wa'n't A colloquial contraction of was not .

Waag Waag (wäg) noun (Zoology) The grivet.

Waahoo Waa·hoo" (wä*hō") noun (Botany) The burning bush; -- said to be called after a quack medicine made from it.

Wabble Wab"ble (wŏb"b'l) intransitive verb [ Confer Prov. German wabbeln to wabble, and English whap . Confer Quaver .] To move staggeringly or unsteadily from one side to the other; to vacillate; to move the manner of a rotating disk when the axis of rotation is inclined to that of the disk; -- said of a turning or whirling body; as, a top wabbles ; a buzz saw wabbles .

Wabble Wab"ble noun A hobbling, unequal motion, as of a wheel unevenly hung; a staggering to and fro.

Wabbly Wab"bly adjective Inclined to wabble; wabbling.

Wacke, Wacky Wack"e, Wack"y noun [ German wacke , Middle High German wacke a large stone, Old High German waggo a pebble.] (Geol.) A soft, earthy, dark-colored rock or clay derived from the alteration of basalt.

Wad Wad noun [ See Woad .] Woad. [ Obsolete]

Wad Wad noun [ Probably of Scand. origin; confer Swedish vadd wadding, Dan vat , D. & German watte . Confer Wadmol .]

1. A little mass, tuft, or bundle, as of hay or tow. Holland.

2. Specifically: A little mass of some soft or flexible material, such as hay, straw, tow, paper, or old rope yarn, used for retaining a charge of powder in a gun, or for keeping the powder and shot close; also, to diminish or avoid the effects of windage. Also, by extension, a dusk of felt, pasteboard, etc., serving a similar purpose.

3. A soft mass, especially of some loose, fibrous substance, used for various purposes, as for stopping an aperture, padding a garment, etc.

Wed hook , a rod with a screw or hook at the end, used for removing the wad from a gun.

Wad Wad transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Waded ; present participle & verbal noun Wadding .]

1. To form into a mass, or wad, or into wadding; as, to wad tow or cotton.

2. To insert or crowd a wad into; as, to wad a gun; also, to stuff or line with some soft substance, or wadding, like cotton; as, to wad a cloak.

Wad, Wadd Wad, Wadd noun (Min.) (a) An earthy oxide of manganese, or mixture of different oxides and water, with some oxide of iron, and often silica, alumina, lime, or baryta; black ocher. There are several varieties. (b) Plumbago, or black lead.

Waddie Wad"die noun & v. See Waddy .

Wadding Wad"ding noun [ See Wad a little mass.]

1. A wad, or the materials for wads; any pliable substance of which wads may be made.

2. Any soft stuff of loose texture, used for stuffing or padding garments; esp., sheets of carded cotton prepared for the purpose.

Waddle Wad"dle intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Waddled ; present participle & verbal noun Waddling .] [ Freq. of wade ; confer Anglo-Saxon wædlian to beg, from wadan to go. See Wade .] To walk with short steps, swaying the body from one side to the other, like a duck or very fat person; to move clumsily and totteringly along; to toddle; to stumble; as, a child waddles when he begins to walk; a goose waddles . Shak.

She drawls her words, and waddles in her pace.

Young.

Waddle Wad"dle transitive verb To trample or tread down, as high grass, by walking through it. [ R.] Drayton.

Waddler Wad"dler noun One who, or that which, waddles.

Waddlingly Wad"dling·ly adverb In a waddling manner.

Waddy Wad"dy noun ; plural Waddies [ Written also waddie , whaddie .] [ Native name. Thought by some to be a corrup. of English wood .] [ Australia] 1. An aboriginal war club.

2. A piece of wood; stick; peg; also, a walking stick.

Waddy Wad"dy transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Waddied ; present participle & verbal noun Waddying .] To attack or beat with a waddy.

Waddywood Wad"dy·wood` noun An Australian tree ( Pittosporum bicolor ); also, its wood, used in making waddies.

Wade Wade noun Woad. [ Obsolete] Mortimer.

Wade Wade intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Waded ; present participle & verbal noun Wading .] [ Middle English waden to wade, to go, Anglo-Saxon wadan ; akin to OFries. wada , Dutch waden , Old High German watan , Icelandic va...a , Swedish vada , Danish vade , Latin vadere to go, walk, vadum a ford. Confer Evade , Invade , Pervade , Waddle .]

1. To go; to move forward. [ Obsolete]

When might is joined unto cruelty,
Alas, too deep will the venom wade .

Chaucer.

Forbear, and wade no further in this speech.

Old Play.

2. To walk in a substance that yields to the feet; to move, sinking at each step, as in water, mud, sand, etc.

So eagerly the fiend . . .
With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way,
And swims, or sinks, or wades , or creeps, or flies.

Milton.

3. Hence, to move with difficulty or labor; to proceed ...lowly among objects or circumstances that constantly ...inder or embarrass; as, to wade through a dull book.

And wades through fumes, and gropes his way.

Dryden.

The king's admirable conduct has waded through all these difficulties.

Davenant.

Wade Wade transitive verb To pass or cross by wading; as, he waded ...he rivers and swamps.

Wade Wade noun The act of wading. [ Colloq.]

Wader Wad"er noun 1. One who, or that which, wades.

2. (Zoology) Any long-legged bird that wades in the water in search of food, especially any species of limicoline or grallatorial birds; -- called also wading bird . See Illust. g , under Aves .

Wading Wad"ing adjective & noun from Wade , v.

Wading bird . (Zoology) See Wader , 2.

Wadmol Wad"mol noun [ Of Scand. origin; confer Icelandic va...māl a woollen stuff, Dan vadmel . Confer Wad a small mass, and Woodmeil .] A coarse, hairy, woolen cloth, formerly used for garments by the poor, and for various other purposes. [ Spelled also wadmal , wadmeal , wadmoll , wadmel , etc.] Beck (Draper's Dict.). Sir W. Scott.

Wadset Wad"set noun [ Scot. wad a pledge; akin to Swedish vad a wager. See Wed .] (Scots Law) A kind of pledge or mortgage. [ Written also wadsett .]

Wadsetter Wad"set·ter noun One who holds by a wadset.

Wady Wad"y noun ; plural Wadies . [ Arabic wādī a valley, a channel of a river, a river.] A ravine through which a brook flows; the channel of a water course, which is dry except in the rainy season.

Wae Wae noun A wave. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Waeg Waeg noun (Zoology) The kittiwake. [ Scot.]

Wafer Wa"fer noun [ Middle English wafre , Old French waufre , qaufre , French qaufre ; of Teutonic origin; confer LG. & Dutch wafel , German waffel , Danish vaffel , Swedish våffla ; all akin to German wabe a honeycomb, Old High German waba , being named from the resemblance to a honeycomb. German wabe is probably akin to English weave . See Weave , and confer Waffle , Gauffer .]

1. (Cookery) A thin cake made of flour and other ingredients.

Wafers piping hot out of the gleed.

Chaucer.

The curious work in pastry, the fine cakes, wafers , and marchpanes.

Holland.

A woman's oaths are wafers -- break with making

B. Jonson.

2. (Eccl.) A thin cake or piece of bread (commonly unleavened, circular, and stamped with a crucifix or with the sacred monogram) used in the Eucharist, as in the Roman Catholic Church.

3. An adhesive disk of dried paste, made of flour, gelatin, isinglass, or the like, and coloring matter, -- used in sealing letters and other documents.

Wafer cake , a sweet, thin cake. Shak. -- Wafer irons , or Wafer tongs (Cookery) , a pincher-shaped contrivance, having flat plates, or blades, between which wafers are baked. -- Wafer woman , a woman who sold wafer cakes; also, one employed in amorous intrigues. Beau. & Fl.

Wafer Wa"fer transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Wafered ; present participle & verbal noun Wafering .] To seal or close with a wafer.

Waferer Wa"fer·er noun A dealer in the cakes called wafers; a confectioner. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Waffle Waffle noun [ Dutch wafel . See Wafer .] 1. A thin cake baked and then rolled; a wafer.

2. A soft indented cake cooked in a waffle iron.

Waffle iron , an iron utensil or mold made in two parts shutting together, -- used for cooking waffles over a fire.

Waft Waft transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Wafted ; present participle & verbal noun Wafting .] [ Prob. originally imperfect & past participle of wave , transitive verb See Wave to waver.] 1. To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [ Obsolete]

But soft: who wafts us yonder?

Shak.

2. To cause to move or go in a wavy manner, or by the impulse of waves, as of water or air; to bear along on a buoyant medium; as, a balloon was wafted over the channel.

A gentle wafting to immortal life.

Milton.

Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul,
And waft a sigh from Indus to the pole.

Pope.

3. To cause to float; to keep from sinking; to buoy. [ Obsolete] Sir T. Browne.

» This verb is regular; but waft was formerly som...times used, as by Shakespeare, instead of wafted .

Waft Waft intransitive verb To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.

And now the shouts waft near the citadel.

Dryden.

Waft Waft noun 1. A wave or current of wind. "Every waft of the air." Longfellow.

In this dire season, oft the whirlwind's wing
Sweeps up the burden of whole wintry plains
In one wide waft .

Thomson.

2. A signal made by waving something, as a flag, in the air.

3. An unpleasant flavor. [ Obsolete]

4. (Nautical) A knot, or stop, in the middle of a flag. [ Written also wheft .]

» A flag with a waft in it, when hoisted at the staff, or half way to the gaff, means, a man overboard; at the peak, a desire to communicate; at the masthead, "Recall boats."

Waftage Waft"age noun Conveyance on a buoyant medium, as air or water. Shak.

Boats prepared for waftage to and fro.

Drayton.

Wafter Waft"er noun 1. One who, or that which, wafts.

O Charon,
Thou wafter of the soul to bliss or bane.

Beau. & FL.

2. A boat for passage. Ainsworth.

Wafture Waf"ture noun The act of waving; a wavelike motion; a waft. R. Browning.

An angry wafture of your hand.

Shak.

Wag Wag transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Wagged ; present participle & verbal noun Wagging .] [ Middle English waggen ; probably of Scand. origin; confer Swedish vagga to rock a cradle, vagga cradle, Icelandic vagga , Danish vugge ; akin to Anglo-Saxon wagian to move, wag, wegan to bear, carry, G. & D. be wegen to move, and English weigh . √136. See Weigh .] To move one way and the other with quick turns; to shake to and fro; to move vibratingly; to cause to vibrate, as a part of the body; as, to wag the head.

No discerner durst wag his tongue in censure.

Shak.

Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.

Jer. xviii. 16.

» Wag expresses specifically the motion of the head and body used in buffoonery, mirth, derision, sport, and mockery.

Wag Wag intransitive verb 1. To move one way and the other; to be shaken to and fro; to vibrate.

The resty sieve wagged ne'er the more.

Dryden.

2. To be in action or motion; to move; to get along; to progress; to stir. [ Colloq.]

"Thus we may see," quoth he, "how the world wags ."

Shak.

3. To go; to depart; to pack oft. [ R.]

I will provoke him to 't, or let him wag .

Shak.

Wag Wag noun [ From Wag , v. ]

1. The act of wagging; a shake; as, a wag of the head. [ Colloq.]

2. [ Perhaps shortened from wag-halter a rogue.] A man full of sport and humor; a ludicrous fellow; a humorist; a wit; a joker.

We wink at wags when they offend.

Dryden.

A counselor never pleaded without a piece of pack thread in his hand, which he used to twist about a finger all the while he was speaking; the wags used to call it the thread of his discourse.

Addison.

Wag-halter Wag"-hal`ter noun [ Wag + halter .] One who moves or wears a halter; one likely to be hanged. [ Colloq. & Obsolete]

I can tell you, I am a mad wag-halter .

Marston.

Wagati Wa·ga"ti noun (Zoology) A small East Indian wild cat ( Felis wagati ), regarded by some as a variety of the leopard cat.

Wage Wage transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Waged ; present participle & verbal noun Waging .] [ Middle English wagen , Old French wagier , gagier , to pledge, promise, French gager to wager, lay, bet, from Late Latin wadium a pledge; of Teutonic origin; confer Goth. wadi a pledge, ga wadjōn to pledge, akin to English wed , German wette a wager. See Wed , and confer Gage .]

1. To pledge; to hazard on the event of a contest; to stake; to bet, to lay; to wager; as, to wage a dollar. Hakluyt.

My life I never but as a pawn
To wage against thy enemies.

Shak.

2. To expose one's self to, as a risk; to incur, as a danger; to venture; to hazard. "Too weak to wage an instant trial with the king." Shak.

To wake and wage a danger profitless.

Shak.

3. To engage in, as a contest, as if by previous gage or pledge; to carry on, as a war.

[ He pondered] which of all his sons was fit
To reign and wage immortal war with wit.

Dryden.

The two are waging war, and the one triumphs by the destruction of the other.

I. Taylor.

4. To adventure, or lay out, for hire or reward; to hire out. [ Obsolete] "Thou . . . must wage thy works for wealth." Spenser.

5. To put upon wages; to hire; to employ; to pay wages to. [ Obsolete]

Abundance of treasure which he had in store, wherewith he might wage soldiers.

Holinshed.

I would have them waged for their labor.

Latimer.

6. (O. Eng. Law) To give security for the performance of. Burrill.

To wage battle (O. Eng. Law) , to give gage, or security, for joining in the duellum , or combat. See Wager of battel , under Wager , noun Burrill. - - To wage one's law (Law) , to give security to make one's law. See Wager of law , under Wager , noun

Wage Wage intransitive verb To bind one's self; to engage. [ Obsolete]

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