W () 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.
Waag (n.) The grivet.
Waahoo (n.) The burning bush; -- said to be called after a quack medicine made from it.
Wabble (v. i.) 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 (n.) A hobbling, unequal motion, as of a wheel unevenly hung; a staggering to and fro.
Wabbly (a.) Inclined to wabble; wabbling.
Wacke (n.) Alt. of Wacky
Wacky (n.) A soft, earthy, dark-colored rock or clay derived from the alteration of basalt.
Wad (n.) Woad.
Wad (n.) A little mass, tuft, or bundle, as of hay or tow.
Wad (n.) 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.
Wad (n.) A soft mass, especially of some loose, fibrous substance, used for various purposes, as for stopping an aperture, padding a garment, etc.
Waded (imp. & p. p.) of Wad
Wadding (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Wad
Wad (v. t.) To form into a mass, or wad, or into wadding; as, to wad tow or cotton.
Wad (v. t.) 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 (n.) Alt. of Wadd
Wadd (n.) 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.
Wadd (n.) Plumbago, or black lead.
Wadding (n.) A wad, or the materials for wads; any pliable substance of which wads may be made.
Wadding (n.) Any soft stuff of loose texture, used for stuffing or padding garments; esp., sheets of carded cotton prepared for the purpose.
Waddled (imp. & p. p.) of Waddle
Waddling (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Waddle
Waddle (v. i.) 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.
Waddle (v. t.) To trample or tread down, as high grass, by walking through it.
Waddler (n.) One who, or that which, waddles.
Waddlingly (adv.) In a waddling manner.
Wade (n.) Woad.
Waded (imp. & p. p.) of Wade
Wading (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Wade
Wade (v. i.) To go; to move forward.
Wade (v. i.) To walk in a substance that yields to the feet; to move, sinking at each step, as in water, mud, sand, etc.
Wade (v. i.) 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.
Wade (v. t.) To pass or cross by wading; as, he waded /he rivers and swamps.
Wade (n.) The act of wading.
Wader (n.) One who, or that which, wades.
Wader (n.) 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 () a. & n. from Wade, v.
Wadmol (n.) A coarse, hairy, woolen cloth, formerly used for garments by the poor, and for various other purposes.
Wadset (n.) A kind of pledge or mortgage.
Wadsetter (n.) One who holds by a wadset.
Wadies (pl. ) of Wady
Wady (n.) A ravine through which a brook flows; the channel of a water course, which is dry except in the rainy season.
Wae (n.) A wave.
Waeg (n.) The kittiwake.
Wafer (n.) A thin cake made of flour and other ingredients.
Wafer (n.) 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.
Wafer (n.) An adhesive disk of dried paste, made of flour, gelatin, isinglass, or the like, and coloring matter, -- used in sealing letters and other documents.
Wafered (imp. & p. p.) of Wafer
Wafering (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Wafer
Wafer (v. t.) To seal or close with a wafer.
Waferer (n.) A dealer in the cakes called wafers; a confectioner.
Waffle (n.) A thin cake baked and then rolled; a wafer.
Waffle (n.) A soft indented cake cooked in a waffle iron.
Wafted (imp. & p. p.) of Waft
Wafting (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Waft
Waft (v. t.) To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.
Waft (v. t.) 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.
Waft (v. t.) To cause to float; to keep from sinking; to buoy.
Waft (v. i.) To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.
Waft (n.) A wave or current of wind.
Waft (n.) A signal made by waving something, as a flag, in the air.
Waft (n.) An unpleasant flavor.
Waft (n.) A knot, or stop, in the middle of a flag.
Waftage (n.) Conveyance on a buoyant medium, as air or water.
Wafter (n.) One who, or that which, wafts.
Wafter (n.) A boat for passage.
Wafture (n.) The act of waving; a wavelike motion; a waft.
Wagged (imp. & p. p.) of Wag
Wagging (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Wag
Wag (v. t.) 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.
Wag (v. i.) To move one way and the other; to be shaken to and fro; to vibrate.
Wag (v. i.) To be in action or motion; to move; to get along; to progress; to stir.
Wag (v. i.) To go; to depart; to pack oft.
Wag (v.) The act of wagging; a shake; as, a wag of the head.
Wag (v.) A man full of sport and humor; a ludicrous fellow; a humorist; a wit; a joker.
Wagati (n.) A small East Indian wild cat (Felis wagati), regarded by some as a variety of the leopard cat.
Waged (imp. & p. p.) of Wage
Waging (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Wage
Wage (v. t.) To pledge; to hazard on the event of a contest; to stake; to bet, to lay; to wager; as, to wage a dollar.
Wage (v. t.) To expose one's self to, as a risk; to incur, as a danger; to venture; to hazard.
Wage (v. t.) To engage in, as a contest, as if by previous gage or pledge; to carry on, as a war.
Wage (v. t.) To adventure, or lay out, for hire or reward; to hire out.
Wage (v. t.) To put upon wages; to hire; to employ; to pay wages to.
Wage (v. t.) To give security for the performance of.
Wage (v. i.) To bind one's self; to engage.
Wage (v. t.) That which is staked or ventured; that for which one incurs risk or danger; prize; gage.
Wage (v. t.) That for which one labors; meed; reward; stipulated payment for service performed; hire; pay; compensation; -- at present generally used in the plural. See Wages.
Wagel (n.) See Waggel.
Wagenboom (n.) A south African proteaceous tree (Protea grandiflora); also, its tough wood, used for making wagon wheels.
Wager (v. t.) Something deposited, laid, or hazarded on the event of a contest or an unsettled question; a bet; a stake; a pledge.
Wager (v. t.) A contract by which two parties or more agree that a certain sum of money, or other thing, shall be paid or delivered to one of them, on the happening or not happening of an uncertain event.
Wager (v. t.) That on which bets are laid; the subject of a bet.
Wagered (imp. & p. p.) of Wager
Wagering (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Wager
Wager (v. t.) To hazard on the issue of a contest, or on some question that is to be decided, or on some casualty; to lay; to stake; to bet.
Wager (v. i.) To make a bet; to lay a wager.
Wagerer (n.) One who wagers, or lays a bet.
Wagering (a.) Hazarding; pertaining to the act of one who wagers.
Wages (n.) A compensation given to a hired person for services; price paid for labor; recompense; hire. See Wage, n., 2.