wave

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      English

      Pronunciation

      Etymology 1

      From Middle English waven, from Old English wafian (“to wave, fluctuate, waver in mind, wonder”), from Proto-Germanic *wabōną, *wabjaną (“to wander, sway”), from Proto-Indo-European *webh- (“to move to and from, wander”). Cognate with Middle High German waben (“to wave”), Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”). See also waver.

      Verb

      wave (third-person singular simple present waves, present participle waving, simple past and past participle waved)

      1. (intransitive) To move back and forth repeatedly.
        The flag waved in the gentle breeze.
        • 2011 October 1, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland”, BBC Sport:
          But the World Cup winning veteran's left boot was awry again, the attempt sliced horribly wide of the left upright, and the saltires were waving aloft again a moment later when a long pass in the England midfield was picked off to almost offer up a breakaway try.
      2. (intransitive) To wave one’s hand in greeting or departure.
        I waved goodbye from across the room.
      3. (intransitive) To have an undulating or wavy form.
      4. (transitive) To produce waves to the hair.
      5. (intransitive, baseball) To swing and miss at a pitch.
        Jones waves at strike one.
      6. (transitive) To cause to move back and forth repeatedly.
        The starter waved the flag to begin the race.
      7. (transitive) To signal (someone or something) with a waving movement.
      Derived terms
      Translations
      to move back and forth repeatedly
      to wave one’s hand
      to have an undulating or wavy form
      to produce waves to the hair
      baseball: to swing and miss at a pitch
      to cause to move back and forth repeatedly
      to signal with a waving movement

      Etymology 2

      The wave after a ferry (1)

      From Middle English *wave, wawe, waghe (“wave”), partially from waven (“to fluctuate, wave”) (see above) and partially from Old English wǣg (“a wave, billow, motion, water, flood, sea”), from Proto-Germanic *wēgaz (“motion, storm, wave”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵhe- (“to drag, carry”). Cognate with North Frisian weage (“wave, flood, sea”), German Woge (“wave”), French vague (“wave”) (from Germanic), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌲𐍃 (wēgs, “a wave”). See also waw.

      Noun

      wave (plural waves)

      1. A moving disturbance in the level of a body of water; an undulation.
        The wave traveled from the center of the lake before breaking on the shore.
      2. (physics) A moving disturbance in the energy level of a field.
        Gravity waves, while predicted by theory for decades, have been notoriously difficult to detect.
      3. A shape which alternatingly curves in opposite directions.
        Her hair had a nice wave to it.
        sine wave
      4. (figuratively) A sudden unusually large amount of something that is temporarily experienced.
        A wave of shoppers stampeded through the door when the store opened for its Christmas discount special.
        A wave of retirees began moving to the coastal area.
        A wave of emotion overcame her when she thought about her son who was killed in battle.
        • 2011 January 11, Jonathan Stevenson, “West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham”, BBC:
          Foster had been left unsighted by Scott Dann's positioning at his post, but the goalkeeper was about to prove his worth to Birmingham by keeping them in the game with a series of stunning saves as West Ham produced waves after wave of attack in their bid to find a crucial second goal.
      5. A sideway movement of the hand(s).
        With a wave of the hand.
      6. A group activity in a crowd imitating a wave going through water, where people in successive parts of the crowd stand and stretch upward, then sit. Usually referred to as "the wave"
      Derived terms
      Derived terms
      Synonyms
      • (an undulation): und (obsolete, rare)
      Translations
      moving disturbance, undulation
      moving disturbance in a field
      shape which alternatingly curves in opposite directions
      sudden unusually large amount of something
      sideways movement of the hand
      A group activity in a crowd imitating a wave going through water

      Etymology 3

      See waive.

      Verb

      wave (third-person singular simple present waves, present participle waving, simple past and past participle waved)

      1. Obsolete spelling of waive.
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      Last modified on 16 June 2013, at 22:05