<B>wadmal,</B> <B>wadmaal,</B> <B>wadmol,</B> or <B>wadmoll, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a coarse woolen fabric formerly worn by country people in Northern Europe. </DL>
<A NAME="wadna">
<B>wadna, </B>verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) would not. </DL>
<A NAME="wads">
<B>wads, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD> See under <B>wad</B> (1). </DL>
<A NAME="wady">
<B>wady, </B>noun, pl. <B>-dies.</B> <B>=wadi.</B></DL>
<B>WAF</B> or <B>Waf, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a member of the WAF; woman in the U.S. Air Force other than a nurse. </DL>
<A NAME="waf">
<B>WAF</B> (no periods),<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) Women in the Air Force. </DL>
<A NAME="wafd">
<B>Wafd, </B>noun, or <B>Wafd Party,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the (Egyptian) National party. </DL>
<A NAME="wafdist">
<B>Wafdist, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a member of the Wafd. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the Wafd or Wafdists. </DL>
<A NAME="wafer">
<B>wafer, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a very thin cake or biscuit, sometimes flavored or sweetened. <DD><B> 2. </B>the thin, round piece of unleavened bread used in celebrating Holy Communion or the Eucharist in certain churches, especially the Roman Catholic Church. <BR> <I>Ex. a consecrated wafer bearing the outline of a cross on its upper surface.</I> (SYN) Host. <DD><B> 3. </B>a thin piece of candy, chocolate, or medicine. <DD><B> 4. </B>a piece of wax, gelatin, sticky paper, or dried paste, used as a seal or fastening. <DD><B> 5. </B>a disk of thin paper, adhesive at the edges, or of some soluble substance, such as was formerly often used alone or as one of a pair to enclose a dose of a powder or other medicine for swallowing. <DD><B> 6. </B>a disk of silicon or ceramic material imprinted or engraved with one or more microcircuits. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to seal or attach with a wafer or wafers. <BR> <I>Ex. to wafer a letter, to wafer a note to a window.</I> adj. <B>waferlike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="waferchip">
<B>wafer chip,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an electronic silicon wafer provided with a microcircuitry equal to the power of a hundred or more microchips. <BR> <I>Ex. Because processing video images takes so much memory and computer power, image processing could be the main nearterm market for wafer chips (Business Week).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="waferthin">
<B>wafer-thin, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> very thin; wafery. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) The Democrats hold a majority in the lower house, the Republicans a wafer-thin majority in the State Senate (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="wafery">
<B>wafery, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> like a wafer; very thin. </DL>
<A NAME="waff">
<B>waff</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a waving movement; wave. <DD><B> 2a. </B>a puff (of wind); gust. <DD><B> b. </B>a whiff (of perfume). <DD><B> 3. </B>a slight attack (of illness); touch. <DD><B> 4. </B>a passing view; glimpse. <DD><B> 5. </B>an apparition; wraith. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1a. </B>(of the wind) to cause (something) to move to and fro. <DD><B> b. </B>(of a bird) to move (the wings) in flight. <DD><B> 2. </B>to direct a current of air against; fan. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to wave to and fro; flutter in the wind. <DD><B> 2. </B>to produce a current of air by waving something to and fro. <BR><I>expr. <B>put out</B> (or <B>set forth</B>) <B>a waff,</B> </I>to wave something as a signal. <BR> <I>Ex. When you are about half a mile from shore, as it were passing by the house ... set forth a waff (Earl Cromarty).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="waff">
<B>waff</B> (2), adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>of no account; worthless (used of a person or condition of life). <DD><B> 2a. </B>(of an animal) wandering; stray. <DD><B> b. </B>(of a person) solitary. <DD><I>noun </I> a waffie. Also, <B>waf.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="waffenss">
<B>Waffen S.S.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an elite corps of troops in the Wehrmacht. </DL>
<A NAME="waffie">
<B>waffie, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Scottish.) a wandering, homeless person; vagabond. </DL>
<A NAME="waffle">
<B>waffle</B> (1), noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a cake made of batter and cooked until brown and crisp in a waffle iron that makes the cakes very thin in places, usually eaten while hot with butter and syrup. <BR> <I>Ex. to have waffles for breakfast.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>=wafflelike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="waffle">
<B>waffle</B> (2), verb, <B>-fled,</B> <B>-fling,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially British Informal.) <DD><I>v.i. </I> to talk incessantly or foolishly; prattle; engage in doubletalk. <BR> <I>Ex. It might be thought that a council of naturalists would be proof against any tendency to waffle (Punch).</I> <DD><I>noun </I> foolish talk; nonsense; doubletalk. </DL>
<A NAME="waffleiron">
<B>waffle iron,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a utensil in which waffles are cooked, consisting of two hinged griddles having square projections on the inside which make the ridges and very thin places in the waffle. </DL>
<A NAME="wafflelike">
<B>wafflelike, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> ridged or indented like a waffle or waffle iron; honeycombed. <BR> <I>Ex. Its wafflelike tread is designed to grip slick surfaces tenaciously (Science News Letter).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="waffleweave">
<B>waffle weave,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a texture and appearance woven into a fabric, resembling small squares like those in a waffle. adj. <B>waffle-weave.</B> </DL>
<B>waffly, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Especially British Informal.) equivocal; waffling. <BR> <I>Ex. Too many people ... accused Mr. Grimond of going in for "vague and waffly talk" (Manchester Guardian).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="waft">
<B>waft</B> (1), verb, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to carry over water or through air. <BR> <I>Ex. The waves wafted the boat to shore.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to transport or transfer very quickly or as if by magic. <BR> <I>Ex. to be wafted by plane from New York to London, to be wafted by sleep into the land of dreams.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B><B>=float.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>to blow gently; stir. <BR> <I>Ex. a wafting breeze.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a breath or puff of air, wind, or scent. <BR> <I>Ex. A waft of fresh air came through the open window.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a waving movement; wave. <BR> <I>Ex. a waft of the hand. And the lonely sea bird crosses With one waft of the wing (Tennyson).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the act of wafting. </DL>
<A NAME="waft">
<B>waft</B> (2), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> (Nautical.) <B>1. </B>a flag hoisted or intended to be hoisted as a signal; signal flag. <DD><B> 2. </B>the act of signaling by such a flag or flags. <DD><I>v.t. </I> (Obsolete.) <B>1. </B>to signal by a wave of the hand; direct, call, or warn, by waving. <DD><B> 2. </B>to avert (one's eyes). </DL>
<B>waftage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of wafting. <DD><B> 2. </B>a means of wafting. </DL>
<A NAME="wafter">
<B>wafter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that wafts. <DD><B> 2. </B>a revolving fan or disk in a type of blower. </DL>
<A NAME="wafture">
<B>wafture, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of waving. <DD><B> 2a. </B>the act of wafting. <DD><B> b. </B>a thing wafted. </DL>
<A NAME="wag">
<B>wag</B> (1), verb, <B>wagged,</B> <B>wagging,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to cause to wag. <BR> <I>Ex. The dog wagged its tail. Her highborne turban'd head she wags and rolls her darkling eye (Walt Whitman).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to move (the tongue) in talking, as in gossip or idle chatter. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to move from side to side or up and down. <BR> <I>Ex. an indignantly wagging finger. The dog's tail wagged back and forth.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to move busily in talking. <BR> <I>Ex. a scandal that made tongues wag throughout the village.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to sway as one moves or walks; waddle or totter. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Especially British Informal.) to go away; depart. <DD><I>noun </I> a wagging motion. <BR> <I>Ex. a wag of the tail. He said "no" with a wag of his head.</I> noun <B>wagger.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="wag">
<B>wag</B> (2), noun, verb, <B>wagged,</B> <B>wagging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a person who is fond of making jokes or of clowning; jocular fellow; wit; joker. (SYN) jester. <DD><I>v.i. </I> (Especially British Slang.) to play truant. <BR> <I>Ex. to wag from school.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="wage">
<B>wage, </B>noun, verb, <B>waged,</B> <B>waging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>an amount paid for work. <BR> <I>Ex. to get a day's wage for a day's work (W. G. Clark).</I> (SYN) salary, pay, remuneration, stipend, compensation. <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) something given in return; recompense; reward. <BR> <I>Ex. The gods give thee fair wage and dues of death (Algernon Charles Swinburne).</I> (SYN) return. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Obsolete.) a pledge; gage; bet. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to carry on. <BR> <I>Ex. Doctors wage war against disease.</I> (SYN) prosecute. <DD><B> 2. </B>(British Dialect.) to hire. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) to pledge; gage; bet. <DD><I>v.i. </I> (Obsolete.) to struggle; fight. <BR><I>expr. <B>wages,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>an amount paid for work. </I> <I>Ex. His wages are $100 a week. Thus we have private individuals whose wages are equal to the wages of seven or eight thousand other individuals (Thomas Carlyle).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) something given in return; reward; recompense. <BR> <I>Ex. The wages of poor eating is poor health. All Friends shall taste the wages of their virtue (Shakespeare).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="wagedrift">
<B>wage drift,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Economics.) an upward movement of wages resulting in an increase in average earnings over the official average wage rates of a country. </DL>
