wave
/weɪv/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.62 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To move one's hand back and forth (generally above the shoulders) in greeting or departure.
Intransitive verb
verb
To call attention to, or give a direction or command to, by a waving motion, as of the hand; to signify by waving; to beckon; to signal; to indicate.
Transitive verb
verb
To raise into inequalities of surface; to give an undulating form or surface to.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "The flag waved in the gentle breeze."
- "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."
- "I raised my arms in a final salute. I smiled. I waved goodbye. I turned into the helicopter, the door was closed, the red carpet was rolled up."
- "I waved goodbye from across the room."
- "Look, with what courteous action / It waves you to a more removed ground."
- "She spoke, and bowing waved / Dismissal."
Etymology
From Middle English waven, from Old English wafian (“to wave, fluctuate, waver in mind, wonder”), from Proto-West Germanic *wabōn, 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”), German wabern (“to waft”), Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”). See also waver.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: waven, wafian, *wabōn, *wabōną, *webʰ-, *wave
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /weɪv/
- British English: /weɪv/
Usage
- Intransitive verb
- Transitive verb
- Obsolete
- American usage