waffle
/ˈwɑf.əl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.30 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
In full potato waffle: a savoury flat potato cake with the same kind of grid pattern.
British usage
noun
A concrete slab used in flooring with a gridlike structure of ribs running at right angles to each other on its underside.
Example Sentences
- "The brunch was waffles with strawberries and whipped cream."
- "This takeaway counter serves up some of Hong Kong's best eggettes, the egg-shaped waffles beloved by local children and adults alike."
- "Both joists and slab are cast in place to form a monolithic unit, integral with the supporting beams and columns. The joists form a characteristic waffle pattern on the underside. Structural design of joist construction: one-way or waffle flat slab […]"
- "The most widely used type of waffle construction is the waffle flat slab, in which solid portions around column supports are […] These beams may be produced as projections below the waffle, as shown […]"
- "In one-way (pan joist) and two-way (waffle) joist construction, a similar layout is usually adopted."
- "The cab was waffled in between the two, Marsh never having a prayer or even a full comprehension of what happened to him. He was crushed flat, never even hearing the deafening screech of metal."
Etymology
The noun is borrowed from Dutch wafel (“waffle; wafer”), from Middle Dutch wafel, wafele, wavel, from Old Dutch *wāvila, from Proto-Germanic *wēbilǭ, *wēbilō, possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”) (whence Dutch weven (“to weave”) and English weave; compare, from the same verbal root, German Wabe (“honeycomb”), given that the grid pattern of the traditional Dutch lent and holiday pastry strikingly resembles a honeycomb), and possibly reinforced by German Waffel (“waffle; wafer”). The English word is a doublet of wafer and gauffre. The verb (“to smash”) derives from the manner in which batter is pressed into the shape of a waffle between the two halves of a waffle iron.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: wafel, *wāvila, *wēbilǭ, *webʰ-, Waffel, waffle
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈwɑf.əl/
- British English: /ˈwɒf.əl/