wave
To move back and forth repeatedly and somewhat loosely.
Verb 4 meanings
To move back and forth repeatedly and somewhat loosely.
“The flag waved in the gentle breeze.”
To move one's hand back and forth (generally above the shoulders) in greeting or departure.
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.
“I waved goodbye from across the room.”
To have an undulating or wavy form.
Noun 4 meanings
A moving disturbance in the level of a body of liquid; an undulation.
“The wave traveled from the center of the lake before breaking on the shore.”
The ocean.
A moving disturbance in the energy level of a field.
“Gravity waves, while predicted by theory for decades, have been notoriously difficult to detect.”
A shape that alternatingly curves in opposite directions.
“Her hair had a nice wave to it.”
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”).
Similar and opposite words
WAVE at a glance
WAVE has 4 letters and scores 10 points in Scrabble (W 4 + A 1 + V 4 + E 1) and 11 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #2,368 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with wave
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