wave

[ weyv ]

/ weɪv /

noun

a disturbance on the surface of a liquid body, as the sea or a lake, in the form of a moving ridge or swell.

any surging or progressing movement or part resembling a wave of the sea: a wave of the pulse.

a swell, surge, or rush, as of feeling or of a certain condition: a wave of disgust sweeping over a person; a wave of cholera throughout the country.

a widespread feeling, opinion, tendency, etc.: a wave of anti-intellectualism; the new wave of installment buying.

a mass movement, as of troops, settlers, or migrating birds.

an outward curve, or one of a series of such curves, in a surface or line; undulation.

an act or instance of waving.

a fluttering sign or signal made with the hand, a flag, etc.: a farewell wave.

natural waviness of the hair, or a special treatment to impart waviness: to have a wave in one's hair; to get a shampoo and a wave.

a period or spell of unusually hot or cold weather.

Physics. a progressive disturbance propagated from point to point in a medium or space without progress or advance by the points themselves, as in the transmission of sound or light.

Literary.

water.
a body of water.
the sea.

(at sports events, especially baseball games) a momentary standing and sitting back down by spectators in a sequential, lateral way to create, en masse, a wavelike effect visually.

verb (used without object), waved, wav·ing.

to move freely and gently back and forth or up and down, as by the action of air currents, sea swells, etc.: The flags were waving in the wind.

to curve alternately in opposite directions; have an undulating form: The road waved along the valley.

to bend or sway up and down or to and fro, as branches or plants in the wind.

to be moved, especially alternately in opposite directions: The woman's handkerchief waved in encouragement.

to give a signal by fluttering or flapping something: She waved to me with her hand.

verb (used with object), waved, wav·ing.

to cause to flutter or have a waving motion in: A night wind waves the tattered banners.

to cause to bend or sway up and down or to and fro: The storm waved the heavy branches of the elm.

to give an undulating form to; cause to curve up and down or in and out.

to give a wavy appearance or pattern to, as silk.

to impart a wave to (the hair).

to move, especially alternately in opposite directions: to wave the hand.

to signal to by waving a flag or the like; direct by a waving movement: to wave a train to a halt; to wave traffic around an obstacle.

to signify or express by a waving movement: to wave a last goodbye.

Idioms for wave

make waves, Informal. to disturb the status quo; cause trouble, as by questioning or resisting the accepted rules, procedures, etc.: The best way to stay out of trouble at the office is not to make waves.

Origin of wave

1325–75; Middle English waven (v.), Old English wafian to wave the hands; cognate with Middle High German waben; cf. waver¹

SYNONYMS FOR wave

1 undulation, whitecap. Wave, ripple, breaker, surf refer to a ridge or swell on the surface of water. Wave is the general word: waves in a high wind. A ripple is the smallest kind of wave, such as is caused by a stone thrown into a pool: ripples in a brook. A breaker is a wave breaking, or about to break, upon the shore or upon rocks: the roar of breakers. Surf is the collective name for breakers: Heavy surf makes bathing dangerous.

14 undulate, flutter, float, sway, rock; fluctuate.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR wave ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM wave

wave·less, adjective wave·less·ly, adverb wav·ing·ly, adverb wave·like, adjective

out·wave, verb (used with object), out·waved, out·wav·ing. un·der·wave, noun un·der·wav·ing, noun un·wav·ing, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH wave

waive wave

Words nearby wave

waukesha, waul, waur, wausau, wauwatosa, wave, wave band, wave cyclone, wave down, wave election, wave energy

Definition for wave (2 of 2)

Wave

or WAVE

[ weyv ]

/ weɪv /

noun

a member of the Waves.

Origin of Wave

First recorded in 1942; see origin at Waves

Example sentences from the Web for wave

Thus it attracted a wave of cowboy operators to fly passengers and cargo between cities.

Who Will Get AsiaAir 8501’s Black Boxes? |Clive Irving |December 30, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
We prefer to wave away the warning signs; like The Interview, Mulholland Drive was comfortably downplayed as over-the-top satire.

Pyongyang Shuffle: Hollywood In Dead Panic Over Sony Hack |James Poulos |December 19, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
What are your feelings about the wave of support that always immediately presents itself from the other side?

The Unbearable Whiteness of Protesting |Rawiya Kameir, Judnick Mayard |December 10, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Initially, I thought, “OK, they have to throw in a wave… that looks gratuitous.”

Neil deGrasse Tyson Breaks Down ‘Interstellar’: Black Holes, Time Dilations, and Massive Waves |Marlow Stern |November 11, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

When de Merode heard the sound of an approaching car he emerged from hiding and tried to wave it down.

A Belgian Prince, Gorillas, Guerrillas & the Future of the Congo |Nina Strochlic |November 6, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
On the 19th the pioneer boat, running some distance ahead of the others, was again upset by a wave.

The Romance of the Colorado River |Frederick S. Dellenbaugh
In her simple, pure heart she had felt a wave of sweetness and joy.

The Saint |Antonio Fogazzaro
The angry waters piled about them and tossed the boat about upon the wave crests like a leaf.

The Wilderness Castaways |Dillon Wallace
Like the wave of fire in a burning prairie, the line moved steadily up.

The War With Mexico, Volume II (of 2) |Justin H. Smith
The steamship appeared, and grew in size and power until such giants of the wave as the Titanic and Olympic were set afloat.

Sinking of the Titanic |Various

British Dictionary definitions for wave

wave

/ (weɪv) /

verb

to move or cause to move freely to and fro the banner waved in the wind

(intr) to move the hand to and fro as a greeting

to signal or signify by or as if by waving something

(tr) to direct to move by or as if by waving something he waved me on

to form or be formed into curves, undulations, etc

(tr) to give a wavy or watered appearance to (silk, etc)

(tr) to set waves in (the hair)

noun

one of a sequence of ridges or undulations that moves across the surface of a body of a liquid, esp the sea: created by the wind or a moving object and gravity

any undulation on or at the edge of a surface reminiscent of such a wave a wave across the field of corn

the waves the sea

anything that suggests the movement of a wave, as by a sudden rise a crime wave

a widespread movement that advances in a body a wave of settlers swept into the country

the act or an instance of waving

physics an oscillation propagated through a medium or space such that energy is periodically interchanged between two kinds of disturbance. For example, an oscillating electric field generates a magnetic oscillation and vice versa, hence an electromagnetic wave is produced. Similarly a wave on a liquid comprises vertical and horizontal displacements See also antinode, longitudinal wave, node, standing wave, transverse wave

physics a graphical representation of a wave obtained by plotting the magnitude of the disturbance against time at a particular point in the medium or space; waveform

a prolonged spell of some weather condition a heat wave

an undulating curve or series of curves or loose curls in the hair

an undulating pattern or finish on a fabric

short for wave moth

make waves to cause trouble; disturb the status quo

ride the wave US slang to enjoy a period of success and good fortune

Derived forms of wave

waveless, adjective wavelike, adjective

Word Origin for wave

Old English wafian (vb); related to Old High German weban to weave, Old Norse vafra; see waver; C16 (n) changed from earlier wāwe, probably from Old English wǣg motion; compare wag 1

Medical definitions for wave

wave

[ wāv ]

n.

A disturbance traveling through a medium by which energy is transferred from one particle of the medium to another without causing any permanent displacement of the medium itself.

A graphic representation of the variation of such a disturbance with time.

A single cycle that is representative of such a disturbance.

Scientific definitions for wave

wave

[ wāv ]

A disturbance, oscillation, or vibration, either of a medium and moving through that medium (such as water and sound waves), or of some quantity with different values at different points in space, moving through space (such as electromagnetic waves or a quantum mechanical wave described by the wave function). See also longitudinal wave transverse wave wave function. See Note at refraction.

Cultural definitions for wave

wave

In physics, any regularly recurring event, such as surf coming in toward a beach, that can be thought of as a disturbance moving through a medium. Waves are characterized by wavelength, frequency, and the speed at which they move. Waves are found in many forms.

notes for wave

The motion of a wave and the motion of the medium on which the wave moves are not the same: ocean waves, for example, move toward the beach, but the water itself merely moves up and down. Sound waves are spread by alternating compression and expansion of air.

Idioms and Phrases with wave

wave

see make waves.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

wave

noun