waving


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Related to waving: Waving the bloody shirt

wave

 (wāv)
v. waved, wav·ing, waves
v.intr.
1. To move freely back and forth or up and down in the air, as branches in the wind.
2. To make a signal with an up-and-down or back-and-forth movement of the hand or an object held in the hand: waved as she drove by.
3. To have an undulating or wavy form; curve or curl: Her hair waves naturally.
v.tr.
1. To cause to move back and forth or up and down, either once or repeatedly: She waved a fan before her face.
2.
a. To move or swing as in giving a signal: He waved his hand. See Synonyms at flourish.
b. To signal or express by waving the hand or an object held in the hand: We waved goodbye.
c. To signal (a person) by using the hand to move in a specified direction: The police officer waved the motorist into the right lane.
3. To arrange into curves, curls, or undulations: wave one's hair.
n.
1.
a. A ridge or swell moving through or along the surface of a large body of water.
b. A small ridge or swell moving across the interface of two fluids and dependent on surface tension.
2. often waves The sea: vanished beneath the waves.
3. Something that suggests the form and motion of a wave in the sea, especially:
a. A moving curve or succession of curves in or on a surface; an undulation: waves of wheat in the wind.
b. A curve or succession of curves, as in the hair.
c. A curved shape, outline, or pattern.
4. A movement up and down or back and forth: a wave of the hand.
5.
a. A surge or rush, as of sensation: a wave of nausea; a wave of indignation.
b. A sudden great rise, as in activity or intensity: a wave of panic selling on the stock market.
c. A rising trend that involves large numbers of individuals: a wave of conservatism.
d. One of a succession of mass movements: the first wave of settlers.
e. A maneuver in which fans at a sports event simulate an ocean wave by rising quickly in sequence with arms upraised and then quickly sitting down again in a continuous rolling motion.
6. A widespread, persistent meteorological condition, especially of temperature: a heat wave.
7. Physics
a. A disturbance that travels through a medium. Energy is transferred by a wave from one region of the medium to another without causing any permanent displacement of the medium.
b. A graphic representation of the variation of such a disturbance with time.
c. A single cycle of a periodic wave.
Phrasal Verb:
wave off
1. To dismiss or refuse by waving the hand or arm: waved off his invitation to join the group.
2. Sports To cancel or nullify by waving the arms, usually from a crossed position: waved off the goal because time had run out.

[Middle English waven, from Old English wafian; see webh- in Indo-European roots.]

wav′er n.

Wave

 (wāv)
n.
A member of the women's reserve of the US Navy, organized during World War II, but now no longer a separate branch.

[From W(omen) A(ccepted for) V(olunteer) E(mergency Service).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.waving - the act of signaling by a movement of the handwaving - the act of signaling by a movement of the hand
motion, gesture - the use of movements (especially of the hands) to communicate familiar or prearranged signals
brandish, flourish - the act of waving
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
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References in classic literature ?
Above the splintered mast a sail rent to tatters was waving; suddenly the ropes that still held it gave way, and it disappeared in the darkness of the night like a vast sea-bird.
The grayness of the whole immense surface, the wind furrows upon the faces of the waves, the great masses of foam, tossed about and waving, like matted white locks, give to the sea in a gale an appearance of hoary age, lustreless, dull, without gleams, as though it had been created before light itself.
"I will bind up your poor little leg, and Zephyr shall rock you to sleep." So she folded the cool leaves tenderly about the poor fly, bathed his wings, and brought him refreshing drink, while he hummed his thanks, and forgot his pain, as Zephyr softly sung and fanned him with her waving wings.