“waves” is a form of
wave
/weɪv/ verb, noun
Also a form of waive
Forms waves waving waved
- verb (intransitive) To move back and forth repeatedly and somewhat loosely. “The flag waved in the gentle breeze.”
- verb (intransitive) To move one's hand back and forth (generally above the shoulders) in greeting or departure.
- verb (transitive, metonymic) 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.”
- verb (intransitive) To have an undulating or wavy form.
- verb (transitive) To raise into inequalities of surface; to give an undulating form or surface to.
- verb (transitive) To style (the hair) so as to produce a wavy texture.
- verb (intransitive, baseball) To swing and miss at a pitch. “Jones waves at strike one.”
- verb (transitive) To cause to move back and forth repeatedly. “The starter waved the flag to begin the race.”
- noun 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.”
- noun (poetic) The ocean.
- noun (physics) A moving disturbance in the energy level of a field. “Gravity waves, while predicted by theory for decades, have been notoriously difficult to detect.”
- noun A shape that alternatingly curves in opposite directions. “Her hair had a nice wave to it.”
- noun Any of a number of species of moths in the geometrid subfamily Sterrhinae, which have wavy markings on the wings.
- noun A loose back-and-forth movement, as of the hands. “He dismissed her with a wave of the hand.”
- noun (figurative) A sudden, but temporary, uptick in something. “A wave of shoppers stampeded through the door when the store opened for its Christmas discount special.”
- noun (logistics) Any of a series of orders to be fulfilled in one short interval of time, planned as part of wave picking.
- verb To generate a wave.
- noun (US, historical) A members of the WAVES; a member of the US Naval Reserve (Women's Reserve).
Synonyms
und rush Mexican wave moving ridge undulation waving wafture beckon brandish flourish roll undulate flap curl
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.
From Middle English *wave, partially from waven (“to fluctuate, wave”) (see above) and partially from Middle English wawe, waghe (“wave”), from Old English wǣg (“a wave, billow, motion, water, flood, sea”), from Proto-Germanic *wēgaz (“motion, storm, wave”), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to drag, carry”).
Cognate with North Frisian waag (“wave”), West Frisian weach (“wave”), Dutch waag (“wave”), German Woge, Wooge (“wave”), Danish vove, våg (“wave”), Faroese vágur (“bay”), Icelandic vogur (“bay”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish våg (“wave”), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌲𐍃 (wēgs, “wave”), French vague (“wave”) (from Old Norse vágr (“ocean, sea; wave”)). See also waw.
See waive.
Webster’s 1913
- verb See Wave. Sir H. Wotton. Burke.
- verb To play loosely; to move like a wave, one way and the other; to float; to flutter; to undulate.
- verb To be moved to and fro as a signal. B. Jonson.
- verb To move one way and the other; to brandish. "[Æneas] waved his fatal sword." Dryden.
Etymology [OE. waven, AS. wafian to waver, to hesitate, to wonder; akin to wæfre wavering, restless, MHG. wabern to be in motion, Icel. vafra to hover about; cf. Icel. vafa to vibrate. Cf. Waft, Waver.]
Etymology [From Wave, v.; not the same word as OE. wawe, waghe, a wave, which is akin to E. wag to move. Wave, v. i.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wave”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details