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   wave

   /weɪv/

   verb

   • 1. move one's hand to and fro in greeting or as a signal: "he waved to me from the train" Similar gesturegesticulatesignalsignbeckonindicatemotionnodbid
   • ▪ move (one's hand or arm, or something held in one's hand) to and fro: "he waved a sheaf of papers in the air" Similar move to and fromove up and downwagwaggleswingshakeswishsweepswipebrandishflourishflauntwieldflickflutter
   • ▪ convey (a greeting or other message) by waving one's hand or something held in it: "we waved our farewells"
   • ▪ instruct (someone) to move in a particular direction by moving one's hand: "he waved her back"
   • 2. move to and fro with a swaying motion while remaining fixed to one point: "the flag waved in the wind" Similar rippleflutterundulatestirflapswayswingwaftshakequiveroscillatemoveblow
   • 3. style (hair) so that it curls slightly: "her hair had been carefully waved for the evening"
   • ▪ (of hair) grow with a slight curl: "she marvelled at the blueness of his eyes, how straight his nose was, the way his hair waved" Similar curlkinkcoilundulatecrimpfrizzfrizzle

   noun

   • 1. a long body of water curling into an arched form and breaking on the shore: "he was swept out to sea by a freak wave" Similar breakerbillowrollercomberripplewhite horsewhite capswellsurffrothbomborainformal:boomerkahuna
   • ▪ a ridge of water between two depressions in open water: "gulls and cormorants bobbed on the waves"
   • ▪ a shape regarded as resembling a breaking wave: "a wave of treetops stretched to the horizon"
   • ▪ the sea. literary
   • 2. a sudden occurrence of or increase in a phenomenon, feeling, or emotion: "its remarkable how one small gesture can create a wave of kindness" Similar flowrushsurgefloodstreamswelltidedelugetorrentspatebillowsurgerushripplespasmthrillfrissonshivertinglestabdartupsurgewelling upoutbreakrashfeeling
   • 3. a gesture or signal made by moving one's hand to and fro: "he gave a little wave and walked off" Similar gesturegesticulationhand movementsignalsignmotionindication
   • 4. a slightly curling lock of hair: "his hair was drying in unruly waves" Similar curlkinkcorkscrewcrimptwisttwirlringletfrizzcoilloopundulation
   • ▪ a tendency to curl in a person's hair: "her hair has a slight natural wave" Similar curlkinkcorkscrewcrimptwisttwirlringletfrizzcoilloopundulation
   • 5. a periodic disturbance of the particles of a substance which may be propagated without net movement of the particles, such as in the passage of undulating motion, heat, or sound. Similar ripplevibrationoscillationundulation
   • ▪ a single curve in the course of a periodic disturbance of the particles of a substance.
   • ▪ a periodic variation of an electromagnetic field in the propagation of light or other radiation through a medium or vacuum.

   Word Origin Old Englishwafian (verb), from the Germanic base of waver; the noun by alteration (influenced by the verb) of Middle English wawe ‘(sea) wave’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. waveless adjective
   • 2. wave-like adjective

   Scrabble Points: 10

   • W

     4

   • A

     1

   • V

     4

   • E

     1

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