waffling

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of waffle.

   The minister spent the whole interview waffling rather than addressing the scandal.

   The committee accused the witness of waffling whenever direct questions arose.

   Note

   Behind this form stands a verb with an unusually wide range. Most often it means talking evasively or rambling, and in the rambling sense it likes the particle on: she kept waffling on about the schedule. In colloquial Scottish use it means dithering over a choice. Birds and aircraft can waffle too. A bird rocks side to side as it comes in to land, and a plane or car ambles along. In slang the verb even means smashing something.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   Repetitive, rambling talk offered as a speech or as a response to a question.

   The interview produced nothing but waffling whenever she asked about the budget.

   Reporters dismissed the statement as waffling meant to avoid a direct answer.

   Similarrambling, equivocation, evasion, prevarication, hedging

   Note

   A noun in its own right rather than only the verb's -ing form, and its plural proves it: wafflings, the separate stretches of evasive talk a listener has sat through. That plural is the easiest test. The gerund in the verb form never takes an -s, so his wafflings can only be the noun, while his waffling about the budget could be either.

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