# wave

Pronunciation: say "WAYV" /weɪv/

## Noun

1. A moving disturbance in the surface level of a body of water, rising and falling as it travels along.
   - Simple: A raised line of water that rises and rolls across the surface of a sea, lake, or pond.
   - _A rogue wave struck the side of the ship without warning._
   - _The waves grew taller as the storm moved closer to shore._
3. A sudden but temporary rise in the amount or intensity of something.
   - Simple: A sudden rise in something that does not last long.
   - _A wave of nostalgia hit her when the old song played._
   - _The city faced a sudden wave of flu cases this winter._
4. A disturbance or oscillation that travels through a medium such as air, water, or rock, or through empty space, carrying energy from place to place.
   - Simple: A movement that carries energy through air, water, rock, or empty space, like sound or light.
   - _An electromagnetic wave can travel through the vacuum of space._
   - _Seismic waves spread outward from the point where the fault slipped._
5. A movement or trend that spreads through and shapes popular culture.
   - Simple: A new trend or movement that becomes popular for a time.
   - _Grunge was the wave that defined the look and sound of the early nineties._
   - _A fresh wave of street fashion emerged from the city's youth._
7. A loose back-and-forth motion, such as the one made by a hand in greeting.
   - Simple: A loose side-to-side movement, like the motion of a hand saying hello.
   - _A single wave of her hand was enough to quiet the room._
   - _He answered with a lazy wave and went back to his book._
10. An outline that curves first one way and then the other in a repeating pattern.
   - Simple: A curved shape that bends one way and then the other, over and over.
   - _She signs her name with a loopy flourish that ends in a little wave._
   - _A decorative wave borders the edge of the plate._
14. A coordinated crowd action in which people in successive sections stand and raise their arms, then sit, sending a ripple around the arena.
   - Simple: A crowd action where people stand and raise their arms in turn, then sit, so the motion rolls around a stadium.
   - _A wave swept around the arena during the seventh-inning stretch._
   - _The crowd launched into the wave the moment the home team scored._
11. One of the successive groups of enemies that a game sends to attack the player.
   - Simple: A group of enemies that attacks all at once in a game, before the next group comes.
   - _The boss appeared only after we cleared the tenth wave._
   - _Players earn bonus points for finishing a wave without taking damage._
17. A set of orders scheduled to be fulfilled together within one short interval, as part of wave picking.
   - Simple: In a warehouse, a group of orders picked together during one short time period.
   - _The team released the afternoon wave to the pickers at noon._
   - _Each wave is timed to match outgoing truck departures._
18. The sea or ocean, considered as a whole. *(literary)*
   - Simple: The sea or ocean, used in poems and songs.

## Verb

2. To move one's hand back and forth, usually raised, as a gesture of greeting or farewell.
   - Simple: To move your hand from side to side to say hello or goodbye.
   - _He waved to the crowd as he stepped onto the stage._
   - _Passengers wave from the deck as the ferry leaves the harbor._
6. To cause something to move back and forth repeatedly, typically with the hand.
   - Simple: To make something move back and forth, often by holding and shaking it.
   - _The referee waved a red card above his head._
   - _Fans wave banners whenever their team scores._
8. To call someone's attention, give them a direction or command, or convey a message by a waving motion, typically of the hand.
   - Simple: To move your hand back and forth to give someone a signal or tell them what to do.
   - _The referee waved play on after a brief pause._
   - _Officers wave drivers through the checkpoint when their papers are in order._
9. To move loosely back and forth or up and down with a swaying or rippling motion, as something held at one end or carried on the air.
   - Simple: To move gently from side to side or up and down, like a flag in the wind.
   - _Banners wave above the stadium entrance on game day._
   - _The wheat waved in long ripples as the wind passed over it._
12. To style hair so as to give it a wavy texture.
   - Simple: To style hair so that it forms soft, repeating curves.
   - _The salon waved her long hair into soft curls._
   - _Some people wave their hair instead of straightening it._
13. To have, or give something, an undulating form with a series of smooth curves or ripples.
   - Simple: To have a shape with smooth curves, or give something that shape.
   - _The grain of the polished wood waves across the tabletop._
   - _Her hair is straight on top, but the ends wave gently near her shoulders._
15. Of a medium or field, to oscillate or undergo wave motion as a wave passes through it.
   - Simple: To move up and down or back and forth as a wave passes through, like air carrying sound.
   - _If light is a wave, physicists asked, what exactly in empty space can wave?_
   - _As the ripple passes, the water at each spot waves up and down but does not travel with it._
16. In baseball, to swing at a pitch and miss it entirely.
   - Simple: In baseball, to swing the bat at a pitch and miss it.
   - _The slugger waved helplessly at a slider in the dirt._
   - _Hitters wave at his changeup all night long._

## Verb

19. To fluctuate or waver, remaining in an unsettled state. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To keep changing and not stay steady, never feeling sure.

## Other meanings

- (noun) Any of several geometrid moths of the subfamily Sterrhinae, marked by wavy patterns across the wings.

## Origin

**Meanings 2, 6, 8–9, 12–13, 16, 19** — The Proto-Indo-European root *webʰ-, meaning to move back and forth or wander, led to Proto-Germanic *wabōną or *wabjaną, meaning "to sway" or "to wander," and to Old English wafian, which meant "to wave, fluctuate, waver in mind." That became Middle English waven. German wabern ("to waft") and Icelandic váfa ("to fluctuate, waver") are related.
**Meanings 1, 3–5, 7, 10–11, 14–15, 17–18** — The Middle English noun *wave has two sources. One is the verb waven ("to fluctuate, wave"). The other is Middle English wawe or waghe, "wave," which came from Old English wǣg ("billow, wave, sea") and goes back through Proto-Germanic *wēgaz ("motion, storm, wave") to Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- ("to drag, carry"). German Woge and French vague, a Germanic loan, are cognates.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/wave (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).