/ weɪf; NAmE / noun
a small thin person, usually a child, who looks as if they do not have enough to eat :
the waifs and strays of our society (= people with no home)
► ˈwaif-like adjective :
waif-like young girls
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WORD ORIGIN
late Middle English : from an Anglo-Norman French variant of Old Northern French gaif , probably of Scandinavian origin. Early use was often in waif and stray , as a legal term denoting a piece of property found and, if unclaimed, falling to the lord of the manor.