I. ˈwäft, ˈwaft, ˈwaa(ə)ft, ˈwaift, ˈwȧft also ˈwȯft verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: from (assumed) Middle English waughten to guard, convoy (whence Middle English waughter wafter, convoy), from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German wachten to watch, guard; akin to Old English wæccan to watch — more at wake
transitive verb
1. obsolete : to act as convoy to : sail in company with (as for protection)
2.
[probably alteration of waff (I) ]
obsolete : to signal to (as by waving the hand) : beckon
who wafts us yonder — Shakespeare
3. archaic : to convey by water : transport across a body of water
waft me safely cross the Channel — Shakespeare
4. : to cause to move or go lightly by or as if by the impulse of wind or waves : to bear along on or as if on a buoyant medium
a light hot gust of wind wafted the clouds towards other slopes — Anna Seghers
the aroma of coffee was wafted in — Ellen Glasgow
milkweed is already wafting silky down across the bog grass — D.C.Peattie
he wafted the subject aside with the smoke from his cigar — Marguerite Steen
intransitive verb
: to become moved or pass on or as if on a buoyant medium
scent of oregano wafts from their doors — Franc Shor
light classical tunes waft from amplifiers — C.M.Barss
the waiter … nodded and wafted off — Peter De Vries
II. noun
( -s )
1. : something (as an odor) that is wafted : something fleeting : something that lingers lightly : whiff
stale waft of an exotic perfume — C.D.Lewis
a waft of carbolic acid was borne on a warm gust of wind — Cyril Connolly
fragmentary wafts of village gossip floated in at the windows — Richard Church
2. : a wafting movement : puff , gust
every waft of the air — H.W.Longfellow
expresses every whim and waft of his time — John o' London's Weekly
3. : the act of wafting ; especially : a signal made by waving something (as a flag) in the air
4. or weft ˈweft
a. : a pennant or a stopped or knotted flag used to signal or sometimes to show the direction of the wind to the steersman
b. : the knot in such a flag
III. ˈwaft
Scotland
variant of weft