■ verb
1》 move one's hand to and fro in greeting or as a signal.
↘move (one's hand or arm, or something held in one's hand) to and fro.
↘( ~ someone/thing down ) ~ one's hand to stop a driver or vehicle.
↘( ~ something aside ) dismiss something as unnecessary or irrelevant.
2》 move to and fro with a swaying motion while remaining fixed to one point.
3》 style (hair) so that it curls slightly.
↘(of hair) grow with a slight curl.
■ noun
1》 a ridge of water curling into an arched form and breaking on the shore or between two depressions in open water.
↘( the ~s ) literary the sea.
2》 a sudden occurrence of or increase in a specified phenomenon or emotion: a crime ~.
3》 a gesture or signal made by waving one's hand.
4》 a slightly curling lock of hair.
↘a tendency to curl in a person's hair.
5》 Physics a periodic disturbance of the particles of a substance which may be propagated without net movement of the particles, as in the passage of undulating motion or sound.
↘a single curve in the course of this motion.
↘a similar variation of an electromagnetic field in the propagation of light or other radiation.
Phrases
make ~s informal
1》 create a significant impression.
2》 cause trouble.
Derivatives
~less adjective
Origin
OE wafian (v.), from the Gmc base of ~r ; the noun by alt. (influenced by the verb) of ME wawe '(sea) ~'.
Usage
On the confusion between ~ and waive , see usage at waive .