I. wave 1 S3 W2 /weɪv/ BrE AmE noun
1 . SEA [countable] a line of raised water that moves across the surface of the sea:
Dee watched the waves breaking on the shore.
The ship tipped over, and finally vanished beneath the waves.
⇨ ↑ tidal wave
2 . INCREASE [countable usually singular] a sudden increase in a particular type of behaviour, activity, or feeling:
There was a wave of public protest.
3 . PEOPLE AND THINGS [countable] a sudden increase in the number of people or things arriving at the same time
wave of
a new wave of immigrants
They faced wave after wave of fresh troops.
4 . LIGHT AND SOUND [countable] the form in which some types of energy such as light and sound travel
sound/light/radio wave ⇨ ↑ long wave , ↑ medium wave , ↑ short wave
5 . SIGNAL [countable usually singular] a movement in which you raise your arm and move your hand from side to side:
He dismissed her with a wave of the hand.
6 . FEELING/ACTIVITY [countable] a feeling or activity that happens again and again in a series:
The pain swept over him in waves.
Wave after wave of aircraft passed overhead.
7 . HAIR [countable usually plural] a loose curl in your hair
8 . make waves informal to cause problems, especially when you should not:
With so many jobs already cut, he didn’t want to make waves.
9 . new wave a new style of music, art, film etc that is very different and unusual:
new wave music
new wave of
the new wave of Black feminist theorists
10 . CROWD [countable usually singular] American English an occasion when many people who are watching an event stand up, move their arms up and down, and sit down again one after another in a continuous movement that looks like a wave moving on the sea SYN Mexican wave British English
11 . the waves literary the sea
⇨ ↑ airwaves , ↑ shock wave
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1)
■ verbs
▪ waves break (=fall onto the land or a boat)
We could hear the waves breaking on the shore.
▪ waves crash (=fall noisily)
Huge waves crashed down on us.
▪ waves lap (=hit something gently)
the sound of waves lapping against the boat
▪ waves pound (=hit something hard)
The waves pounded the rocks.
▪ sink/vanish beneath the waves
The ship sank beneath the waves.
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + wave
▪ a great wave (=a very large wave)
The storm sent great waves crashing into the cliffs.
▪ a tidal wave (=a very large ocean wave that flows over the land and destroys things)
The winds and a tidal wave killed 45 people.
▪ the ocean waves (=the sea)
They spent a week on the ocean waves on a cruise ship.
■ wave + NOUN
▪ wave energy/power (=electricity from the movement of waves)
Wave power involves using the movement of the seas to generate electricity.
■ phrases
▪ the crest of a wave (=the top of the wave where it begins to fall)
Surfers rode on the crest of a wave.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ phrases
▪ a wave of violence/attacks/bombings
The incident triggered a wave of violence.
▪ a wave of panic/relief/sympathy
A wave of relief washed over Harry.
▪ a wave of nausea/dizziness/tiredness
Another wave of nausea hit him.
■ NOUN + wave
▪ a crime wave (=a sudden increase in crime)
The city is experiencing a crime wave.
▪ a heat wave (=a period of unusually hot weather)
California is in the middle of a heat wave.
■ verbs
▪ a wave hits somebody/something
He was hit by a wave of nausea every time he tried to stand up.
▪ a wave engulfs somebody/something (=it affects someone or something very strongly)
The city was engulfed by a fresh wave of violence.
▪ a wave sweeps/washes over somebody (=someone suddenly experiences a feeling or emotion)
A sudden wave of joy swept over her.
■ adjectives
▪ a great wave of something
A great wave of affection for him engulfed her.
▪ a new/fresh wave of something
A fresh wave of fighting erupted in the region yesterday.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ the sea especially British English the large area of salty water that covers much of the Earth’s surface:
She lives by the sea.
|
The sea was very rough.
▪ the ocean especially American English the large area of salty water that covers much of the Earth’s surface:
a house by the ocean
|
The restaurant had a sweeping view of the ocean.
▪ waters a large area of water – used about an area of water that belongs to a particular country, or when describing what the water is like:
boats fishing in Canadian waters
|
British territorial waters
|
the calm waters of the harbour
|
dangerous waters
|
choppy waters (=with a lot of waves)
▪ bay an area of sea that is partly enclosed by a curve in the land:
I swam across the bay.
|
the Bay of Biscay
▪ gulf a very large area of sea partly enclosed by land:
the Gulf of Mexico
|
oil from the Gulf (=the area of water near Iran, Saudi Arabia etc)
▪ tide the regular rising and falling of the level of the sea:
Is the tide going out or coming in ?
|
High tide (=when the sea is at its highest level) is at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
|
low tide (=when the sea is at its lowest level)
|
The rocks are visible at low tide.
▪ wave a line of raised water that moves across the surface of the sea:
The waves were crashing against the rocks.
II. wave 2 S3 W3 BrE AmE verb
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: wafian 'to wave with the hands' ]
1 . HAND [intransitive and transitive] to raise your arm and move your hand from side to side in order to make someone notice you
wave to/at
She turned to wave to the approaching soldiers.
Enid waved at us and we waved back.
wave (somebody) goodbye (=say goodbye to someone by waving to them)
The nurses came out to wave Grandad goodbye.
2 . MOVE [intransitive and transitive] if you wave something, or if it waves, it moves from side to side:
The starter waved a green flag to indicate that the race would begin.
a tree waving in the breeze
He waved a hand in the air to attract her attention.
wave something under/at etc somebody/something
Trudie waved a $50 bill under his nose.
wave something around/about
The stranger spoke rapidly, waving his arms around.
3 . SIGNAL [transitive always + adverb/preposition] to show someone which way to go by waving your hand in that direction
wave somebody through/on/away etc
The border guards waved us through.
Peter waved them back to their seats.
4 . wave something goodbye/wave goodbye to something informal to be forced to accept that something you want will not happen:
If you’re not careful, you can wave goodbye to any pay rise this year.
5 . wave a magic wand to make a bad situation better, even though this is impossible:
I can’t wave a magic wand and change what happened.
6 . HAIR [intransitive and transitive] if hair waves, or if it is waved, it forms loose curls
wave something ↔ aside phrasal verb
to ignore someone’s opinion or ideas because you do not think they are important:
He waved her protests aside.
wave somebody/something ↔ down phrasal verb
to signal to the driver of a car to stop by waving at them:
People in passing cars tried waving him down.
wave somebody off phrasal verb
to wave goodbye to someone as they leave:
Are you coming to the station to wave me off?