I.
noun
1 on water
ADJECTIVE
▪ big , enormous , giant , great , huge , mountainous
▪ small , tiny
▪ 10-foot , 40-foot , etc.
▪ gentle
▪
the gentle ~s of the bay
▪ white-capped
▪ incoming , oncoming
▪
He swam headlong into the oncoming ~.
▪ breaking
▪ crashing
▪ rolling
▪ lapping
▪ ocean
▪
the roar of ocean ~s
▪ tidal , tsunami
▪
Several villages have been destroyed by a huge tidal ~.
▪ rogue
▪
These boats aren't strong enough to withstand rogue ~s.
VERB + WAVE
▪ ride
▪
Surfers flocked to the beach to ride the ~s.
▪ surf
▪
She loved surfing the giant ~s of the sea.
▪ catch ( often figurative )
▪
How do we catch the next great ~ of innovation?
WAVE + VERB
▪ rise
▪ break , fall , roll , roll in
▪
We watched the ~s breaking on the shore.
▪ hit sth , pound sth , strike sth
▪
The ~s hit the rocks with huge energy.
▪ lap
▪
the gentle sound of ~s lapping the sand
▪ splash
▪
A huge ~ splashed over him.
▪ crash , roar , smash
▪
I could hear the ~s crash against the rocks.
WAVE + NOUN
▪ energy , power
PREPOSITION
▪ in the ~s
▪
children playing in the ~s
▪ on the ~s
▪
There were seagulls bobbing on the ~s.
PHRASES
▪ the crash of the ~s , the crashing of the ~s , the lap of the ~s , the lapping of the ~s
▪
All you could hear was the lapping of the ~s.
▪ the crest of a ~ ( often figurative )
▪
She is on the crest of a ~ at the moment following her Olympic success.
2 movement of energy
ADJECTIVE
▪ acoustic , electromagnetic , gravitational , gravity , light , radio , seismic , shock , sound , ultrasonic
VERB + WAVE
▪ emit , generate
▪ deflect
▪ detect
WAVE + VERB
▪ travel
▪ bounce off sth , travel
▪
Sound ~s bounce off objects in their path.
3 increase/spread
ADJECTIVE
▪ big , enormous , great , huge , massive
▪ fresh , new , next , recent
▪ current
▪
the current ~ of business scandals
▪ successive
▪
successive ~s of immigrants
▪ first , second , etc.
▪
the first ~ of immigration in the 1950s
▪ crime
VERB + WAVE
▪ send
▪
The news sent a ~ of relief through the crowd.
▪ cause , create , generate , produce , prompt , spark , trigger
▪
This tendency has generated a new ~ of company mergers.
▪ launch , unleash
▪
The attack unleashed a ~ of terror in the city.
▪ feel
▪
I feel a ~ of panic flow through me.
WAVE + VERB
▪ sweep sth , sweep over sth , wash over sb/sth , wash through sb/sth
▪
With the fall of the Bastille in 1789, a ~ of euphoria swept Europe.
▪
A ~ of relief washed over him as he saw that the children were safe.
PREPOSITION
▪ ~ of
▪
a big ~ of refugees
▪ on a ~
▪
swept along on a ~ of critical acclaim
4 hand movement
ADJECTIVE
▪ quick
▪ little , slight ( esp. AmE )
▪ cheery , friendly
▪ farewell , goodbye ( esp. AmE ), parting
▪ casual
▪ dismissive
▪
She gave a dismissive ~ of her hand.
▪ half-hearted
VERB + WAVE
▪ give (sb) , return
▪
I returned his ~ and started to walk up to him.
PREPOSITION
▪ with a ~
▪ ~ of
▪
He dismissed her thanks with a quick ~ of the hand.
II.
verb
ADVERB
▪ gently
▪
reeds waving gently in the breeze
▪ vigorously
▪ cheerfully , cheerily , happily
▪ proudly
▪ enthusiastically , excitedly , frantically , madly , wildly
▪
They stood by the side of the road and ~d frantically.
▪ quickly
▪ slightly ( esp. AmE )
▪
She smiled and ~d slightly.
▪ just , merely , simply
▪ vaguely
▪
He ~d a hand vaguely in the air.
▪ casually
▪ dismissively
▪ half-heartedly
▪ shyly
▪ about ( esp. BrE ), around , aside , away , back , in , on , through
▪
She waved cheerfully and he ~d back.
▪
The guards ~d us on.
VERB + WAVE
▪ turn and , turn to
▪
He turned to ~ to his mother.
PREPOSITION
▪ at
▪
We ~d at the people on the shore.
▪ to
▪
They ~d to us as we passed.
▪
She ~d him to a seat.
PHRASES
▪ ~ (sb) goodbye
▪
people waving goodbye to their friends and relatives
Wave is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ arm , ↑ banner , ↑ flag , ↑ tail
Wave is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ acknowledgement , ↑ arm , ↑ banner , ↑ baton , ↑ farewell , ↑ finger , ↑ fist , ↑ flag , ↑ greeting , ↑ gun , ↑ hand , ↑ handkerchief , ↑ knife , ↑ sign , ↑ stick