I. ˈwad, ˈwäd noun
( -s )
Etymology: ME(Scots), alteration of English wed
Scots law : pledge
•
- in wad
II. ˈwäd also ˈwȯd noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
1.
a. : a usually small mass, bundle, or tuft
always has with him a wad of photos — Walter Sullivan
little wads of mutton — Katherine Mansfield
spread wads of marmalade — Anthony Powell
a glowing wad of fireflies along the ground — William Goyen
b. : a soft mass (as of a loose fibrous material) variously used (as to stop an aperture, pad a garment, or hold grease around an axle)
replaced cotton wads in vials with a foamed polystyrene plug — Modern Packaging
c.
(1) : a relatively soft plug used to retain a charge of powder, to keep the powder and shot close, or to avoid windage especially in a muzzle-loading cannon or gun
(2) : a disk of felt or paper used to separate the components of a shotgun cartridge or to retain the powder in a blank cartridge — see cartridge illustration
d. : a piece of clay used in ceramics for various purposes ; specifically : a strip of moist clay laid around the rim of a sagger to form a bed for a superimposed sagger in the kiln
e. : a small mass of a chewing substance
a wad of tobacco
a wad of gum
2.
a. : a considerable amount
bought himself a big wad of radio time — R.P.Warren
a whopping wad of surpluses — Sydney (Australia) Bulletin
— often used in plural
has been getting wads of publicity — New Yorker
b. : the amount which one is capable of expending — usually used with shoot
going to shoot our whole wad at the carrier — E.L.Beach
3.
a. : a roll of paper money
produced a wad of dirty notes — T.H.Barnardo
a wad on your hip that would choke a coal chute — Raymond Chandler
b. : a supply of money
bet his wad on a race
c. : a large amount of money
idea of making a wad and setting the folks up in style — Hiram Haydn
quite a wad , close on two thousand dollars — Nevil Shute
III. transitive verb
( wadded ; wadded ; wadding ; wads )
1. : to form into a wad or into wadding
wad tow
especially : to roll or crush into a tight wad
they wadded their paper napkins into small, round balls — Grace Metalious
handed the driver a wadded bill — Lillian Ross
— often used with up
took off my shirt, wadded it up — Herbert Passin
2.
a. : to insert or crowd a wad into
wad a gun
b. : to hold in by a wad
wad a bullet in a gun
3. : to stuff or line with some soft substance (as cotton) : pad
long blue gowns over wadded coats and trousers — Nora Waln
let up rowing to wad the oarlocks so they wouldn't make a noise — H.L.Davis
broadly : to pack tightly
families … were wadded closely into the available space — Julian Dana
IV. ˈwad, ˈwäd noun
( -s )
Etymology: probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse vathr fishing line, measuring line
dialect England : line ; especially : one marked in land surveying
V. “, in sense 2 ˈwäd also ˈwȯd noun
( -s )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. dialect England : graphite , black lead
2. : an amorphous dull brown or black mineral substance that occurs usually in low places, consists chiefly of oxides of manganese with varying amounts of other minerals (as copper, cobalt, and silica) and water, is commonly very soft but sometimes hard and compact, and is used in making chlorine and as a pigment : bog manganese — called also black ocher ; compare bauxite , limonite
VI. ˈwäd, _wəd
Scot & dialect England
variant of would