Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive & transitive verb To wave or flutter or to cause to do so.
  • noun A waving or fluttering motion.
  • noun A gust of air; a waft.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • An obsolete form of wave.
  • Worthless; low-born; inferior; paltry.
  • To bark.
  • noun The act of waving.
  • noun A hasty motion.
  • noun A slight stroke from any soft body.
  • noun A sudden or slight ailment: as, a waff o' cauld.
  • noun A spirit or ghost.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English waffen, to wave, alteration of waven; see wave.]

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word waff.

Examples

  • Boris on the Olympics, ping-pong versus whiff-waff and the differing attitudes to dining tables in England and France.

    Archive 2008-08-01 Not a sheep 2008

  • When he visited the 2008 Olympics in Beijing he gave a memorable speech explaining how the British invented ping pong, or "wiff waff" as he informed his audience it was once called.

    Politics live blog - Wednesday 16 June 2010 2010

  • I had to admit that I was overawed by the woman, a jellyfish and a wimp in her presence, allowing her to dismiss my waff lings with a wave of her hand.

    Every living thing Herriot, James 1992

  • Everything in the Wrounipai waff slick with moss or rough with fungi.

    The Moment Of The Magician Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 1984

  • Everything in the Wrounipai waff slick with moss or rough with fungi.

    The Moment Of The Magician Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 1984

  • Everything in the Wrounipai waff slick with moss or rough with fungi.

    The Moment of the Magician Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 1984

  • Everything in the Wrounipai waff slick with moss or rough with fungi.

    The Moment of the Magician Foster, Alan Dean, 1946- 1984

  • He went bye with a waff of wind in his plaiding, and his haunch-man as he passed at a discreet distance got the double share of jibe and glunch from the mariners.

    John Splendid The Tale of a Poor Gentleman, and the Little Wars of Lorn Neil Munro

  • "You are very much afraid of a waff of wind blowing on your cousin's name," I would cry.

    John Splendid The Tale of a Poor Gentleman, and the Little Wars of Lorn Neil Munro

  • But I will tell ye what ye may hear when we get down the hill by the joiner's shop -- and that's the clink o 'the saddle irons, and the waff o' their horses 'lugs as they shake their necks -- them no liking their heads tied up in bags.'

    The Dew of Their Youth 1887

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.