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Waft
Definitions
- 1 A light breeze.
"It lay before him white and ghaistly, with mist blowing in wafts across it and a slow swaying of the tides."
- 2 a long flag; often tapering wordnet
- 3 Something (such as an odor or perfume) that is carried through the air.
"Meanwhile, the wafts from his old home pleaded, whispered, conjured, and finally claimed him imperiously."
- 4 A flag used to indicate wind direction or, with a knot tied in the center, as a signal; a waif, a wheft.
- 5 A loose noncommittal shot, usually played to a ball pitched short of length and well wide of the off stump. slang
- 1 To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air. ergative
"A breeze came in through the open window and wafted her sensuous perfume into my eager nostrils."
- 2 be driven or carried along, as by the air wordnet
- 3 To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float. intransitive
"Unhappy Aureng-Zebe is in disgrace; / And your Morat, proclaimed the successor, / Is called, to awe the city with his power. / Those trumpets his triumphant entry tell, / And now the shouts waft near the citadel."
- 4 blow gently wordnet
- 5 To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.
"[…] but ſoft: who wafts vs yonder."
Etymology
From Middle English waften, of uncertain origin. Possibly from unattested Old English *wafettan, from wafian (“to wave”) + -ettan, or perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch wachten (“to guard, provide for”). See also German wabern (“to waft”), Faroese veiftra (“to wave”) and Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”).
From Middle English waften, of uncertain origin. Possibly from unattested Old English *wafettan, from wafian (“to wave”) + -ettan, or perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch wachten (“to guard, provide for”). See also German wabern (“to waft”), Faroese veiftra (“to wave”) and Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”).
See also for "waft"
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