Waft
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
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."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples""This more, besides, I charge thee to obey, / if any faith to Helenus be due, / or skill in prophecy the seer display, / and mighty Phoebus hath inspired me true, / these warning words I urge, and oft will urge anew: / Seek Juno first; great Juno's power adore; / with suppliant gifts the potent queen constrain, / and winds shall waft thee to Italia's shore.""
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”).