GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 3 definitions

1.       
   Wag , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wagged ; p. pr. & vb. n. Wagging.] [OE. waggen; probably of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. vagga to rock a cradle, vagga cradle, Icel. vagga, Dan. vugge; akin to AS. wagian to move, wag, wegan to bear, carry, G. & D. bewegen to move, and E. weigh. √136. See Weigh.] To move one way and the other with quick turns; to shake to and fro; to move vibratingly; to cause to vibrate, as a part of the body; as, to wag the head.
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   No discerner durst wag his tongue in censure.
   Shak.
   
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   Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
   Jer. xviii. 16.
   
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   ☞ Wag expresses specifically the motion of the head and body used in buffoonery, mirth, derision, sport, and mockery.
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2.       
   Wag, v. i.
   To move one way and the other; to be shaken to and fro; to vibrate.
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   The resty sieve wagged ne'er the more.
   Dryden.
   
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   To be in action or motion; to move; to get along; to progress; to stir. [Colloq.]
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   “Thus we may see,” quoth he, “how the world wags.”
   Shak.
   
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   To go; to depart; to pack oft. [R.]
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   I will provoke him to 't, or let him wag.
   Shak.
   
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3.       
   Wag, n. [From Wag, v.]
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   The act of wagging; a shake; as, a wag of the head. [Colloq.]
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   [Perhaps shortened from wag-halter a rogue.] A man full of sport and humor; a ludicrous fellow; a humorist; a wit; a joker.
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   We wink at wags when they offend.
   Dryden.
   
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   A counselor never pleaded without a piece of pack thread in his hand, which he used to twist about a finger all the while he was speaking; the wags used to call it the thread of his discourse.
   Addison.
   
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