wave Definition

wave
verb waved, waving

intr
1. To move (one's hand) to and fro in greeting, farewell or as a signal.

Thesaurus: gesture, signal.
tr & intr
2. To hold up and move (some other object) in this way for this purpose.

Thesaurus: flourish, brandish, wield.
3. To say (especially goodbye) in this way.
tr & intr
4. To move or make something move or sway to and fro.

Thesaurus: flutter, ripple, sway, weave, oscillate, undulate, wag.
5. To direct them with a gesture of the hand.

Form: wave someone on (especially)
Form: wave someone through
intr
6. Said of hair: to have a gentle curl or curls.
7. To put a gentle curl into (hair) by artificial means.

noun

1a. Any of a series of moving ridges on the surface of the sea or some other body of water;

Thesaurus: swell, crest, whitecap, breaker, comber, curl, billow.
1b. Such a ridge as it arches and breaks on the shore, etc.
2. An act of waving the hand, etc.
3. physics.
A regularly repeated disturbance or displacement in a medium eg water or air.
4. Any of the circles of disturbance moving outwards from the site of a shock, such as an earthquake.
5. A loose soft curl, or series of such curls, in the hair.
6. A surge or sudden feeling of an emotion or a physical symptom.
7. A sudden increase in something.

Example: a crime wave
Example: a heat wave
8. An advancing body of people.
9. Any of a series of curves in an upward-and-downward curving line or outline.

Thesaurus: undulation, rippling, sway, winding, coil, curl, roll, twirl, loop, swirl.

Derivative: waved
adj

Idiom: make waves

To create a disturbance or cause trouble, etc; to aggravate a situation.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon wafian to wave.

Phrasal Verb: wave someone or something aside

To dismiss them or it as unimportant or intrusive.

Phrasal Verb: wave someone off

To watch and wave as they go off on a journey.