waved 
Same as watered: noting silk, forged steel, 
6852 
wavy 
2. 
etc.— 3. In hot., uiidate.— 4. In her., same as 
H«<fe'.- Waved sandpipert. See sandpiper.— WSLvei 
sword, in her., a flanilioyant sword used as a bearing.— 
Waved wheel. See wheels.. 
wave-front (wav'frunt), «. The continuous 
line or surface including all the particles in 
the same phase. It is a spherical surface for 
sound, and for light in an isotropic medium. 
wave-goose (wiiv'gos), «. The brant- or brent- 
goose, Beniicia breiiia. [Durham, Eng.] 
wave-length (wav'length), n. The distance 
between the crests of two adjacent waves, or 
between the lowest parts of the depressions on 
each side of a wave ; more generally, the dis- 
tance between any particle of the disturbed 
medium and the next which is in the same 
phase with it. See u-avc^, li. 
The wane-length of a ray of lisht in any given substance 
is consequently obtained by dividing tlie waoe-lemjtli in 
air by the index of refraction of the substance itself. 
Lomjnel, Light (trans.), p. 245. 
No difference but that of wam-length is recognized be- 
tween waves of radiant heat and of radiant light. 
Sci. Amer. Sup-p., p. 8801. 
waveless (wav'les), a. [< jcacel -t- -/e6«.] Free 
from waves; imdisturbed; unagitated; still. 
Smoother than this iraveleas spring. 
Peele, David and Bethsabe. 
The mist that sleeps on a waveless sea. 
Hoff!/, Kilnieny. 
Unmoved the bannered blazonry hung waeeless as a pall. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, IL iii. 
wavelet (wav'let), «. [< ware''- + -let.'] A 
small wave ; a ripple. 
Like tlie vague sighings of a wind at even, 
That wakes the wavelets of the slumbering sea. 
Slielley, Queen Mab, viii. 
The head, with its thin waoelets of brown hair, indents 
the little pillow. George Eliot, Amos Barton, ii. 
wave-line (wav'lln), n. 1. The outline of a 
wave; specifically, in physics, the path of a 
wave of light, sound, etc., or the graphic rep- 
resentation of such a path.— 2. Jsiaiit., the 
general outline of the surface of sea-waves: 
specifically used attributively to note a method 
of ship-building devised by J. Scott Russell, 
in which the lines of the hull of a vessel are 
webelen, fluctuate, waver, = Icel. vafla, hover rections through the solid materials of the 
about (see wabble''-) ; freq. of the verb repre- earth's crust from the seismic focus to the 
~ ~ ■ ■ - r„ earth's surface. Encyc. Brit., VII. 610. 
waveson (wav'son), B. [Appar. irreg. < wave^, 
waive, + -son, utier the anaXogy of flotson,jetson, 
jettison, otherwise flotsam, jetsam.'] A name 
given to goods which after a shipwreck appear 
floating on the sea. 
wave-surface (wav'8er"fas), n. A surface 
whose equation in rectangular coordinates is 
xV (1 - A-r=) + J/ V (1 - B'r=) 4- z'/ (1 - C'r») = a 
If upon every central section of a quadric surface be erect- 
ed a perpendicular at the center, and points be taken on 
this perpendicular at distances from the center equal to 
the axes of the section, then the locus of these points will 
be the wave-surface. It is frequently called Fresiiefs wave- 
surface, to distinguish it from Hvygem's wave-iur/ace, 
which is simply an ellipsoid — the latter being the form of 
the wave-front of a uniaxial crystal, the former that of a 
biaxial crystal.- Malus'S wave-Surface [discovered by 
E. L. Malus(Vnb -1812) in 1810), a surface of the wave-front 
of light emanating from a point but undergoing reflections 
and refractions at different surfaces. 
seuted by ware^, q. v.] I. ititrans. 1. To 
move lip and down or to and fro ; wave ; float ; 
flutter; be tossed or rocked about; sway. 
All in wer for to wait, wayueronde he sole, 
But he held hyni on horse, houyt o lofte. 
Destr-uction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 8266. 
For an Outlawe, this is the Lawe, 
Tliat Men hym take and binde, 
Without pytee, hanged to tee. 
And tvaver with the Wynde. 
Tlie Nxit-Brown Maid, quoted by Prior (Poems, 
[ed. 1756, 1. 147). 
The wind in his raiment wavered. 
William Morris, Si^'urd, ii. 
2. To quiver; flicker; glimmer; glance. 
As when a sunbeam wavers warm 
Withiu the dark and dimpled beck. 
Tennyson, Miller's Daughter. 
3. To falter; fail; reel; totter. 
Keep my wits. Heaven: I feel 'em wacerins; .,,,.. 
Oh God, my head! Fletclier, Pilgrim, iii. 3. wave-trap (wav'trap), n. In hydraultc engtn., 
How many wavering steps can we retrace in our past a widening inward of the spaces between piers, 
lives ! Oianning, Perfect Life, p. 74. ^o afford space to permit waves rolling in be- 
Like the day of doom it seemed to her wavenng senses. t ween the piers to lose force by spreading them- 
hongfellow, Evangeline, i. 0. ggjyes. 
4. To V)e undetermined or iiTesolute; fluctu- yfave-W0rn(wav'w6m),a. Worn by the waves. 
ate ; vacillate. The shore that o'er his wave-worn basis bow'd. 
Therefore be sure, and waver not of God's love and fa- SAat., Tempest, ii. 1. 120. 
vour towards you ui Christ. wavev waw^ (wa'vi), «.; pi. tcareys, navies 
J. Bradford. Letters (Parker Soc, 1853), II. 132. Wavey, wavy^ ^A^er. Ind. name iAwa.J A 
He that M)ai)«rc(A is like a wave of tlie sea driven with ' - >-- 
the wind and tossed. -las. i. 6. 
I expect you should sollicit me as much as if I were 
wavering at the Grate of a Monastery, with one Foot over 
the Threshold. Congreve, Way of the World, iv. .'"j. 
= Syn. 1 and 4. Vaeillate. Seeflucluate. — i. Hesitate, etc. 
See scruple. 
Il.t trans. 1. To cause to wave or move to 
and fro ; set in waving motion ; brandish. 
Item, if the Adniirall shall happen to hull in the night, 
then to make a wauering light oner his other light, loatwr- 
ing the light vpon a pole, Hakluyt's Voyages, III. 147. 
2. To demur or scruple about; hesitate at; 
shirk. 
The inconstant Barons ivavei-ing every hour 
The fierce encounter of this boist'rous tide 
That easily might her livelihood devour. 
Drayton, Barons' Wars, i. 84. 
goose of the genus Chen ; a snow-goose. 
Shooting Wavies on the little lakes with which this 
region [the Red River country] is dotted is said to be a 
favorite anmsemeut of the sportsmen. 
Sportsman's Gazetteer, p. 192. 
Blue wavey, the blue-winged goose, Clien cserulement.— 
Homed wavey, the smallest snow-goose, Chen (fixan- 
themops) rossi, which has at times the base of the bill 
studded with tubercles. It is exactly like the snow-goose 
in plumage, but no larger than a mallard, and inhabibi 
adapted scientifically to the lines of the waves, „ , _, , ry i _l i -i r. 
and are nearly or quite cycloidal.— 3. One of waver2 (wa ver)_, n. [< wave^ -1- -er^.] One 
the series of lines or furrows produced by the 
sea-waves upon a sandy beach. 
wavellite (wa'vel-it), n. [Named after William 
IVaveU, an English medical practitioner (died 
1829) , by whom it was discovered. ] A hydrous 
phosphate of aluminium, commonly found in 
radiated hemispherical or globular crystalline 
concretions from a very small size to 1 inch in 
diameter, and of a white to yellow-green or 
brown color. See cut under radiate. 
wave-loaf (wav'lof), «. A loaf for a wave- 
offering. 
Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves 
of two tenth deals. Lev. xxiii. 17. 
wave-molding (wav'm61'''ding), n. In arch., a 
molding of undulating outline, resembling more 
who orthat which waves; specifically, in j>nn(- 
ing, an inking-roller; an apparatus which dis- 
tributes ink on the table or on other rollers, 
but not on the form of types: so called from 
its vibratory movement. 
As the carriage retiu-ns, this strip of ink is distributed 
on the inking table by rollers placed diagonally across the 
machine. The diagonal position gives them a waving mo- 
tion : hence they are called ivavers. 
Encyc. Brit., XXIII. 706. 
waver^ (wa'ver), n. [Perhaps <«!ocfl -t- -crl (t).] 
A sapling ortimberlingleft standing in a fallen 
wood. HalliaeU. [Prov. Eng.] 
As you pass along, prune and trim up all the young 
wavers. Evelyn, Sylva, III. i. 7. 
waver-dragon (wa'ver-drag'''on), n. [< wurer 
for iciver -t- dragon.] In her., the wivern. 
or less closely a succession of waves; particu- -^yaverer (wa'ver-^r), «. [<!rnf(;)-l -I- -<?rl.] One 
larly, a molding of Greek origin, much used in 
Renaissance and modern architecture, having 
the character of a series of breaking waves, 
much conventionalized. 
wave-motion (wav'mo'shon), n. Motion in' 
curves alternately concave and convex like 
that of the waves of the sea ; undulatory mo- 
tion. See wnt'el, 3. 
While elher-waves are in course of traversing the ether, 
there is neither heat, light, nor chemical decomposition ; 
merely wave-mntion, and transference of energy by wave- 
motion. A. Daniell, Prin. of Physics, p. 434. 
The essential characteristic of wave-moliun is that a dis- 
turbance of some kind is handed on from one portion of 
a solid or fluid mass to another. 
P. G. rait, Encyc. Brit., XIV. 603. 
wave-offering (wav'of 'er-ing), )(. In the ancient 
Jewish law, an ofl'ering presented with a hori- 
forward and 
who or that which wavers or fluctuates ; espe _ _ . 
cially, a person who vacillates or is undecided waviness (wa vi-nes) 
Homed Wavey (CA«i «w«"). 
arctic America, coming southward in migration. It was 
recognizably described under its present name by Heame. 
but lost sight of for nearly a century, till brought again to 
notice, in 1861, by J. Cassiu. - White wavey, the snow- 
goose. See cut under Chen. 
wa'Vily (wa'vi-li), adv. In a wavy manner, 
form, or direction. 
Mr. Rappit, the hair-dresser, with his well-anointed 
coronal locks tending warily upward. 
George Eliot, Mill on the Floas, i. 9. 
The state or quality 
in mind. 
Come, young waverer, come, go with me. 
S/ia*-.,R. and J.,ii. 3. 89. 
This prospect of converting votes was a dangerous dis- 
traction to Mr. Brooke ; his impression that waverers were 
likely to be allured by wavering statements . . . gave WMU 
Ladislaw much trouble. George Eliot, Middleniarch, Ii. 
waveringly (wa'ver-ing-li), n. In a wavering, 
vacillating, or irresolute maimer. 
Loke not waueringly about you, haue no distrust, be not wowl ( wa'vi), a. 
afrayd. ^ ., . . V"" Til' mI'' ">gi"i waves. 
/^,r. ^r,^ ,„™ „oo •! ,o n 1 11 V, ,j^^ ^^.^ ^^^ dlv'd ittto thc ?i'opyseas. 
of being wavy or undulating. 
wa'Ving-frame (wa'ving-fram), h. In printing, 
a frame which carries inking-roUers. 
The frame which supports the inking-roUers, called 
the waving-franw., is attached by hinges to the general 
framework of the machine ; the edge of the stereotype- 
plate cylinder is indented, and rubs against the vvving- 
frame, causing it to vibrate to and fro, and consequently 
to carry the inking-roUers with it, so as to give them an 
unceasing traverse motion. I7re, Diet., III. 655. 
[< terti'pi -I- -ji.] 1. Abound- 
zontal movement of the handh 
backward and toward thc rightand left, whereas waver-roUer (wa'ver-ro"ler), ». 
the heave-offering was elevated and lowered. " "' ^ '' ''"' ' 
wave-path (wav'patli), «. The line along which 
any point in any wave is propagated. [Rare.] 
The radial lines along which an earthquake may be 
propagated from the centrum are called wave-pattts. 
J. Milne, Earthquakes, p. u. 
waver^ (wa'ver), V. [< ME. waveren, wayrercu, 
vacillate, < AS. as if "wafridn (cf. wiefre, wa- 
vering, wandering, restless: said of flame and 
fire, the mind or spirit, etc.) = MHtj. waheren, 
(i. dial, u-aberii, waver, totter, move to and fro. 
= Icel. vafra, hover about, = Norw. varra, flap 
aViout ; also, with var. suffix, MHG. icnbclei', 
waveringness (wa'ver-ing-nes), «. The char- 
acter or state of a waverer ; vacillation. 
Tlie waveringness of our cupidities turneth the minde 
into a diziness\inawares to itself. 
W. Montague, Devoute Essays, Pref. 
In printing. 
a roller made to vibrate in a diagonal direction 
on the iuking-table of a printing-machine for 
the purpose of distributing the ink. 
wavery (wa'ver-i), o. [< jcarcrl -t- -//I.] Wa- 
vering; unsteady; shaky; faltering. 
Old letters closely covered with a wavery writing. 
Miss Thaclteray, Book of Sibyls, p. 4. 
He's . . . warery; ... his love changes like the sea- 
sims. Christian Union, July 28, 1887. 
wave-shell(wav'shel), «. In earthquake-shocks, 
one of the waves of alternate compression and 
expansion, having theoretically the form of con- 
centric shells, which are propagated in all di- 
Chapman, Odyssey, iv, 669. 
3. Undulating in movement or shape; wav- 
ing: as, wavy hah: 
Let her glad Vallies smile with wavy Corn. 
Prior, Carmen Seculare (1700), st 26. 
The U'avy swell of the soughing reeds. 
Tennysoti, Dying Swan. 
3. In hot., undulating on the border or on the 
surface. See cut under repand. — 4. In her., 
same as unde. — 5. In entoni., presenting a 
series of horizontal curves : noting marks or 
margins. It is distinct from waved : but the 
two epithets are somewhat loosely used, and 
are sometimes interchanged. — 6. In ::ool., un- 
dulating : sinuous ; waved ; ha\ing waved 
markings. — Baxry wavy. See dnrri/-— Sword 
wavy. Seeworrfi.— Wavy respiration. Sameasintir- 
raptcd respiration (which see, under respiration). 
