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cupation was war, or farming and grazing, before the spirit 
of adventure in going abroad to acquire wealth was known, 
the youth remained at home, on wadsetts or leases of ground 
at a moderate rent. In this manner, it is said, a clan, dur¬ 
ing the patriarchal no less than the feudal system or state, 
were in fact a battalion of armed men, living closely toge¬ 
ther, and united by the most powerful ties of consanguinity 
and interest. Accordingly, it is said, we find the Highland 
tribes settled in clusters, in the same valley or strath, un¬ 
mixed with any other people; nor was it at one period, it 
is thought, very safe for a stranger to attempt settling amongst 
them. 
WADSTENA, or Wadstein, a town of Sweden, in 
East Gothland, situated on the lake of Wetter; 20 miles 
west of Linkioping. Lat. 58. 28. 5. N. long. 14. 52. 45. E. 
WADSWORTH, a township of England, in the West 
Riding of Yorkshire; 7J miles west-north-west of Halifax. 
Population 3473. 
WADWORTH, a parish of England, in the West Riding 
of Yorkshire; 54 miles south of Doncaster. Population 
467. 
WA'FER, s. \wafel, Dutch.] A thin cake. 
Wife, make us a dinner; spare flesh, neither corn; 
Make wafers and qakes, for our sheepe must be shorne. 
Tusser. 
The bread given in the eucharist by the Romanists.— 
That the same body of Christ should be in a thousand places 
at once; that the whole body should lie hid in a little thin 
wafer; yet so, that the members thereof should not one run 
into another, but continue distinct, and have an order agree¬ 
able to a man’s body, it doth exceed reason. Bp. Hall .— 
Paste made to close letters. 
Wafers are made by mixing fine flour with glair of eggs, 
isinglass, and a little yeast, and beating the mass into a 
paste; then spreading it when thinned with gum-water, on 
even tin plates, and drying it in a stove, and cutting it for 
use. The different colours may be given by tinging the 
paste with brazil or vermillion for red ; indigo, or verditer, 
&c., for blue; saffron, turmeric, or gamboge, &c., for yel¬ 
low, &c. 
To WAFT, v. a. preter. wafted, or perhaps waft; 
particip. passive wafted, or waft, [probably from wave. 
Johnson.—Serenius refers the word to ve/fa, Icel., wefta, 
Sueth. vibrare.]—To carry through the air, or on the water. 
A braver choice of dauntless spirits, 
Than now the English bottoms have waft o’er. 
Did never float upon the swelling tide. Shakspeare. 
To buoy; to make float; to hinder from sinking.— 
Whether cripples, who have lost their thighs, will not sink 
but float; their lungs being able to waft up their bodies, 
which are in others overpoised by the hinder legs, we have 
not made experiment. Brown .—To beckon ; to inform by 
a sign of any thing moving.—But soft! who wafts us 
yonder? Shakspeare. —To turn. 
Even now I met him 
With customary compliment; when he 
Wafting his eyes to the contrary, and falling 
A lip of much contempt, speeds from me. Shakspeare. 
To WAFT, v. n. To float. 
It wafted nearer yet, and then she knew. 
That what before she but surmis’d, was true. Drj/.dcn. 
WAFT, s. A floating body. 
From the bellowing east oft the whirlwind's wing 
Sweeps up the burthen of whole wintry plains, 
In one wide waft. Thomson. 
Motion of a streamer. Used as a token or mean of infor¬ 
mation at sea. 
WA'FTAGE, s. Carriage by water or air. Not in use. 
What ship of Epidamnum stays for me ? — 
—A ship you sent me to, to hire waftage. Shakspeare. 
WAG 
WA'FTER, s. A passage boat.—One who wafts or 
conveys. 
O Charon, Charon, 
The wafter of the souls to bliss or bane. Beaum. and FI. 
WAFTIB, a small low island in the Eastern seas, on the 
west coast of the island of Waygiou, covered with trees to 
the water’s edge. 
WA'FTURE, s. The act of waving. 
You answer’d not; 
But with an angry wafture of your hand 
Gave sign for me to leave you. Shakspeare. 
WAFWA, a small low island in the Eastern seas, on the 
west coast of the island of Waygiou, covered with trees. 
To WAG, v. a. [pagian, Saxon ; waggen, Dutch.] To 
move lightly; to shake slightly. 
You may as well forbid the mountain pines 
To wag their high tops, and to make a noise. 
When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven. Shakspeare. 
To WAG, v. n. To be in quick or ludicrous motion. 
Be merry, be merry, my wife has all; 
For women are shrews, both short and tall; 
’Tis merry in hall, where beards wag all. Shakspeare. 
To go ; to pack off.—I will provoke him to’t, or let him 
wag. Shakspeare. —To be moved. 
Her charms she mutter’d o’er; 
And yet the resty sieve wagg'd ne’er the more: 
I wept for woe. i Dry den, 
WAG, s. [feejan, Saxon, to cheat. ] Any one ludi¬ 
crously mischievous ; a merry droll.—Was not my lord the 
verier wag o’ th’ two. Shakspeare. 
WAGE, s. The plural wages is now only used, [wegen, 
or wagen, German. Johnson. —A corruption of the Su. 
Goth, wad, a pledge; whence the old Engl, word wad, in 
the same sense.—Pay given for service. 
All friends shall taste 
The wages of their virtue, and all foes 
The cup of their deservings. Shakspeare. 
Gage; pledge. 
But th’ elfin knight, which ought that warlike wage, 
Disdain’d to loose the meed he wonne in fray. Spenser. 
To WAGE, v. a. [ waegen, German, to attempt any 
thing dangerous.] To attempt; to venture. 
We must not think the'Turk is so unskilful, 
Neglecting an attempt of ease and gain, 
To wake and wage a danger profitless. Shakspeare. 
To make ; to carry on. Applied to war. 
Return to her, and fifty men dismiss’d! 
No ; rather I abjure all roofs, and chuse 
To wage against the enmity o’ th ! air. 
To be a comrade with the wolf. Shakspeare. 
[From wage, wages. ] To set to hire. Not in use. 
Thou must wage 
Thy works for wealth, and life for gold engage. Spenser. 
To take to hire; to hire for pay; for hold in pay; to em¬ 
ploy for wages. Obsolete. 
I seem’d his follower, not partner; and 
He wag'd me with his countenance, as if 
I had been mercenary. Shakspeare. 
[In law.] When an action of debt is brought against 
one as for money or chatties, left or lent, the defendant 
may wage his law; that is, swear, and certain per¬ 
sons with him, that he owes nothing to the plaintiff in man¬ 
ner as he hath declared. The offer to make the oath is 
called wager of law: and when it is accomplished, it is called 
the making or doing of law. Blount. 
WAGENAAR (John), a Dutch writer, distinguished by 
his moral qualities as well as literary acquirements, was 
bofq 
