W A I 
532 W A I 
Theya; 65 miles west-north-west of Vienna. Population 
5000. 
WAIF, or Waift, s. \w avium, waivium, law Lat.] 
Goods found, but claim’d by nobody; that of which 
every one waves the claim. Sometimes written weif, or 
weft. Johnson —It formerly was used for a person de¬ 
serted as well as thing lost; and, according to Cowel and 
Blackstone, waifs, in the legal sense, are goods stolen, and 
waived, or thrown away by the thief in his flight. 
For that a waift, the which by fortune came 
Upon your seas, he claym’d as propertie; 
And yet nor his, nor his in equitie. 
But your’s the waift by high prerogative. Spenser. 
To WAIL, v. a. [Icel. vacla, ejulare, plangere; Goth. 
wail planctus, waila, vociferari.] To moan; to lament; to 
bewail. 
Wise men ne’er wail their present woes. 
But presently prevent the ways to wail. S/ia/cspeare. 
To WAIL, v. n. To grieve audibly; to express sorrow. 
—Tom shall make him weep and wail. Shakspeare. 
WAIL, s. Audible sorrow; lamentation. 
Around the woods 
She sighs her song, which with her wail resound. Thomson. 
WA'ILFUL, adj. Sorrowful mournful. 
Lay lime to tangle her desires 
By wailful sonnets, whose composed rhimes 
Should be full fraught with serviceable vows. Shakspeare. 
WAILBY, or Walderby, a parish of England, in the 
county of Westmoreland; 2 miles west of Kirkby Stephen. 
WAILSBY, a parish of England, in Lincolnshire; 1£ 
mile from Market-Raisen. 
WA'ILING, s. Lamentation; moan; audible sorrow. 
—Other cries amongst the Irish, savour of the Scythian bar¬ 
barism ; as the lamentations of their burials, with despair¬ 
ful outcries, and immoderate wailings. Spenser. 
WAIN, s. A carriage. 
Your’s be the harvest; ’tis the beggar’s gain. 
To glean the fallings of the loaded wain. Dry den. 
WA'INAGE, s. A finding of carriages. Ainsworth. 
WAINFLEET, a market town of England, in the county 
of Lincoln, situated on a creek near the sea, at the eastern 
part of the county. The creek is navigable for vessels of 
small burden. The town is neat and well built. It had for¬ 
merly two churches, only one of which now remains. The 
free grammar school was founded here in the year 1459, by 
William of Wainfleet, bishop of Winchester, who was a 
native of the town. Market on Saturday, and four annual 
fairs; 14 miles north-north-east of Boston and 130 north of 
London. 
WA'INCOPE, s. A large cord, with which the load is 
tied on the waggon ; cart-rope.—Oxen and wainropes cannot 
hale them together. Shakspeare. 
WA'INSCOT, s. [wagcschot, Dutch.] The inner 
wooden covering of a wall.—Some have the veins more 
varied and chain bletted; as oak, whereof wainscot is made. 
Bacon. 
To WA'INSCOT, v. a. \waegcnschotten, Dutch.] 
To line walls with boards.—Musick soundeth better in 
chambers wainscotted , than hanged. Bacon. —To line 
buildings with different materials.—One side commands a 
view of the garden, and the other is wainscotted with 
looking-glass. Addison. 
WAIR, s. A piece of timber two yards long, and a foot 
broad. Bailey. 
WAIST, s. [ gwase, Welsh ; from the verb gwasen, to 
pressor bind. M. Goth, wahstus, statura.—The smallest 
part of the body ; the part below the ribs. 
The one seem’d woman to the waist, and fair, 
But ended foul in many a scaly fold, 
Voluminous and vast. Milton. 
The middle deck, or floor of a ship. 
Sheets of water from the clouds are sent, 
Which, hissing through the planks, the flames prevent, 
And stop the fiery pest: four ships alone 
Burn to the waist, and for the fleet atone. Dry den. 
WA'ISTBAND, s. That part of the breeches which en¬ 
circles the waist.—I beg of you to button your waistcoat from 
your collar to your waistband. Tatler. 
WAISTCOAT, s. An inner coat; a coat close to the 
body.—Selby lean’d out of the coach to shew his lac’d 
waistcoat. Richardson. 
To WAIT, v. a. [wachten, Dutch.] To expect; to stay 
for. 
Bid them prepare within; 
I am to blame to be thus waited for. Shakspeare. 
To attend; to accompany with submission or respect. To 
attend as a consequence of something. 
Such doom 
Waits luxury, and lawless care of gain. Philips. 
To watch as an enemy.—He is waited for of the sword. 
Job. 
To WAIT, v. n. To expect; to stay in expectation. 
I know, if I am deprived of you, I die: 
But oh! I die, if I wait longer for you. A. Philips. 
To pay servile or submissive attendance ; with on before 
the subject. 
Though Syrinx your Pan’s mistress were, 
Yet Syrinx well might wait on her. Milton. 
To attend: with on. A phrase of ceremony.—The din¬ 
ner is on the table; my father desires your worship’s com¬ 
pany.— I will wait on him. Shakspeare. —To stay; not 
to depart from.—How shall we know when to wait for, 
when to decline persecution. South. 
With Vulcan’s rage the rising winds conspire, 
And near our palace rolls the flood of fire: 
Haste, my dear father, ’tis no time to wait, 
And load my shoulders with a willing freight. Dryden. 
To stay by reason of some hindrance. To look watch¬ 
fully. To lie in ambush as au enemy.-‘-Such ambush waited 
to intercept thy way. Milton. —To follow as a consequence. 
—It will import those men who dwell careless, to enter into 
serious consultation how they may avert that ruin, which 
waits on such a supine temper. Dec. of Chr. Piety. 
WAIT, s. Ambush ; insidious and secret attempts. It 
is commonly used in these phrases, to lay wait, and to lie in 
wait. —Why sat’st thou like an enemy in wait ? Milton. 
WAIT’S RIVER, a river of the United States, in Vermont, 
which runs into the Connecticut; 12 miles below Well’s 
river. 
WAITER, s. An attendant; one who attends for the 
accommodation of others. 
The waiters stand in ranks, the yeomen cry, 
Make room, as if a duke were passing by. Swift. 
WAITHE, a parish of England, in Lincolnshire; 7 miles 
south-south-east of Great Grimsby. 
WAITING-GENTLEWOMAN, Wa'iting-maid, or 
Waiting-woman, s. An upper servant who attends on a 
lady in her chamber. 
He made me mad, 
To talk so like a waiting-gentlewoman. 
Of guns, and drums, and wounds. Shakspeare. 
WAITS, s. \wahts, Goth., vigilia, excubse. Hence, 
in our old language, wait is a watchman, “ speculator, vi¬ 
gil.” So, in old French, waite, “ garde, sentinelle,”] 
Nocturnal itinerant musicians. This is the only use of waits 
at present. 
Let’s have the waits of Southwark, 
They’re as rare fellows as any are in England. 
Bcaum. and FI. 
Waits were originally attendant musicians on great person¬ 
ages, mayors, and bodies corporate, generally furnished with 
superb 
