/ˈweɪvə/, /ˈweɪvəɹ/
OriginFrom wave (verb) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).
- intransitiveTo swing or wave, especially in the air, wind, etc.; to flutter.
“Flowers wavered in the breeze.”
“There was neuer ſuche aſſemble made in Bretayne before⸝ for if the frenchmen were puyſſãt [puissant]⸝ in lyke wiſe ſo were the engliſſhmen⸝ and eche parte thought to fyght⸝ for euery day they ſhewed t”
“Lord (ſayth he) Put them as a wheele and a ſtoble before the face of the wynde. For as the ſtoble, whyle the wynde bloweth wauereth and flyethe aboue in the ayre, nowe hygh nowe lowe, but anone as the”
- dated, intransitiveTo move without purpose or a specified destination; to roam, to wander.
“[T]here vvere tvvo Channels, one on the North, another on the South, vvhere through the fiſher-men did vvander and vvauer vp to Norvvitch, and diuers parts of Suffolke and Norfolke, […]”
“Michael watched him down the corridor, saw him waver into the dusky street.”
- archaic, intransitiveTo sway back and forth, as if about to fall; to reel, to stagger, to totter.
“[…] Oza for puttyng his hande to the holy ſhryne⸝ that vvas called Archa federis [the Ark of the Covenant]⸝ whan it was broughte by kyng Dauid frõ [from] the citie of Baba [i.e., Ba'alah or Kiriath-Je”
“The Fins [of a fish] made of griſtly Spokes or Rays connected by Membranes, ſo that they may be contracted or extended like VVomens Fans, and furniſhed vvith Muſcles for motion, ſerve partly for progr”
“Tom often heard her praying, as she wavered and trembled, and seemed about to fall down.”
- figuratively, intransitiveTo begin to weaken or show signs of weakening in resolve; to falter, to flinch, to give way.
“Despite all the terrible things that happened to her, she never wavered from her beliefs.”
“The capitayn […], to thentent to ſhewe hymſelfe valiante and not willyng to breake hys othe, neither to wauer frõ [from] hys allegeance, boſted that he would rather dye in the defence then frely yeld ”
“[H]eerein thou vvauereſt and doubteſt.”
- figuratively, intransitiveTo feel or show doubt or indecision; to be indecisive between choices; to vacillate.
“[…] I ſhall not much vvaver to affirm that thoſe vvords vvhich are made to intimate, as if they forbad all divorce but for adultery […] thoſe vvords tak'n circumſcriptly, […] are as much againſt plain”
“Let not that man think that he shall obtain anything from the Lord. What man? Why, he that doubteth or wavereth in his mind, about the truth of the mercy of God in Christ; […]”
- figuratively, intransitiveOf a body part such as an eye or hand, or the voice: to become unsteady; to shake, to tremble.
“His voice wavered when the reporter brought up the controversial topic.”
“"No," replied the old man, wavering in his voice, no less than in his manner. "No. Let us go on. I am ready. I am quite ready, Nell."”
“The clear voice faltered—the lithe form stooped— / The white hands wavered—the bright head drooped— / The trumpets quavered, the lights burned blue, / And the Goddess died—as Goddesses do.”
- figuratively, intransitiveOf light, shadow, or a partly obscured thing: to flicker, to glimmer, to quiver.
“For I took at once tvvo Triangular Glaſſes, and one of them being kept fixt in the ſame Poſture, that the Iris it projected on the Floor might not VVaver, I caſt on the ſame Floor another Iris vvith t”
“[U]nder the Roman empire, men's notions of mechanical relations became faint, wavered, and disappeared, […]”
“[T]he shadow of the flowers / Stole all the golden gloss, and, wavering / Lovingly lower, trembled on her waist— / Ah, happy shade—and still went wavering down, […]”
- figuratively, intransitiveChiefly of a quality or thing: to change, to fluctuate, to vary.
“[T]he Englyſhe affaires (as you haue heard) within yͤ realme began to wauer, and waxe variable, whyche cauſed the Engliſhe capitaines, to be of diuerſe opinions.”
“[D]uring the whole space of time just mentioned, Mr. Benjamin Allen had been wavering between intoxication partial and intoxication complete.”
“He had a waistcoat—worn winter and summer—a waistcoat that wavered in hue between a sunny buff and a stony drab, which look so ineffably respectable that I am certain if it had been presented at the p”
- intransitive, obsoleteFollowed by from: to deviate from a course; to stray, to wander.
“And gif it be ane beaſt, ane buke being placed betvvix the hornes of the beaſt, or vpon his forehead, and he and his vvitnes, at the leaſt tvva, ſall ſvveare that, that beaſt did vvaver avvay from him” — And if it be one beast, one book being placed betwixt the horns of the beast, or upon his forehead, and he and his witness, at the least two, shall swear that, the beast did waver away from him, as he
- figuratively, intransitive, obsoleteOf the wits: to become confused or unsteady; to reel.
“I am hungry, and I am vveary, and I cannot find him. / Keep my wits heaven, I feele 'em wavering, / O God my head.”
- obsolete, transitiveTo cause (someone or something) to move back and forth.
“[I]f the Admirall ſhall happen to hull in the night: then to make a wauering light ouer his other light, wauering the light vpon a pole.”
“A third wauered and wagled his head, like a proud horſe playing with his bridle, or as I haue ſeene ſome fantaſticall ſwimmer, at euerie ſtroke train his chin ſide-long ouer his left ſhoulder.”
- obsolete, transitiveTo cause (someone) to begin to or show signs of weakening in resolve; also (rare), to weaken in resolve due to (something).
“Th'vnconſtant Barrons, vvauering euery houre, / The fierce encounter of this raging tyde, / No ſtrategem yet ſtrongly policied; […]”
- An act of moving back and forth, swinging, or waving; a flutter, a tremble.
“No a bit butterflee on its silent waver, meeting the murmur of the straightforward bee.”
“By turns she sat watching the waver of the candles in the draught, and walked to and fro between the bed and the washhand-stand to keep herself warm.”
- figurativelyA state of beginning to weaken or showing signs of weakening in resolve; a falter.
“I hear the soldiers talk as I ride by, "There goes the old man. All's right." Not a waver, doubt, or hesitation when I order, and men march to certain death without a murmur if I call on them, because”
- figurativelyA state of feeling or showing doubt or indecision; a vacillation.
“"Does she mean to accept him?" asked Travice. "Well, she's on the waver. She does not dislike him, and she does not particularly like him. He's too old for her; he's twenty years older than Liz; but i”
- One who waves their arms, or causes something to swing or wave.
“I felt encouraged by all the enthusiastic wavers in the crowd.”
“The Fourth of July brings out all the flag wavers.”
“Johnny is such a little waver; everyone who passes by receives his preferred greeting.”
- A person who specializes in treating hair to make it wavy.
- A tool used to make hair wavy.
- historicalIn full waver roller: a roller which places ink on the inking table of a printing press with a back and forth, waving motion.
- obsoleteSynonym of waverer (“one who feels or shows doubt or indecision; a vacillator”).
“[N]o waver in Judgment, have I, though Gods mercy, ever been; but a conſtant aſſertor of, and ſufferer for my ſatisfiedneſs in, and adheſion to, the piety and probity of my breeding and belief, vvhich”
- dated, dialectalA sapling or other young tree left standing when other trees around it have been felled.
“It is a very ordinary Copſe vvhich vvill not afford three or four Firſts, that is, Beſts; fourteen Seconds; tvvelve Thirds; eight VVavers, &c. according to vvhich proportions the ſizes of young Trees ”
“In some parts of this County, considerable pains seem to be taken in the use of the Falling Axe[…], to form the stools or stumps left in the ground in Spring Woods, rather round at top, to shoot off t”
- A river in northern Cumbria, England, which flows into the Solway Firth.
Formswavers(present, singular, third-person) · wavering(participle, present) · wavered(participle, past) · wavered(past) · waver(infinitive) · waver(first-person, present, singular) · wavered(first-person, past, singular) · waver(present, second-person, singular) · waverest(archaic, present, second-person, singular) · wavered(past, second-person, singular) · waveredst(archaic, past, second-person, singular) · wavereth(archaic, present, singular, third-person) · wavered(past, singular, third-person) · waver(plural, present) · wavered(past, plural) · waver(present, subjunctive) · wavered(past, subjunctive) · waver(imperative, present) · -(imperative, past) · wavers(plural)