English Explanatory Dictionary

wag

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To swing from side to side, as an animal's tail, or someone's head to express disagreement or disbelief.
  2. To play truant from school.
  3. To go; to proceed; to move; to progress.
  4. To move continually, especially in gossip; said of the tongue.
  5. To leave; to depart.
  6. Of the tail (lower order of the batting lineup): to score more runs than expected.
noun
  1. An oscillating movement.
  2. A witty person.
noun
  1. A wife or girlfriend of a sports star or other celebrity, originally and especially of an association football player.
noun
  1. Acronym of wild-assed guess; a rough estimate.
  2. Acronym of women's artistic gymnastics.

Pronunciation

/wæɡ/ en-au-wag.ogg

Word forms

wag wags wagging wagged

Etymology

From Middle English waggen, probably from Old English wagian (“to wag, wave, shake”) with reinforcement from Old Norse vaga (“to wag, waddle”); both from Proto-Germanic *wagōną (“to wag”). Related to English way. The verb may be regarded as an iterative or emphatic form of waw (verb), which is often nearly synonymous; it was used, e.g., of a loose tooth. Parallel formations from the same root are the Old Norse vagga feminine, cradle (Swedish vagga, Danish vugge), Swedish vagga (“to rock a cradle”), vugge (“to rock a cradle”), Dutch wagen (“to move”), early modern German waggen (dialectal German wacken) to waver, totter. Compare waggle, verb

Synonyms

see Thesaurus:play truant

Related words

waggle wiggle skivitis wag one

Derived words

awag chinwag finger-wag tail wagging the dog wag a finger wag-at-the-wall wag hemp wag it wag-on-the-wall wag-tail dance wag the dog wag-wanton hop the wag play the wag wag-halter waggy waggish
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