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Hover vs Waft - What's the difference?

hover | waft |

As verbs the difference between hover and waft

is that hover is to float in the air while waft is (ergative) to (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.

As nouns the difference between hover and waft

is that hover is a cover; a shelter; a protection while waft is a light breeze.

hover

English

Etymology 1

(etyl) hoveren (frequentative of hove).

Verb

(en verb)
  • To float in the air.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Travels and travails , passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.}}
  • To linger in one place.
  • * 1883 , (Robert Louis Stevenson), (Treasure Island)
  • The neighborhood, to our ears, seemed haunted by approaching footsteps; and what between the dead body of the captain on the parlor floor, and the thought of that detestable blind beggar hovering near at hand, and ready to return, there were moments when, as the saying goes, I jumped in my skin for terror.
  • To waver, or be uncertain.
  • (computing) To place the cursor over a hyperlink or icon without clicking.
  • Derived terms
    * * hoverboat * hoverbike * hovercar * hoverchair * hovercraft

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A cover; a shelter; a protection.
  • (Carew)
    (Charles Kingsley)
    (Webster 1913) ----

    waft

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (ergative) To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.
  • * A breeze came in through the open window and wafted her sensuous perfume into my eager nostrils.
  • * 1922 , (James Joyce), Chapter 13
  • Through the open window of the church the fragrant incense was wafted and with it the fragrant names of her who was conceived without stain of original sin…
  • * 1914 , Hugh G. Evelyn-White’s translation of Hymn to Aphrodite from the .[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D6]
  • There the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously.
  • To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.
  • * Dryden
  • And now the shouts waft near the citadel.
  • To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.
  • * Shakespeare
  • But soft: who wafts us yonder?

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A light breeze.
  • Something (a scent or odor), such as a perfume, that is carried through the air.
  • * 1908 ,
  • Meanwhile, the wafts from his old home pleaded, whispered, conjured, and finally claimed him imperiously.
  • * 2010 September, "The SLM'' Calendar", , ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 170:
  • Patrol Magazine says of this Oxford, Miss., band: "Guitars are responsible for every noise in Colour Revolt's mix—not a single note of piano, waft of synthesizer, or evidence of electronic tampering are to be found."
  • (nautical) A flag, (also called a waif or wheft), used to indicate wind direction or, with a knot tied in the center, as a signal.