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Waft vs Haft - What's the difference?

waft | haft |

As verbs the difference between waft and haft

is that waft is to (cause to) float easily or gently through the air while haft is to fit a handle to a tool or weapon.

As nouns the difference between waft and haft

is that waft is a light breeze while haft is the handle of a tool or weapon.

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.
  • haft

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The handle of a tool or weapon.
  • * Dryden
  • This brandish'd dagger / I'll bury to the haft in her fair breast.
    Synonyms
    * hilt (sword handle ) * stale, stail, stele, steal (axe handle )

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To fit a handle to a tool or weapon.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * heft

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Northern English dialect) A piece of mountain pasture to which a farm animal has become hefted.