Waft vs Wave - What's the difference?
waft | wave |
(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
* 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]
To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.
* Dryden
To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.
* Shakespeare
A light breeze.
Something (a scent or odor), such as a perfume, that is carried through the air.
* 1908 ,
* 2010 September, "The SLM'' Calendar", , ISSN 1090-5723, volume 16, issue 9, page 170:
(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.
(lb) To move back and forth repeatedly.
:
*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 1, author=Tom Fordyce, work=BBC Sport
, title= (lb) To wave one’s hand in greeting or departure.
:
(lb) To have an undulating or wavy form.
(lb) To raise into inequalities of surface; to give an undulating form or surface to.
*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
*:horns whelked and waved like the enridged sea
(lb) To produce waves to the hair.
*
*:There was also hairdressing: hairdressing, too, really was hairdressing in those times — no running a comb through it and that was that. It was curled, frizzed, waved', put in curlers overnight, ' waved with hot tongs;.
To swing and miss at a pitch.
:
(lb) To cause to move back and forth repeatedly.
:
(lb) To signal (someone or something) with a waving movement.
To fluctuate; to waver; to be in an unsettled state.
*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
*:He waved indifferently 'twixt doing them neither good nor harm.
To move like a wave, or by floating; to waft.
:(Sir Thomas Browne)
To call attention to, or give a direction or command to, by a waving motion, as of the hand; to signify by waving; to beckon; to signal; to indicate.
*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
*:Look, with what courteous action / It waves you to a more removed ground.
* (1809-1892)
*:She spoke, and bowing waved / Dismissal.
A moving disturbance in the level of a body of water; an undulation.
(physics) A moving disturbance in the energy level of a field.
A shape that alternatingly curves in opposite directions.
(figuratively) A sudden unusually large amount of something that is temporarily experienced.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=January 11
, author=Jonathan Stevenson
, title=West Ham 2 - 1 Birmingham
, work=BBC
A sideway movement of the hand(s).
A group activity in a crowd imitating a wave going through water, where people in successive parts of the crowd stand and stretch upward, then sit. Usually referred to as "the wave"
As verbs the difference between waft and wave
is that waft is (ergative) to (cause to) float easily or gently through the air while wave is (lb) to move back and forth repeatedly or wave can be .As nouns the difference between waft and wave
is that waft is a light breeze while wave is a moving disturbance in the level of a body of water; an undulation.waft
English
Verb
(en verb)- 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…
- 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.
- And now the shouts waft near the citadel.
- But soft: who wafts us yonder?
Noun
(en noun)- Meanwhile, the wafts from his old home pleaded, whispered, conjured, and finally claimed him imperiously.
- 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."
wave
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) waven, from (etyl) .Verb
(wav)Rugby World Cup 2011: England 16-12 Scotland, passage=But the World Cup winning veteran's left boot was awry again, the attempt sliced horribly wide of the left upright, and the saltires were waving aloft again a moment later when a long pass in the England midfield was picked off to almost offer up a breakaway try.}}
Derived terms
* wave off * waver * wave the white flagEtymology 2
From (etyl) *.Noun
(en noun)- The wave traveled from the center of the lake before breaking on the shore.
- Gravity waves , while predicted by theory for decades, have been notoriously difficult to detect.
- Her hair had a nice wave to it.
- sine wave
- A wave of shoppers stampeded through the door when the store opened for its Christmas discount special.
- A wave of retirees began moving to the coastal area.
- A wave of emotion overcame her when she thought about her son who was killed in battle.
citation, page= , passage=Foster had been left unsighted by Scott Dann's positioning at his post, but the goalkeeper was about to prove his worth to Birmingham by keeping them in the game with a series of stunning saves as West Ham produced waves' after ' wave of attack in their bid to find a crucial second goal.}}
- With a wave of the hand.