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Waver vs Waffle - What's the difference?

waver | waffle |

As verbs the difference between waver and waffle

is that waver is to sway back and forth; to totter or reel while waffle is to smash or waffle can be to move in a side-to-side motion and descend (lose altitude) before landing wiffle'', ''whiffle .

As nouns the difference between waver and waffle

is that waver is an act of wavering, vacillating, etc while waffle is (countable) a flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern or waffle can be (uncountable) speech or writing that is vague, pretentious or evasive.

waver

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • To sway back and forth; to totter or reel.
    • Flowers wavered in the breeze.
  • * Ld. Berners
    • With banners and pennons wavering with the wind.
  • * Sir Walter Scott
    • Thou wouldst waver on one of these trees as a terror to all evil speakers against dignities.
  • To flicker, glimmer, quiver, as a weak light.
  • To fluctuate or vary, as commodity prices or a poorly sustained musical pitch.
  • To shake or tremble, as the hands or voice.
    • His voice wavered when the reporter brought up the controversial topic.
  • To falter; become unsteady; begin to fail or give way.
  • * 1903 , Bill Arp, From the Uncivil War to Date
    • ...and that when a man was in the wrong his courage wavered , and his nerves became unsteady, and so he couldn't fight to advantage and was easily overcome.
  • * 2014 , Jacob Steinberg, " Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals", The Guardian , 9 March 2014:
    • Although they believe they can overhaul their 2-0 deficit, they cannot afford to be as lethargic as this at Camp Nou, and the time is surely approaching when Manuel Pellegrini's faith in Martín Demichelis wavers .
  • To be indecisive between choices; to feel or show doubt or indecision; to vacillate.

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • An act of wavering, vacillating, etc.
  • Someone who waves, enjoys waving, etc.
    • 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.
  • Someone who specializes in waving (hair treatment).
  • A tool that accomplishes hair waving.
  • (UK, dialect, dated) A sapling left standing in a fallen wood.
    • (Halliwell)

    See also

    * waiver

    waffle

    English

    Etymology 1

    The (etyl) word wafel was adopted into English in the 1700s. The Dutch word, in turn, derives from the (etyl) w?fel]]'' (modern German ''Waffel''), which was borrowed into Middle English around 1377 as ''wafer'', and which is also the source of the French ''gaufre''. ''[[wafel, W?fel'', in turn, derives from the Old High German ''waba'', ''wabo'' (modern German ''Wabe''), meaning ''honeycomb'' and ultimately related to the word ''weave . The verb sense "to smash" derives from the manner in which waffle-batter is smashed into its shape between the two halves of a waffle iron, and the sense "to press a waffle pattern into" derives from the pattern the waffle-iron-halves impart.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (countable) A flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern.
    • The brunch was waffles with strawberries and whipped cream.
  • (countable, UK) A , a savoury flat potato cake with the same kind of grid pattern.
    • Derived terms
    * waffled * waffle iron
    External links
    * (wikipedia "waffle")

    Verb

    (waffl)
  • To smash.
  • * 1995 , Peter Allen David, The Incredible Hulk: What savage beast :
    • The cab was waffled in between the two, Marsh never having a prayer or even a full comprehension of what happened to him. He was crushed flat, never even hearing the deafening screech of metal.
  • * 1997 , Bill Conlin, Kevin Kerrane (editor), "Batting cleanup, Bill Conlin" , page 121:
    • These were not the Cowboys who were waffled , 45-14, here at mid-season. They came prepared to play a championship football game, with an ultra-conservative game plan suited to the horrendous turf conditions, and came close to pulling it off [...]
  • * 2005 , Shawn Michaels, with Aaron Feigenbaum, Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story , Page 47:
    • Then I waffled him and knocked him down. Why I cut myself open with the razor, I'm not completely sure. I was like the idiot in a bar who gets all worked up and smashes a bottle over his head [...]
  • * 2006 , Gordon Forbes, Tales from the Eagles Sideline (updated edition), page 2:
    • Bednarik, however, says the play became legendary only because of the circumstances. " I did it [...] to the top honcho. He just happened to be there and the pass was thrown to him. I waffled him cleanly." [...] "He just cold-cocked Frank," said linebacker Bob Pellegrini, whose injury sent Bednarik into the game to play defense.

    Etymology 2

    From the (etyl) ''woof ). Also note (etyl) .

    Noun

    (-)
  • (uncountable) Speech or writing that is vague, pretentious or evasive.
    • This interesting point seems to get lost a little within a lot of self-important waffle .
    Synonyms
    * see

    Verb

    (waffl)
  • To move in a side-to-side motion and descend (lose altitude) before landing. wiffle'', ''whiffle .
    • The geese waffled as they approached the water.
  • To speak or write vaguely and evasively.
  • * 1970 , John Galloway, The Gulf of Tonkin resolution , page 115:
    • Again the answer was "waffled ," for this did not say that no air units had been alerted. Only that none had been "identified." Moreover, the reply concerned air "unit[s]" as opposed to "air craft".
  • To speak or write at length without any clear point or aim.
  • * 1976 Tony Hatch, So you want to be in the music business, Everest Books, p68
    • Unless you have a great line in gags or repartee don't waffle on aimlessly to your audience, or make in-jokes among yourselves, the band or the compere/DJ.
  • * 1984 "Apiary Antics- No.5," British bee journal , Volumes 112-113, p68
    • Before getting down to the nitty gritty of beekeeping, most contributors to BBJ like to waffle on for a bit about the weather, the state of their garden or something equally inconsequential.
  • * 2005 Bill Condon, No Worries, Univ. of Queensland Press, p78
    • She waffled on for ages. Usually I'd say something smart or make it obvious that I wasn't interested and couldn't be bothered listening.
  • * 2006 Carl Storm, A Mighty Fine Way to Live and Die, Backstrap Ltd, p8
    • The whole thing ended suddenly when the hotel manager arrived. He waffled on for a bit; this settled everyone down.
  • To vacillate.
    • He waffles between loving the movie and hating it, depending on who's asking.
  • To rotate (one's hand) back and forth in a gesture of vacillation or ambivalence.
  • * 2007 , Michael Koryta, Sorrow’s Anthem , Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-312-93660-0, page 146:
    • “”
    Synonyms
    * (vacillate) blow hot and cold * (speak or write vaguely and evasively) beat around the bush