wad1

[wod] /wɒd/
noun
1.
a small mass, lump, or ball of anything:
a wad of paper; a wad of tobacco.
2.
a small mass of cotton, wool, or other fibrous or soft material, used for stuffing, padding, packing, etc.
3.
a roll of something, especially of bank notes.
4.
Informal. a comparatively large stock or quantity of something, especially money:
He's got a healthy wad salted away.
5.
a plug of cloth, tow, paper, or the like, used to hold the powder or shot, or both, in place in a gun or cartridge.
6.
British Dialect. a bundle, especially a small one, of hay, straw, etc.
verb (used with object), wadded, wadding.
7.
to form (material) into a wad.
8.
to roll tightly (often followed by up):
He wadded up his cap and stuck it into his pocket.
9.
to hold in place by a wad:
They rammed and wadded the shot into their muskets.
10.
to put a wad into; stuff with a wad.
11.
to fill out with or as if with wadding; stuff; pad:
to wad a quilt; to wad a speech with useless information.
verb (used without object), wadded, wadding.
12.
to become formed into a wad:
The damp tissues had wadded in his pocket.
Idioms
13.
shoot one's wad, Informal.
  1. to spend all one's money:
    He shot his wad on a new car.
  2. to expend all one's energies or resources at one time:
    She shot her wad writing her first novel and her second wasn't as good.
  3. Slang: Vulgar. (of a man) to have an orgasm.
Origin
1530-40; < Medieval Latin wadda < Arabic bāṭa'in lining of a garment, batting; compare French ouate, Dutch watte, Swedish vadd
Related forms
wadder, noun
unwadded, adjective

wad2

[wod] /wɒd/
noun
1.
a soft, earthy, black to dark-brown mass of manganese oxide minerals.
Origin
1605-15; origin uncertain
British Dictionary definitions for wad

wad1

/wɒd/
noun
1.
a small mass or ball of fibrous or soft material, such as cotton wool, used esp for packing or stuffing
2.
  1. a plug of paper, cloth, leather, etc, pressed against a charge to hold it in place in a muzzle-loading cannon
  2. a disc of paper, felt, pasteboard, etc, used to hold in place the powder and shot in a shotgun cartridge
3.
a roll or bundle of something, esp of banknotes
4.
(US & Canadian, slang) a large quantity, esp of money
5.
(Brit, dialect) a bundle of hay or straw
6.
(Brit, military, slang) a bun: char and a wad
verb wads, wadding, wadded
7.
to form (something) into a wad
8.
(transitive) to roll into a wad or bundle
9.
(transitive)
  1. to hold (a charge) in place with a wad
  2. to insert a wad into (a gun)
10.
(transitive) to pack or stuff with wadding; pad
Derived Forms
wadder, noun
Word Origin
C14: from Late Latin wadda; related to German Watte cotton wool

wad2

/wɒd/
noun
1.
a soft dark earthy amorphous material consisting of decomposed manganese minerals: occurs in damp marshy areas
Word Origin
C17: of unknown origin
Word Origin and History for wad
n.

early 15c., "soft material for padding or stuffing," of uncertain origin, and the different meanings may represent more than one source. Among the possible connections are Medieval Latin wadda, Dutch watten, and Middle English wadmal (late 14c.) "woolen cloth," which seems to be from Old Norse vaðmal "a woolen fabric of Scandinavia," probably from vað "cloth" + mal "measure."

The meaning "bundle of currency" is American English, 1778. To shoot (one's) wad "do all one can do" is recorded from 1914. The immediate source of the expression probably is the sense of "disk of cloth used to hold powder and shot in place in a gun." Wad in slang sense of "a load of semen" is attested from 1920s, and the expression now often is felt in this sense. As a suffix, -wad in 1980s joined -bag, -ball, -head in combinations meaning "disgusting or unpleasant person."

v.

1570s, from wad (n.). Related: Wadded; wadding.

Slang definitions & phrases for wad

wad

noun
  1. A roll of money: My grandmother'd just sent me this wad about a week before (1864+)
  2. An amount of semen: shoot one's wad
Related Terms

shoot one's load, shoot one's wad


Encyclopedia Article for wad

black and earthy substance that consists mainly of hydrated manganese oxides; it is an important ore of manganese. It varies considerably in chemical composition and contains different impurities, often in large amounts. Wad is very soft, readily soils the fingers, and may be considered to be a mixture chiefly of pyrolusite and romanechite. It results from the decomposition of other manganese minerals and is often deposited in marshes or by springs; it bears the same relationship to manganese oxides that limonite and gummite do to iron and uranium oxides.

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