wag

[wag] /wæg/
verb (used with object), wagged, wagging.
1.
to move from side to side, forward and backward, or up and down, especially rapidly and repeatedly:
a dog wagging its tail.
2.
to move (the tongue), as in idle or indiscreet chatter.
3.
to shake (a finger) at someone, as in reproach.
4.
to move or nod (the head).
verb (used without object), wagged, wagging.
5.
to be moved from side to side or one way and the other, especially rapidly and repeatedly, as the head or the tail.
6.
to move constantly, especially in idle or indiscreet chatter:
Her behavior caused local tongues to wag.
7.
to get along; travel; proceed:
Let the world wag how it will.
8.
to totter or sway.
9.
British Slang. to play truant; play hooky.
noun
10.
the act of wagging:
a friendly wag of the tail.
11.
a person given to droll, roguish, or mischievous humor; wit.
Origin
1175-1225; Middle English waggen < Old Norse vaga to sway, or vagga cradle
Related forms
wagger, noun
unwagged, adjective
Examples from the web for wag
  • When dogs feel fundamentally positive about something or someone, their tails wag more to the right side of their rumps.
  • It is irresponsible to let the crazy tail wag the dog.
  • Shifting the tax burden from the rich to future generations, as one wag put it, serves no one's interests.
  • He does not lick or wag his tail, except when following us out or in the yard.
  • Let's call this what it is: wag the dog opportunism.
  • Please click on the following link before you let your tongues wag and your prejudices show.
  • One wag said he sold his birthright for a pot of message.
  • It has a metallic coat, flashing green eyes, wobbly knees and a propensity to wag its tail when you pat its head.
  • The problem is that the tail is starting to wag the dog.
  • Some wag once wrote that politicians sometimes make the right decisions but only after exhausting all the alternatives.
British Dictionary definitions for wag

wag1

/wæɡ/
verb wags, wagging, wagged
1.
to move or cause to move rapidly and repeatedly from side to side or up and down
2.
to move (the tongue) or (of the tongue) to be moved rapidly in talking, esp in idle gossip
3.
to move (the finger) or (of the finger) to be moved from side to side, in or as in admonition
4.
(slang) to play truant (esp in the phrase wag it)
noun
5.
the act or an instance of wagging
Word Origin
C13: from Old English wagian to shake; compare Old Norse vagga cradle

wag2

/wæɡ/
noun
1.
a humorous or jocular person; wit
Derived Forms
waggery, noun
waggish, adjective
waggishly, adverb
waggishness, noun
Word Origin
C16: of uncertain origin

Wag

/wæɡ/
noun
1.
(informal) the wife or girlfriend of a famous sportsman
Word Origin
C21: a back formation from an acronym for w(ives) a(nd) g(irlfriends)

WAG

abbreviation
1.
(West Africa) Gambia (international car registration)
Word Origin and History for wag
v.

early 13c., "waver, vacillate, lack steadfastness," probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse vagga "a cradle," Danish vugge "rock a cradle," Old Swedish wagga "fluctuate"), and in part from Old English wagian "move backwards and forwards;" all from Proto-Germanic *wagojanan (cf. Old High German weggen, Gothic wagjan "to wag"), probably from PIE root *wegh- "to move about" (see weigh). Meaning "to move back and forth or up and down" is from c.1300. Wagtail is attested from c.1500 as a kind of small bird (late 12c. as a surname); 18c. as "a harlot," but seems to be implied much earlier:

If therefore thou make not thy mistress a goldfinch, thou mayst chance to find her a wagtaile. [Lyly, "Midas," 1592]
Wag-at-the-wall (1825) was an old name for a hanging clock with pendulum and weights exposed.

n.

"person fond of making jokes," 1550s, perhaps a shortening of waghalter "gallows bird," person destined to swing in a noose or halter, applied humorously to mischievous children, from wag (v.) + halter. Or possibly directly from wag (v.).

Slang definitions & phrases for wag

wag

Related Terms

chin-wag


Related Abbreviations for wag

WAG

Gambia (international vehicle ID)
Idioms and Phrases with wag

wag

see: