ware

1
[ wair ]
See synonyms for: warewares on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. Usually wares .

    • articles of merchandise or manufacture; goods: a peddler selling his wares.

    • any intangible items, as services or products of artistic or intellectual creativity, that are salable: an actor advertising his wares.

  2. a specified kind or class of merchandise or of manufactured article (usually used in combination): silverware;glassware.: See also -ware.

  1. pottery, or a particular kind of pottery: delft ware.

  2. Archaeology. a group of ceramic types classified according to paste and texture, surface modification, as burnish or glaze, and decorative motifs rather than shape and color.

Origin of ware

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English waru; cognate with German Ware

Other definitions for ware (2 of 5)

ware2
[ wair ]

adjective
  1. watchful, wary, or cautious.

verb (used with object),wared, war·ing.
  1. to beware of (usually used in the imperative).

Origin of ware

2
First recorded before 900; Middle English adjective; Old English adjective wær; cognate with German gewahr “aware,” Old Norse varr “aware”

Other definitions for ware (3 of 5)

ware3
[ wair ]

verb (used with object),wared, war·ing.Scot. and North England.
  1. to spend; expend.

Origin of ware

3
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old Norse verja “to spend, invest”

Other definitions for ware (4 of 5)

ware4
[ wair ]

nounScot. and North England.
  1. the first season in the year; spring.

Origin of ware

4
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Old Norse vār “spring”; perhaps akin to Latin vēr, Greek éar “spring”; see vernal

Other definitions for -ware (5 of 5)

-ware

  1. a combining form extracted from software, occurring as the final element in words that refer to a specified kind or class of software: spyware;shareware.: See also ware1 (def. 2).

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ware in a sentence

  • Waring was a judge in South Carolina in the mid-20th century.

  • But Chucktown has been molasses-slow to acknowledge the brave legacy of Waring.

  • Miss Waring is terribly severe; she says it's merely a lack of application in my case; that I could learn but won't.

    A Hoosier Chronicle | Meredith Nicholson
  • Miss Waring had the reputation of being strict, yet Marian slipped the cords of routine and discipline with ease.

    A Hoosier Chronicle | Meredith Nicholson
  • I'm the oldest girl at Miss Waring's—locked up there with a lot of little pigeons that coo every time you look at them.

    A Hoosier Chronicle | Meredith Nicholson
  • Mark Waring was too honest to affect insensibility; he was not of the stuff out of which accomplished actors are made.

    Sword and Gown | George A. Lawrence
  • I think you ought to do so,” answered Waring, “and if you will give me the letter I will deliver it myself.

    Sword and Gown | George A. Lawrence

British Dictionary definitions for ware (1 of 3)

ware1

/ (wɛə) /


noun(often in combination)
  1. (functioning as singular) articles of the same kind or material: glassware; silverware

  2. porcelain or pottery of a specified type: agateware; jasper ware

Origin of ware

1
Old English waru; related to Old Frisian were, Old Norse vara, Middle Dutch Ware

British Dictionary definitions for ware (2 of 3)

ware2

/ (wɛə) archaic /


verb
  1. another word for beware

adjective
  1. another word for wary, wise 1

Origin of ware

2
Old English wær; related to Old Saxon, Old High German giwar, Old Norse varr, Gothic war, Latin vereor. See aware, beware

British Dictionary definitions for ware (3 of 3)

ware3

/ (wɛə) /


verb
  1. (tr) Northern English and British dialect to spend or squander

Origin of ware

3
C15: of Scandinavian origin; related to Icelandic verja

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for -ware

-ware

  1. A suffix that means “software,” as in shareware.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.