wade

¹

[ weyd ]

verb (used without object)

, wad·ed, wad·ing.

1. to walk in water, when partially immersed:

   He wasn't swimming, he was wading.

2. to play in water:

   The children were wading in the pool most of the afternoon.

3. to walk through water, snow, sand, or any other substance that impedes free motion or offers resistance to movement:

   to wade through the mud.

4. to make one's way slowly or laboriously (often followed by through ):

   to wade through a dull book.

   Synonyms: work, plow, plod, toil, labor

5. Obsolete. to go or proceed.

verb (used with object)

, wad·ed, wad·ing.

1. to pass through or cross by wading; ford:

   to wade a stream.

noun

1. an act or instance of wading:

   We went for a wade in the shallows.

verb phrase

1. 1. to begin energetically.
   2. to attack strongly:

      to wade into a thoughtless child; to wade into a mob of rioters.

Wade

²

[ weyd ]

noun

1. Benjamin Franklin, 1800–78, U.S. lawyer and antislavery politician.
2. a male given name.

Wade

¹

/ weɪd /

noun

1. Wade(Sarah) Virginia1945FBritishSPORT AND GAMES: tennis player ( Sarah ) Virginia. born 1945, English tennis player; won three Grand Slam singles titles: US Open (1968), Australian Open (1972), and Wimbledon (1977)

wade

²

/ weɪd /

verb

1. to walk with the feet immersed in (water, a stream, etc)

   the girls waded the river at the ford

2. introften foll bythrough to proceed with difficulty

   to wade through a book

3. intr; foll by in or into to attack energetically

noun

1. the act or an instance of wading

Derived Forms

• ˈwadable, adjective

Other Words From

• un·waded adjective
• un·wading adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of wade¹

before 900; Middle English waden to go, wade, Old English wadan to go; cognate with German waten, Old Norse vatha; akin to Old English wæd ford, sea, Latin vadum shoal, ford, vādere to go, rush

Word History and Origins

Origin of wade¹

Old English wadan; related to Old Frisian wada, Old High German watan, Old Norse vatha, Latin vadum ford

Example Sentences

Media outlets “crowd sourced” the project, asking readers to help wade through the 24,000 pages of Palin emails.

From The Daily Beast

There are no emails for us to wade through—even if we were champing at the bits.

From The Daily Beast

They were busily implementing these in cases like Roe v. Wade when a right-wing insurgency took them by surprise.

From The Daily Beast

To be sure, a more activist Supreme Court could still have decided to wade into the waters and decide this issue once and for all.

From The Daily Beast

In the eloquent words of colonial preacher John Winthrop, “When a man is to wade through deep water, there is required tallness.”

From The Daily Beast

We had now at one moment to wade through plains of sand, and the next to clamber over the rocks by wretched paths.

From Project Gutenberg

"And my geldin' kin travel that same road spryer 'n Green's hoss—for a hunderd dollars," said Wade, eagerly.

From Project Gutenberg

Streams which a boy could wade last March would now give an elephant a tussle.

From Project Gutenberg

She was obliged to wade through, but escaped a serious wetting by walking on her heels.

From Project Gutenberg

They were able to wade out unto the islet & thereon hid they themselves among the reeds.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bathe
• paddle
• splash
• stumble
• trek