to walk in water, when partially immersed.
He wasn't swimming, he was wading.
to play in water.
The children were wading in the pool most of the afternoon.
to walk through water, snow, sand, or any other substance that impedes free motion or offers resistance to movement.
to wade through the mud.
to make one's way slowly or laboriously (often followed bythrough ).
to wade through a dull book.
Obsolete. to go or proceed.
Benjamin Franklin, 1800–78, U.S. lawyer and antislavery politician.
a male given name.
to walk with the feet immersed in (water, a stream, etc)
the girls waded the river at the ford
to proceed with difficulty
to wade through a book
(intr; foll by in or into) to attack energetically
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
To wade is to walk through water. If you've been fishing without a boat, you'll have to wade to reach your precious prize (if it gets away, you can brag about how big it was). When you wade, it doesn't have to literally be through a liquid; wading includes any action that involves a laborious slog through something that offers resistance. For example, you might attempt to wade through a huge book like Moby Dick. And if you want to get into a fight? Wade right on into the brawling crowd. Or if it's verbal fisticuffs you're after, wade right on in to the debate.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I would never wade into that because I won’t sell anything that I think could lead to harm, and we don’t know enough about them.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Quite a few religions were considered cults in the beginning, Christianity among them, so it does make some sense not to wade too deeply into the finer distinctions.
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026
A man has been arrested in Texas accused of intentionally driving his Tesla Cybertruck into a lake to use the vehicle's "wade mode" feature.
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
Winfield and Buss weren’t the only names associated with the sports world to wade into the mayoral maelstrom.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
“Don’t answer it,” I yell to Natalie as I wade through the boxes to the front door.
From "Al Capone Does My Shirts" by Gennifer Choldenko
“Over time equities should rise with inflation because companies can raise their prices,” says Wade Pfau, author of the Retirement Planning Guidebook.
From Barron's ● May 30, 2026
According to the police statement, "the driver stated he intentionally drove into the lake to use the Cybertruck's "Wade Mode" feature", after which "the vehicle became disabled and took on water".
From BBC ● May 20, 2026
Sociologist Wade Clark Roof described the religious landscape as a “spiritual marketplace.”
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
“I just want to say congratulations to Kniffin and UCI for a fantastic season,” Hawaii coach Charlie Wade said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2026
When I enrolled, there were already two other students at my school with the first name Wade, so I’d been assigned the student ID of Wade3.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
Van Der Beek wades through all of the screenplay’s cynicism in search of something deeper and more complicated — something human.
From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2026
Right at the start of the Puerto Rican singer’s performance at Super Bowl LX, as he wades through faux sugarcane fields, he passes a series of small businesses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2026
The RSS also wades into economic and foreign policy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025
Keith, her husband, wades in: "I'm looking at what's left of my kitchen."
From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2025
Neumann One brakes, and Volkheimer postholes out into the snow, speaks to a guard, and wades in among the prisoners, usually wearing only a shirt against the cold.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Toth, who was involved in the grassroots push long before Trump waded into politics, said the president is just accelerating work that was already underway.
From Salon ● May 29, 2026
As we watched the group wander about, a female capybara waded into a mud puddle along the truck path and rolled around happily.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
After two trips in his pickup truck, Juenke, a retired Houston policeman, waded through rushing waters to the Wiggle Inn cabin and became stranded.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
But the 147 pages we have waded through do not verify either claim.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026
The horse waded into the water and an ocean wave washed over it.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
The 3.6-acre estate features a wading pool and an infinity pool that are connected by a lazy river.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
"That ephemeral, wet-dry landscape - all the wading birds will absolutely love it, and you'll get insects... and all the really cool plants and flowers."
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
The company has been wading through design and quality issues for years, resulting in significant management turnover.
From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026
Like “Babe” and “Homeward Bound” before it, the film treats its younger audience with the respect and maturity they deserve, wading into heavy thematic territory without shying away from the bittersweet realities of death.
From Salon ● May 25, 2026
They stood side by side at the table, and slowly, Brangwain Spurge lifted up the casket that contained the gemstone found beneath the Elf King’s wading pool.
From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
