wafer

American  

[way-fer] / ˈweɪ fər /

noun

• wafers
  plural

1. a thin, crisp cake or biscuit, often sweetened and flavored.

2. a thin disk of unleavened bread, used in the Eucharist, as in the Roman Catholic Church.

3. a thin disk of dried paste, gelatin, adhesive paper, or the like, used for sealing letters, attaching papers, etc.

4. Medicine/Medical. a thin sheet of dry paste or the like, used to enclose a powder to be swallowed.

5. any small, thin disk, as a washer or piece of insulation.

6. Electronics. a thin slice of semiconductor used as a base material on which single transistors or integrated-circuit components are formed.

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verb (used with object)

1. to seal, close, or attach by means of a wafer or wafers.

   to wafer a letter.

wafer British  

/ ˈweɪfə /

noun

1. a thin crisp sweetened biscuit with different flavourings, served with ice cream, etc

2. Christianity a thin disc of unleavened bread used in the Eucharist as celebrated by the Western Church

3. pharmacol an envelope of rice paper enclosing a medicament

4. electronics a large single crystal of semiconductor material, such as silicon, on which numerous integrated circuits are manufactured and then separated

5. a small thin disc of adhesive material used to seal letters, documents, etc

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verb

1. (tr) to seal, fasten, or attach with a wafer

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wafer-like
  adjective
• waferlike
  adjective
• wafery
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wafers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of wafer

1350–1400; Middle English wafre < Middle Dutch wafer, variant of wafel waffle ¹

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Explanation

A very thin, crispy cookie is called a wafer. Chocolate cream sandwiched with wafers is a delicious treat. In addition to a cookie, wafer can also refer to the thin bread used during the Christian ritual of Holy Communion. These wafers are small and round. The word is used for other thin, disc-shaped objects as well, like an electronic wafer, a circular sliver of material that helps form a circuit. But the most common meaning is still the original "thin cake of paste," from a root that wafer shares with waffle.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wafer wafers

An ultrathin diamond wafer converts CEBAF's electrons into a beam of high-energy photons with parallel spins.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026

That appeared to be reflected in SMIC’s wafer revenue from smartphones, which made up 25.2% of total quarterly revenue, up from 18.9% in the first quarter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

As a result, CPUs could be as significant as AI accelerators, including both GPUs and ASICs, in terms of wafer revenue contribution in 2027.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Lasers use very little by weight: A four-inch indium-phosphide wafer holds roughly 19 grams.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

Kneeling there with her head bowed, she was not aware that the priest was left with the choice of placing the wafer on her hat or skipping her.

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison

"Mother remembers," he laughs, selecting the caramel wafers.

From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026

They adapt the material to a lithography-based manufacturing method suitable for making devices on wafers.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 17, 2026

Many wafers shipped in 2Q were priced when they were produced in 4Q or 1Q.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Investors should look to see whether anyone else pays cash up front to lock in wafers, which would be a measure of how little faith buyers have in the open market.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

There are few things better than vanilla wafers dunked in milky coffee.

From "I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter" by Erika L. Sánchez

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Related Words

• biscuit
• cake
• candy
• cookie
• cracker

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