wad

¹ American  

[wod] / wɒd /

noun

1. a small mass, lump, or ball of anything: a wad of tobacco.

   a wad of paper;

   a wad of tobacco.

2. a small mass of cotton, wool, or other fibrous or soft material, used for stuffing, padding, packing, etc.

3. a roll of something, especially of bank notes.

4. Informal. a comparatively large stock or quantity of something, especially money.

   He's got a healthy wad salted away.

5. a plug of cloth, tow, paper, or the like, used to hold the powder or shot, or both, in place in a gun or cartridge.

6. British Dialect. a bundle, especially a small one, of hay, straw, etc.

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verb (used with object)

wadded, wadding

1. to form (material) into a wad.

2. to roll tightly (often followed byup ).

   He wadded up his cap and stuck it into his pocket.

3. to hold in place by a wad.

   They rammed and wadded the shot into their muskets.

4. to put a wad into; stuff with a wad.

5. to fill out with or as if with wadding; stuff; pad.

   to wad a quilt;

   to wad a speech with useless information.

verb (used without object)

wadded, wadding

1. to become formed into a wad.

   The damp tissues had wadded in his pocket.

idioms

1. shoot one's wad,

   1. to spend all one's money.

      He shot his wad on a new car.

   2. to expend all one's energies or resources at one time.

      She shot her wad writing her first novel and her second wasn't as good.

   3. Slang: Vulgar. (of a man) to have an orgasm.

wad ² American  

[wod] / wɒd /

noun

1. a soft, earthy, black to dark-brown mass of manganese oxide minerals.

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wad ¹ British  

/ wɒd /

noun

1. a small mass or ball of fibrous or soft material, such as cotton wool, used esp for packing or stuffing

2. 1. a plug of paper, cloth, leather, etc, pressed against a charge to hold it in place in a muzzle-loading cannon

   2. a disc of paper, felt, pasteboard, etc, used to hold in place the powder and shot in a shotgun cartridge

3. a roll or bundle of something, esp of banknotes

4. slang a large quantity, esp of money

5. dialect a bundle of hay or straw

6. slang military a bun

   char and a wad

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verb

1. to form (something) into a wad

2. (tr) to roll into a wad or bundle

3. (tr)

   1. to hold (a charge) in place with a wad

   2. to insert a wad into (a gun)

4. (tr) to pack or stuff with wadding; pad

wad ² British  

/ wɒd /

noun

1. a soft dark earthy amorphous material consisting of decomposed manganese minerals: occurs in damp marshy areas

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Other Word Forms

• unwadded
  adjective
• wadder
  noun

Etymology

Origin of wad¹

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English wadde “small bundle of straw used as a pad beneath a horse’s girth to prevent chafing,” from Medieval Latin wadda; further origin uncertain

Origin of wad²

First recorded in 1605–15; origin uncertain

Explanation

A wad is a bundle or lump of something, like the wads of chewing gum you'll find if you look under your chair at school. Yuck! You can also call a wad a bundle, clump, or ball — most office trash cans contain wads of paper, and making a pillow involves stuffing it with wads of cotton or polyester material. Wad is also a verb, like when you wad up a damp hand towel and throw it in the laundry hamper. Etymologists guess that the Old Norse word vað, or "cloth," is the root of wad.

Example Sentences

Among them is Mary Deng, who escaped from Wad Madani, a fierce battleground in the Sudanese conflict.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2025

The BBC's fact-finding team analysed videos provided by the RSF, which they claimed depicted locations and trenches used by Al Mustanfaron in Wad al-Nourah.

From BBC • Sep. 15, 2024

Wad al-Noura is about 20 miles from the nearest frontline in that fight.

From New York Times • Jun. 6, 2024

It is now on the backfoot in central Sudan after the RSF recently took over the city of Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira state, which had been seen as a safe-haven from the fighting.

From BBC • Dec. 22, 2023

He left the cast on his leg until it rotted off, so that, in the words of horseman Wad Studley, “one leg went north and the other one southwest.”

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

• bundle
• chunk
• clump
• lump
• packet