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• wade
  wade

  verb (used without object)

  to walk in water, when partially immersed.
• Wade
  Wade

  noun

  Benjamin Franklin, 1800–78, U.S. lawyer and antislavery politician.

wade

¹ American  

[weyd] / weɪd /

verb (used without object)

waded, wading

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 bythrough ).

   to wade through a dull book.

   Synonyms:

   work, plow, plod, toil, labor

5. Obsolete. to go or proceed.

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verb (used with object)

waded, wading

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. wade in / into

   1. to begin energetically.

   2. to attack strongly.

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

Wade ² American  

[weyd] / weɪd /

noun

1. Benjamin Franklin, 1800–78, U.S. lawyer and antislavery politician.

2. a male given name.

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wade ¹ British  

/ weɪd /

verb

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

   the girls waded the river at the ford

2. to proceed with difficulty

   to wade through a book

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

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noun

1. the act or an instance of wading

Wade ² British  

/ weɪd /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• unwaded
  adjective
• unwading
  adjective
• wadable
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of wade

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

Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

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

The problem with wars is that when they don’t go as you planned, you have an ugly choice—end them unsatisfactorily or wade in deeper.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

The justices could choose to focus on a 1952 law passed by Congress that codified birthright citizenship and not wade into the larger constitutional debate, said Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration law expert.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

The pail was floating instead of standing, and they were going to have to wade through knee-high water to return to the shore.

From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins

Related Words

• bathe
• paddle
• splash
• stumble
• trek