wade
verb (used without object)
to walk in water, when partially immersed.
wade
1 American
[wayd]
/ weɪd /
verb (used without object)
-
wades,
present (3rd person singular)
-
waded,
past participle, past
-
wading
present participle
-
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.
verb (used with object)
-
wades,
present (3rd person singular)
-
waded,
past participle, past
-
wading
present participle
noun
verb phrase
Wade
2
American
[wayd]
/ weɪd /
noun
-
Benjamin Franklin, 1800–78, U.S. lawyer and antislavery politician.
-
a male given name.
wade
1
British
/ weɪd /
verb
-
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
noun
Wade
2
British
/ weɪd /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
wadesimple
-
wadessimple
-
have wadedperfect
-
has wadedperfect
-
am wadingprogressive
-
are wadingprogressive
-
is wadingprogressive
-
have been wadingperfect progressive
-
has been wadingperfect progressive
Past
-
wadedsimple
-
had wadedperfect
-
was wadingprogressive
-
were wadingprogressive
-
had been wadingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing wade
Vocabulary from Beyoncé's "Lemonade"
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"The Hill We Climb," by Amanda Gorman
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100 SAT words Beginning with W,X,Y, and Z
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"I worried if my motorbike would be able to wade through floodwater this much."
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Considering UCLA’s recent history, you can understand why Chesney wouldn’t want to wade too far into setting expectations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 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
But here at MarketWatch, we wade through these things so you don’t have to.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 17, 2026
With a pup under each arm, I’d wade out into the stream and set them down in the cool water.
From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls
The 31-year-old will face compatriot James Wade in the last four after he knocked out third seed Gian van Veen with a 3-0 win.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
Wade returned to rugby union last December with Newcastle after a short spell in rugby league with Wigan Warriors and he made no secret of his desire to chase down Ashton's tally.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
A staffer hoisted a poster board showing purported texts alongside images of Smith, Willis and Wade and a photo of State Farm Arena, then yanked it back down with remarkable speed.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2026
Schmitt: Did you ever meet Nathan Wade or Fani Willis during your time as special counsel?
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 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
Indonesian villager Octavius wades through the forest in rubber boots and tattered joggers, ears pricked, eyes peeled, a telephoto lens on his phone primed to capture orangutans, monkeys or birds.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
“Toy Story 5” stays closer to home but wades into new territory: the explosion of tech in everyday life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
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
The RSS also wades into economic and foreign policy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025
The bird stands in the shallows, pecking at the water, then wades deeper and starts splashing around.
From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven
As they waded into the calm shallows of the Channel, their "taxi boat" came into view.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
She did this countless times across her decades of unwavering support for the queer community, softening and sharpening her humor according to the severity of whatever topic she waded into.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2026
Nine hours and 57 minutes after entering the water, the American swimmer waded ashore in France, having broken the world record for the fastest crossing at the age of 15.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Under a chaotic canopy woven with vines and studded with fearsome spiked stems, the group crossed streams, waded through mud and picked off dozens of leeches.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Neel’s feet touched bottom again and he waded to the bank.
From "Tiger Boy" by Mitali Perkins
He’s wading into the weeds by spending time in the field to understand what is, and isn’t, working.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Make no mistake: America’s biggest theater chain wading into the indie film distribution business is a bold, risky move that suggests a dedication to both the art of cinema and the curious moviegoer.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
In a video, two officers are seen wading into the Bristol Channel with torches at about 21:45 on 22 October 2025 and pulling Bennett out.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
Photographs shared by the disaster office showed workers wading through churned mud and navigating vast boulders left by the floods.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
Not a hundred yards away, a huge creature was wading through a hayfield wielding a pair of gigantic scythes.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
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.
