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:
You can understand why executives aren’t eager to wade into this particular social-media moment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
Officers investigating Sperino's murder realised AI could help them wade through the mountains of evidence they had accumulated since 1993.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2026
Let’s take a wade into the ever-deepening swamp.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
"I worried if my motorbike would be able to wade through floodwater this much."
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
“Maybe there’s just some puddles to wade through.”
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
“Thanks in large part to the agreement,” Wade said, “there is a surge in confidence about the future of Venezuela’s oil industry and, as a direct result, substantial new investments are flowing into the country.”
From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026
Leading retirement researcher Wade Pfau recently weighed in on these fears on his podcast, Retire With Style, saying that many people are dissatisfied with annuities because they are comparing them to stocks.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2026
Major General Wade Rutland told reporters that during "an outdoor exercise on the Alberta prairie," soldiers were caught off guard by the advancing flames.
From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2026
Wade, it was cited as why there was no compelling reason for the government to favor increased population.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026
“At least one new family has built a hedge to avoid people seeing them as they pass by,” said Wade Green, seventy- two, who has summered here for years.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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
The RSS also wades into economic and foreign policy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025
Pagels is conversant with every version of the gospels — even the most obscure — and wades through them with forensic thoroughness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 28, 2025
Keith, her husband, wades in: "I'm looking at what's left of my kitchen."
From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2025
Each day, he strips and wades in knee-deep to scrub away sweat and grime.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
In honor of Slate’s 30th anniversary, Luke waded into the comments section and discovered tales of love, loss, and a vanishing form of online community.
From Slate ● Sep. 23, 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
Workers waded through a rubbish-filled river in Manila, collecting waste that washed in during days of heavy rain.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 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
Castro waded onto land and stumbled through a swamp to a hut.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
Zegan posted a video of people wading through Frontierland as a cast member tried to unclog a drain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 24, 2026
He was wary of wading back into war, and tempted to try to build a life elsewhere.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The footage showed wading birds - including the red-listed Dunlin - in the area.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
Authorities declared a city-wide disaster on Saturday after almost 48 hours of heavy rain, and on Monday some residents were still wading through thigh-high waters.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
But Maggie and another girl from school, Carrie, were wading through the water toward us.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
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