waft

[ waft, wahft ]

/ wæft, wɑft /

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See synonyms for: waft / wafted / wafting on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to carry lightly and smoothly through the air or over water: The gentle breeze wafted the sound of music to our ears.

to send or convey lightly, as if in flight: The actress wafted kisses to her admirers in the audience.

Obsolete. to signal to, summon, or direct by waving.

verb (used without object)

to float or be carried, especially through the air: The sound wafted on the breeze. The music wafted across the lake.

noun

a sound, odor, etc., faintly perceived: a waft of perfume.

a wafting movement; light current or gust: a waft of air.

the act of wafting.

Also waif. Nautical. a signal given by waving a flag.

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True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

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Origin of waft

1535–45; back formation from late Middle English waughter armed escort vessel <Dutch or Low German wachter watchman; in some senses confused with waff

OTHER WORDS FROM waft

wafter, nounun·waft·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use waft in a sentence

Mice love the sweet smell of cherries, so when a waft reaches their nose, a pleasure zone in the brain lights up, motivating them to scurry around and hunt out the treat.
How Much Do Our Genes Restrict Free Will?|Hannah Critchlow|November 29, 2020|Singularity Hub
One could be forgiven for barely noticing it—a waft of steam from a cup of coffee on a crisp, fall morning, or mist rising from the roof after a sudden summer downpour—it’s more the domain of poets than the rest of us.
Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Environmentalism - Issue 90: Something Green|Anastasia Bendebury & Michael Shilo DeLay|October 7, 2020|Nautilus
You walk in, or you talk to people, and you can just feel it wafting around you, warm and comforting.
Can the Cleveland Clinic Save American Health Care?|Megan McArdle|February 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The words seemed to just hang in the air, wafting on bitter irony.
Hurricane Sandy Victim Jacob Vogelman’s Mother Remembers His Life|Michael Daly|November 1, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Enthusiasm is difficult to manufacture when the stink of failure is wafting through the air.
Media Reactions to Newsweek’s Niall Ferguson-Obama Cover Story|Kevin Fallon|August 21, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It is best heard wafting from a jukebox or over a glass of whiskey.
The Yes List—The National's All-American Rock|The Daily Beast|May 13, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Does Obama expect Hamid Karzai to surge toward Kandahar in 2011, wafting on doves of peace?
Obama's False Ally|M.J. Akbar|December 5, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The air was keen and scented, wafting the smell of the wooded islands that hung about us in the darkening air.
Three More John Silence Stories|Algernon Blackwood
A roll of a drum and the skirl of a fife came wafting across the valley on the April breeze.
Private Peat|Harold R. Peat
Good heavens, Michael, what Piccadilly breezes are you wafting into my respectable and sacerdotal apartment?
Sinister Street, vol. 1|Compton Mackenzie
And the sailing ships, as if cut out of frailest pearl translucency, were wafting away towards Naples.
Sea and Sardinia|D. H. Lawrence
I asked, as a delicious breeze from the buffet came wafting by "like a steam of rich distilled perfumes."
In the Days of My Youth|Amelia Ann Blandford Edwards

British Dictionary definitions for waft

waft

/ (wɑːft, wɒft) /

verb

to carry or be carried gently on or as if on the air or water

noun

the act or an instance of wafting

something, such as a scent, carried on the air

a wafting motion

Also called: waif nautical (formerly) a signal flag hoisted furled to signify various messages depending on where it was flown

Derived forms of waft

waftage, noun

Word Origin for waft

C16 (in obsolete sense: to convey by ship): back formation from C15 wafter a convoy vessel, from Middle Dutch wachter guard, from wachten to guard; influenced by waff

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

waft

Origin of waft

OTHER WORDS FROM waft

Words related to waft

How to use waft in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for waft

Derived forms of waft

Word Origin for waft