wag
[wag]
- to move from side to side, forward and backward, or up and down, especially rapidly and repeatedly: a dog wagging its tail.
- to move (the tongue), as in idle or indiscreet chatter.
- to shake (a finger) at someone, as in reproach.
- to move or nod (the head).
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- to be moved from side to side or one way and the other, especially rapidly and repeatedly, as the head or the tail.
- to move constantly, especially in idle or indiscreet chatter: Her behavior caused local tongues to wag.
- to get along; travel; proceed: Let the world wag how it will.
- to totter or sway.
- British Slang. to play truant; play hooky.
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- the act of wagging: a friendly wag of the tail.
- a person given to droll, roguish, or mischievous humor; wit.
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Origin of wag
1175–1225; Middle English waggen < Old Norse vaga to sway, or vagga cradle
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
quiverswingnodswayshakevibratewavebeatswitchshimmyrocklashwagglebobtwitchstirflutteroscillatefish-tailExamples from the Web for wagged
Contemporary Examples
But after consulting with his boss, the second guard also wagged his head.
If only salespeople were fuzzy and wagged their tails more, they'd probably find it easier to cooperate with the inevitable.
Historical Examples
Old Bob wagged his head in slow negation; young William lifted his.
The Black BagLouis Joseph Vance
Then she wagged the stump of her tail, and they considered themselves acquainted.
Johnny BearE. T. Seton
And I'd have broke the head of the first man that'd wagged a tongue.
The ManxmanHall Caine
"To ward off possible traitors," she told him, and Marius smiled and wagged his head.
St. Martin's SummerRafael Sabatini
Beth wagged her head like a solemn child and then laid her other hand on his.
The Vagrant DukeGeorge Gibbs
wag1
- to move or cause to move rapidly and repeatedly from side to side or up and down
- to move (the tongue) or (of the tongue) to be moved rapidly in talking, esp in idle gossip
- to move (the finger) or (of the finger) to be moved from side to side, in or as in admonition
- slang to play truant (esp in the phrase wag it)
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- the act or an instance of wagging
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Word Origin
C13: from Old English wagian to shake; compare Old Norse vagga cradle
wag2
- a humorous or jocular person; wit
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Word Origin
C16: of uncertain origin
Wag
- informal the wife or girlfriend of a famous sportsman
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Word Origin
C21: a back formation from an acronym for w (ives) a (nd) g (irlfriends)
WAG
- (West Africa) Gambia (international car registration)
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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
Word Origin and History for wagged
wag
v.
early 13c., "waver, vacillate, lack steadfastness," probably from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse vagga "a cradle," Danish vugge "rock a cradle," Old Swedish wagga "fluctuate"), and in part from Old English wagian "move backwards and forwards;" all from Proto-Germanic *wagojanan (cf. Old High German weggen, Gothic wagjan "to wag"), probably from PIE root *wegh- "to move about" (see weigh). Meaning "to move back and forth or up and down" is from c.1300. Wagtail is attested from c.1500 as a kind of small bird (late 12c. as a surname); 18c. as "a harlot," but seems to be implied much earlier:
If therefore thou make not thy mistress a goldfinch, thou mayst chance to find her a wagtaile. [Lyly, "Midas," 1592]
Wag-at-the-wall (1825) was an old name for a hanging clock with pendulum and weights exposed.
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wag
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with wagged
wag
see tail wagging the dog; tongues wag.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.