wand

[wond]

noun

1. a slender stick or rod, especially one used by a magician, conjurer, or diviner.

2. a rod or staff carried as an emblem of one's office or authority.

3. a slender shoot, stem, or branch of a shrub or tree.

4. a small applicator for cosmetics, usually having a brush at the tip.

   She applied the mascara with a wand.

5. U.S. Archery.,  a slat 6 feet (183 centimeters) by 2 inches (5 centimeters) placed at a distance of 100 yards (91 meters) for men and 60 yards (55 meters) for women, and used as a target.

6. Also called wand reader. an electronic device, in the form of a handheld rod, that can optically read coded data, as on a merchandise label or tag or the page of a book.

wand

/ wɒnd /

noun

1. a slender supple stick or twig

2. a thin rod carried as a symbol of authority

3. a rod used by a magician, water diviner, etc

4. informal,  a conductor's baton

5. archery a marker used to show the distance at which the archer stands from the target

6. a hand-held electronic device, such as a light pen or bar-code reader, which is pointed at or passed over an item to read the data stored there

Other Word Forms

• wandlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of wand¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English, from Old Norse vǫndr; cognate with Gothic wandus

Word History and Origins

Origin of wand¹

C12: from Old Norse vōndr; related to Gothic wandus and English _wend

Example Sentences

“Father Figure” was inspired by a scene from “Succession,” while “Wood” — a track about her fiancé, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s uh, “magic wand” — started out in a “very innocent place.”

From Salon

And then there are the typos: a duplicated “1 wand” on Page 51 and a misspelling on the back cover, where the title appears as “Philospher’s Stone.”

From Los Angeles Times

During a search, it added two members of staff would be present, and that in most cases a "search wand" would be used to remove any physical contact.

From BBC

Mrs Aguiar said the new foundation's logo features pink ballet shoes to represent Alice's "non-stop dancing", which she started enjoying at about 16 months, and a magic wand "to spread the magic".

From BBC

Kate Kempton, senior legal counsel for the group, criticised the laws for giving the government "unfettered, unrestricted authority to wave a magic wand" and make development projects go forward, despite objections from indigenous communities.

From BBC

Related Words

• baton