wave election

[ weyv i-lek-shuhn ]

noun

, Politics.

1. an election in which one party makes significant gains in Congress, at the state level, or in a parliament:

   a wave election that saw Republicans win control of the House and flip seven Senate seats.

Word History and Origins

Origin of wave election¹

First recorded in 2010–15

Example Sentences

The conventional wisdom has it that this cycle is a GOP wave election.

From The Daily Beast

It would be a wave election, and that wave would sweep Obama away.

From The Daily Beast

But generally speaking they do so only in a real wave election.

From The Daily Beast

But then came the wave election of 2006, and suddenly the presidency was in sight.

From The Daily Beast

This is now, that was then, but the similarities to the wave election of 1994 are looking more like déjà vu all over again.

From The Daily Beast