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• wave
  wave

  noun

  a disturbance on the surface of a liquid body, as the sea or a lake, in the form of a moving ridge or swell.
• Wave
  Wave

  noun

  a member of the Waves.

wave

¹ American  

[weyv] / weɪv /

noun

• waves
  plural

1. a disturbance on the surface of a liquid body, as the sea or a lake, in the form of a moving ridge or swell.

   Synonyms:

   whitecap, undulation

2. any surging or progressing movement or part resembling a wave of the sea.

   a wave of the pulse.

3. a swell, surge, or rush, as of feeling or of a certain condition.

   a wave of disgust sweeping over a person; a wave of cholera throughout the country.

4. a widespread feeling, opinion, tendency, etc..

   a wave of anti-intellectualism; the new wave of installment buying.

5. a mass movement, as of troops, settlers, or migrating birds.

6. an outward curve, or one of a series of such curves, in a surface or line; undulation.

7. an act or instance of waving.

8. a fluttering sign or signal made with the hand, a flag, etc..

   a farewell wave.

9. natural waviness of the hair, or a special treatment to impart waviness.

   to have a wave in one's hair; to get a shampoo and a wave.

10. a period or spell of unusually hot or cold weather.

11. Physics. a progressive disturbance propagated from point to point in a medium or space without progress or advance by the points themselves, as in the transmission of sound or light.

12. Literary.

    1. water.

    2. a body of water.

    3. the sea.

13. (at sports events, especially baseball games) a momentary standing and sitting back down by spectators in a sequential, lateral way to create, en masse, a wavelike effect visually.

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verb (used without object)

• waves,
  present (3rd person singular)
• waved,
  past participle,  past
• waving
  present participle

1. to move freely and gently back and forth or up and down, as by the action of air currents, sea swells, etc..

   The flags were waving in the wind.

   Synonyms:

   fluctuate, rock, sway, float, flutter, undulate

2. to curve alternately in opposite directions; have an undulating form.

   The road waved along the valley.

3. to bend or sway up and down or to and fro, as branches or plants in the wind.

4. to be moved, especially alternately in opposite directions.

   The woman's handkerchief waved in encouragement.

5. to give a signal by fluttering or flapping something.

   She waved to me with her hand.

verb (used with object)

• waves,
  present (3rd person singular)
• waved,
  past participle,  past
• waving
  present participle

1. to cause to flutter or have a waving motion in.

   A night wind waves the tattered banners.

2. to cause to bend or sway up and down or to and fro.

   The storm waved the heavy branches of the elm.

3. to give an undulating form to; cause to curve up and down or in and out.

4. to give a wavy appearance or pattern to, as silk.

5. to impart a wave to (the hair).

6. to move, especially alternately in opposite directions.

   to wave the hand.

7. to signal to by waving a flag or the like; direct by a waving movement.

   to wave a train to a halt; to wave traffic around an obstacle.

8. to signify or express by a waving movement.

   to wave a last goodbye.

idioms

1. make waves, to disturb the status quo; cause trouble, as by questioning or resisting the accepted rules, procedures, etc..

   The best way to stay out of trouble at the office is not to make waves.

Wave ² American  

[weyv] / weɪv /

Or WAVE

noun

1. a member of the Waves.

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wave British  

/ weɪv /

verb

1. to move or cause to move freely to and fro

   the banner waved in the wind

2. (intr) to move the hand to and fro as a greeting

3. to signal or signify by or as if by waving something

4. (tr) to direct to move by or as if by waving something

   he waved me on

5. to form or be formed into curves, undulations, etc

6. (tr) to give a wavy or watered appearance to (silk, etc)

7. (tr) to set waves in (the hair)

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noun

1. one of a sequence of ridges or undulations that moves across the surface of a body of a liquid, esp the sea: created by the wind or a moving object and gravity

2. any undulation on or at the edge of a surface reminiscent of such a wave

   a wave across the field of corn

3. the sea

4. anything that suggests the movement of a wave, as by a sudden rise

   a crime wave

5. a widespread movement that advances in a body

   a wave of settlers swept into the country

6. the act or an instance of waving

7. physics an oscillation propagated through a medium or space such that energy is periodically interchanged between two kinds of disturbance. For example, an oscillating electric field generates a magnetic oscillation and vice versa, hence an electromagnetic wave is produced. Similarly a wave on a liquid comprises vertical and horizontal displacements See also antinode longitudinal wave node standing wave transverse wave

8. physics a graphical representation of a wave obtained by plotting the magnitude of the disturbance against time at a particular point in the medium or space; waveform

9. a prolonged spell of some weather condition

   a heat wave

10. an undulating curve or series of curves or loose curls in the hair

11. an undulating pattern or finish on a fabric

12. short for wave moth

13. to cause trouble; disturb the status quo

14. slang to enjoy a period of success and good fortune

wave Scientific  

/ wāv /

1. A disturbance, oscillation, or vibration, either of a medium and moving through that medium (such as water and sound waves), or of some quantity with different values at different points in space, moving through space (such as electromagnetic waves or a quantum mechanical wave described by the wave function).

2. See also longitudinal wave transverse wave wave function See Note at refraction

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wave Cultural  

1. In physics, any regularly recurring event, such as surf coming in toward a beach, that can be thought of as a disturbance moving through a medium. Waves are characterized by wavelength, frequency, and the speed at which they move. Waves are found in many forms.

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wave More Idioms  

1. see make waves.

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Synonym Usage

Wave, ripple, breaker, surf refer to a ridge or swell on the surface of water. Wave is the general word: waves in a high wind. A ripple is the smallest kind of wave, such as is caused by a stone thrown into a pool: ripples in a brook. A breaker is a wave breaking, or about to break, upon the shore or upon rocks: the roar of breakers. Surf is the collective name for breakers: Heavy surf makes bathing dangerous.

Discover More

The motion of a wave and the motion of the medium on which the wave moves are not the same: ocean waves, for example, move toward the beach, but the water itself merely moves up and down. Sound waves are spread by alternating compression and expansion of air.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• underwave
  noun
• underwaving
  noun
• outwave
  verb (used with object)
• unwaving
  adjective
• waveless
  adjective
• wavelike
  adjective
• wavelessly
  adverb
• wavingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• waves
  plural

Participles

• waving
  present
• waved
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• wave
  simple
• waves
  simple
• have waved
  perfect
• has waved
  perfect
• am waving
  progressive
• are waving
  progressive
• is waving
  progressive
• have been waving
  perfect progressive
• has been waving
  perfect progressive

Past

• waved
  simple
• had waved
  perfect
• was waving
  progressive
• were waving
  progressive
• had been waving
  perfect progressive

Future

• will wave
  simple
• will have waved
  perfect
• will be waving
  progressive
• will have been waving
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of wave¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English waven (verb), Old English wafian “to wave the hands”; cognate with Middle High German waben; cf. waver ¹

Origin of Wave²

First recorded in 1942; see origin at Waves

Explanation

The word wave has many different meanings, but they all have to do with an undulating motion or shape. A wave that washes up on a beach has the same kind of back-and-forth movement as a crowd of baseball fans doing "the wave" in the stands. Use the verb wave to describe a greeting that includes a hand motion, from the enthusiastic flapping wave of a little kid meeting his dad at the airport to the prim wave of a Queen acknowledging her subjects. In physics, when you talk about a sound wave, there is a similar kind of rise and fall. Two Old English root words of wave are wæfre, "wavering or restless," and wagian, "to move to and fro."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wave Wave waves waved waving

The Black Death is best known for the catastrophic wave of plague that swept through Europe between 1347 and 1353, killing millions of people.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

It typically takes a weak economy, a default wave or job losses to trigger a recession.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 20, 2026

But there are always anomalies in even would-be wave years, and voters might think the Senate candidate is his brother is the stuff from which anomalies are made.

From Slate ● Sep. 19, 2026

Emerging during the first wave of grime, alongside artists such as Dizzee Rascal and Lethal Bizzle, he stood apart for his witty, literate style.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

A wave of shivers runs down my spine, making me giggle.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Look closely at Hokusai's The Great Wave off Kanagawa, one of Japan's most famous works of art, and the brilliant whites seem almost painted onto the scene.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

The completed scheme includes two state‑of‑the‑art GP practices, a new pharmacy, an extension to Seahaven Swim & Fitness Centre operated by Wave Active, and a creative/co‑working space.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026

Ph.D. student Beomjoon Chae is conducting research on programmable photonic integrated circuits at the Intelligent Wave Systems Laboratory, SNU.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 22, 2026

I wrote about Frankie Valli a few years ago, and he and Bob Gaudio seemed eager to have this company Primary Wave out there finding ways to — Monetize the catalog.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026

He could get back to New Wave in November, after he got his driver's license.

From "Eleanor & Park" by Rainbow Rowell

It was submitted by Dr Ning Xu, a researcher at Tsinghua University in China, who used a series of complicated light waves to illuminate different parts of the sample in colour.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

It’s typically done so without making waves, led by people well-versed in science and public policy.

From Salon ● Sep. 16, 2026

Anticipating future development waves will be critical, said Bondar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

And I heard about it, in thundering waves of sarcasm and snark, from old fashioned emails to online comments, a tsunami of taunts.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2026

We pull up to Wes’s place and he waves at us from the porch.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

He did not speak but waved at family members in the public gallery when proceedings ended.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

Duterte did not speak during the hearing but waved at the public gallery when the judge had left the courtroom at the end.

From Barron's ● Sep. 16, 2026

Today I can’t even take a picture of the place I waved at from the back seat of my dad’s car.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026

Neighbors always waved at Vela Gonzalez as he walked his German shepherd, Chico.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Allun waved an arm at the surrounding trees.

From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda

His sole memory from the trial is of his brother waving at him during the only day he attended the proceedings.

From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026

Sally, reluctant though she is, immediately connects with the tattooed professor, even if there is a red flag or two waving.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

A small group of demonstrators waving Palestinian flags awaited Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar when he visited Fiji earlier this year.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

Just a few hours later, she was sailing down the River Seine alongside the rest of the Australian cohort, waving to onlookers.

From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026

“You!” he shouted at the currach, waving his riding crop over his head.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

Related Words

• crest
• flood
• influx
• movement
• outbreak
• rash
• rush
• sign
• stream
• surge
• swell
• tide
• upsurge