wigwag
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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to move to and fro.
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Nautical. to signal by movements of two flags or the like waved according to a code.
noun
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Nautical. the act or process of sending messages by the movements of two flags or the like waved according to a code.
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a message so signaled.
verb
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to move (something) back and forth
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to communicate with (someone) by means of a flag semaphore
noun
Other Word Forms
- wigwagger noun
Etymology
Origin of wigwag
1575–85; wig to wag (now dial.) + wag; gradational compound, parallel to zigzag, etc.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Lex not only brought us together but sent us down different paths than we’d been on before he gave us the wigwag.
From The New Yorker
And she was interested and pleased, and would learn wigwagging herself.
From Project Gutenberg
On her bridge a man was wigwagging to the Oregon with an electric signal.
From Project Gutenberg
They were so well hidden that the girls would never have seen them if Billy had not stealthily waved a red handkerchief which he always carried for wigwagging.
From Project Gutenberg
Lillie and Edith now gave an exhibition of wigwagging, using the Myers code, in which nearly all the girls were proficient.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
