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
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 • Jan. 25, 2016
Then through the glasses, U.S. sailormen saw a ragged figure, a pair of wigwag flags.
From Time Magazine Archive
A labor spokesman said in effect that Wilson was a liar, no such offer had been made "by personal conversation, mail, telephone, telegram, wigwag or smoke signal."
From Time Magazine Archive
From here, he can wigwag through the skylight into the kitchen when he is ready for lunch.
From Time Magazine Archive
"Shall I bring the card to wigwag with?"
From Pee-Wee Harris on the Trail by Fitzhugh, Percy Keese
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.
