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waft
7 dictionary results for: Waft
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
waft       [waft, wahft] Pronunciation Key
–verb (used with object)
1.to carry lightly and smoothly through the air or over water: The gentle breeze wafted the sound of music to our ears.
2.to send or convey lightly, as if in flight: The actress wafted kisses to her admirers in the audience.
3.Obsolete. to signal to, summon, or direct by waving.
–verb (used without object)
4.to float or be carried, esp. through the air: The sound wafted on the breeze. The music wafted across the lake.
–noun
5.a sound, odor, etc., faintly perceived: a waft of perfume.
6.a wafting movement; light current or gust: a waft of air.
7.the act of wafting.
8.Also, waif. Nautical. a signal given by waving a flag.
[Origin: 1535–45; back formation from late ME waughter armed escort vessel < D or LG wachter watchman; in some senses confused with waff]

—Related forms
wafter, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
waft       (wäft, wāft)  Pronunciation Key 
v.   waft·ed, waft·ing, wafts

v.   tr.
  1. To cause to go gently and smoothly through the air or over water.
  2. To convey or send floating through the air or over water.

v.   intr.
To float easily and gently, as on the air; drift: "It was a heat that wafted from streets, rolled between buildings and settled over sidewalks" (Sarah Lyall).

n.  
  1. Something, such as an odor, that is carried through the air.
  2. A light breeze; a rush of air.
  3. The act of fluttering or waving.
  4. Nautical A flag used for signaling or indicating wind direction. Also called waif2.


[Back-formation from wafter, convoy ship, alteration of Middle English waughter, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German wachter, a guard, from wachten, to guard; see weg- in Indo-European roots.]

waft'er n.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
waft 
1513, "to carry over water," back-formation from obs. wafter "convoy ship" (1482), from M.Du. or M.L.G. wachter "a guard," from wachten "to guard," related to waken "rouse from sleep" (see wake (1)). The meaning "pass through air or space, float" is first attested 1704, and possibly shows some influence of northern dialect waff "cause to move to and fro" (1513), a variant of wave.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
waft

noun
1. a long flag; often tapering [syn: pennant] 

verb
1. be driven or carried along, as by the air; "Sounds wafted into the room" 
2. blow gently; "A breeze wafted through the door" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Waft

Waft\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wafted; p. pr. & vb. n. Wafting.] [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]

1. To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Obs.]

But soft: who wafts us yonder? --Shak.

2. To cause to move or go in a wavy manner, or by the impulse of waves, as of water or air; to bear along on a buoyant medium; as, a balloon was wafted over the channel.

A gentle wafting to immortal life. --Milton.

Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul, And waft a sigh from Indus to the pole. --Pope.

3. To cause to float; to keep from sinking; to buoy. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.

Note: This verb is regular; but waft was formerly som?times used, as by Shakespeare, instead of wafted.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Waft

Waft\, v. i. To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.

And now the shouts waft near the citadel. --Dryden.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Waft

Waft\, n. 1. A wave or current of wind. "Everywaft of the air." --Longfellow.

In this dire season, oft the whirlwind's wing Sweeps up the burden of whole wintry plains In one wide waft. --Thomson.

2. A signal made by waving something, as a flag, in the air.

3. An unpleasant flavor. [Obs.]

4. (Naut.) A knot, or stop, in the middle of a flag. [Written also wheft.]

Note: A flag with a waft in it, when hoisted at the staff, or half way to the gaff, means, a man overboard; at the peak, a desire to communicate; at the masthead, "Recall boats."

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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