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View synonyms for wag

wag

[ wag ]

verb (used with object)

, wagged, wag·ging.
  1. to move from side to side, forward and backward, or up and down, especially rapidly and repeatedly:

    a dog wagging its tail.

  2. to move (the tongue), as in idle or indiscreet chatter.
  3. to shake (a finger) at someone, as in reproach.
  4. to move or nod (the head).


verb (used without object)

, wagged, wag·ging.
  1. to be moved from side to side or one way and the other, especially rapidly and repeatedly, as the head or the tail.
  2. to move constantly, especially in idle or indiscreet chatter:

    Her behavior caused local tongues to wag.

  3. to get along; travel; proceed:

    Let the world wag how it will.

  4. to totter or sway.
  5. British Slang. to play truant; play hooky.

noun

  1. the act of wagging:

    a friendly wag of the tail.

  2. a person given to droll, roguish, or mischievous humor; wit.

WAG

1

abbreviation for

  1. (West Africa) Gambia (international car registration)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


wag

2

/ wæɡ /

noun

  1. a humorous or jocular person; wit
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Wag

3

/ wæɡ /

noun

  1. informal.
    the wife or girlfriend of a famous sportsman
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

wag

4

/ wæɡ /

verb

  1. to move or cause to move rapidly and repeatedly from side to side or up and down
  2. to move (the tongue) or (of the tongue) to be moved rapidly in talking, esp in idle gossip
  3. to move (the finger) or (of the finger) to be moved from side to side, in or as in admonition
  4. slang.
    to play truant (esp in the phrase wag it )
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the act or an instance of wagging
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈwaggishness, noun
  • ˈwaggishly, adverb
  • ˈwaggish, adjective
  • ˈwaggery, noun
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Other Words From

  • wagger noun
  • un·wagged adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of wag1

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English waggen, from Old Norse vaga “to sway,” or from vagga “cradle”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of wag1

C16: of uncertain origin

Origin of wag2

C21: a back formation from an acronym for w ( ives ) a ( nd ) g ( irlfriends )

Origin of wag3

C13: from Old English wagian to shake; compare Old Norse vagga cradle
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Idioms and Phrases

see tail wagging the dog ; tongues wag .
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Example Sentences

One wag joked that Liberty was the only university where football players and nerds got the same amount of sex.

“The first cover-up of the de Blasio administration,” one wag joked.

One wag tweeted: “I saved millions of lives … by getting people to not vote for your father.”

Rather, this tiny tail of the car industry is starting to wag the dog.

And ultimately, Kumar said, “efforts at message discipline tend not to work” and tongues, at long last, begin to wag.

"I bought them boots to wear only when I go into genteel society," said one of the codfish tribe, to a wag, the other day.

While a one-step was in full swing some would-be wag suddenly turned off all the lights.

A distinguished wag about town says, the head coverings the ladies wear now-a-days, are barefaced false hoods.

If all the world did not wag his way, so much the worse for cold-blooded mercenary superfluous beings.

The fellow she came with is Delmet the architect—a great wag—lazy, but full of fun—and genius.

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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.

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