wafer

[ wey-fer ]

noun

1. a thin, crisp cake or biscuit, often sweetened and flavored.
2. a thin disk of unleavened bread, used in the Eucharist, as in the Roman Catholic Church.
3. a thin disk of dried paste, gelatin, adhesive paper, or the like, used for sealing letters, attaching papers, etc.
4. Medicine/Medical. a thin sheet of dry paste or the like, used to enclose a powder to be swallowed.
5. any small, thin disk, as a washer or piece of insulation.
6. Electronics. a thin slice of semiconductor used as a base material on which single transistors or integrated-circuit components are formed.

verb (used with object)

1. to seal, close, or attach by means of a wafer or wafers:

   to wafer a letter.

wafer

/ ˈweɪfə /

noun

1. a thin crisp sweetened biscuit with different flavourings, served with ice cream, etc
2. Christianity a thin disc of unleavened bread used in the Eucharist as celebrated by the Western Church
3. pharmacol an envelope of rice paper enclosing a medicament
4. electronics a large single crystal of semiconductor material, such as silicon, on which numerous integrated circuits are manufactured and then separated
5. a small thin disc of adhesive material used to seal letters, documents, etc

verb

1. tr to seal, fasten, or attach with a wafer

Derived Forms

• ˈwafer-ˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• wafer·like wafer·y adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of wafer¹

1350–1400; Middle English wafre < Middle Dutch wafer, variant of wafel waffle ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of wafer¹

C14: from Old Northern French waufre, from Middle Low German wāfel; related to waffle ¹

Example Sentences

Put aside a few chocolate wafers from making your crust, and consider it your bonus serving for making the pie!

From Salon

Earlier that morning, Father Frank Cancro, 74, the National Circus Chaplain, laid out water, wine, communion wafers and a cross on a folding table adorned with a black tablecloth.

From Los Angeles Times

Zeiss’s EUV mirrors can reflect light at very small wavelengths which enables image clarity at a tiny scale, so more and more transistors can be printed on the same area of silicon wafer.

From BBC

Her Island Shrimp ratio was for every pound of shrimp, you needed a pound of Vidalias, sliced wafer thin in rounds or half moons, according to how large or small the onion.

From Salon

When she returned to a later service and once again tried to receive Communion, Rodriguez said she pushed him and grabbed a handful of Communion wafers in a tray he was holding.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• biscuit
• cake
• candy
• cookie
• cracker