Waves

American

[weyvz] / weɪvz /

Or WAVES

noun

(used with a singular or plural verb)

the Women's Reserve of the U.S. Naval Reserve, the distinct force of women enlistees in the U.S. Navy, organized during World War II.

WAVES British

/ weɪvz /

acronym

Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service; the women's reserve of the US navy

"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

Etymology

Origin of Waves

1942; W(omen) A(ccepted for) V(olunteer) E(mergency) S(ervice)

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.

Waves crash along the Palm Beach shoreline and a drone shot swoops over the grounds of Mar-a-Lago before landing at a pair of stilettos donned by Melania Trump.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 31, 2026

The Waves gained most of their first-half points from USC fouls.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 28, 2025

The arrest followed a US extradition request received by Guyana on Thursday, according to the Demerara Waves news outlet.

From Barron's • Nov. 1, 2025

Newquay's Concrete Waves skatepark, with its tiled edges and concrete coping, is "mellow facsimile", said Mr Bishop.

From BBC • Sep. 21, 2025

I try to read my downloaded version of The Waves, and when that isn’t any better, I think, It's the computer.

From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023