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

The Gunners’ draw with Liverpool helped only Manchester City, now established in the familiar position as leaders, and with margins for error wafer thin when trying to overhaul Pep Guardiola’s sky blue machine, a five-point gap to the top is already reaching the point where it cannot be allowed to get any wider.

From BBC

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

Royer was relentless at the breakdown, hitting more than 20 defensive rucks and winning five turnovers in total – the joint most of any player alongside Ireland's Aoife Wafer and France's Emeline Gros.

From BBC

Wafer is fast becoming one of the first names on the Ireland team sheet, with an impressive WXV1 campaign further increasing her stock.

From BBC

Ireland reduced their arrears six minutes into the second half when Aoife Wafer bulldozed her way through a number of Canadian defenders and O'Brien's subsequent cross-field kick was collected by Considine, who dotted down in the corner.

From BBC

Related Words

• biscuit
• cake
• candy
• cookie
• cracker