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Webster 1913 Edition


Waft

Waft

,
Verb.
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?
Shakespeare
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.
☞ This verb is regular; but waft was formerly som[GREEK]times used, as by Shakespeare, instead of wafted.

Waft

,
Verb.
I.
To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.
And now the shouts
waft
near the citadel.
Dryden.

Waft

,
Noun.
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
.]
☞ 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 1828 Edition


Waft

WAFT

, v.t.
1.
To bear through a fluid or bouyant medium; to convey through water or air; as, a balloon was wafted over the channel.
Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul, and waft a sigh from Indus to the pole.
2.
To convey; as ships.
3.
To bouy; to cause to float; to keep from sinking.
4.
To beckon; to give notice by something in motion. [Not in use.]
[This verb is regular. But waft was formerly used by some writers for wafted.]

WAFT

,
Verb.
I.
To float; to be moved or to pass in a bouyant medium.
And now the shouts waft near the citadel.

WAFT

,
Noun.
A floating body; also, a signal displayed from a ships stern, by hoisting an ensign furled in a roll, to the head of the staff.

Definition 2024


waft

waft

English

Autumn leaves wafting in the breeze

Verb

waft (third-person singular simple present wafts, present participle wafting, simple past and past participle wafted)

  1. (ergative) To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.
    A breeze came in through the open window and wafted her sensuous perfume into my eager nostrils.
  2. (intransitive) To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.
    • 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe, London: [s.n.], OCLC 497010563, Act III, scene i; republished as “Aureng-Zebe, a Tragedy”, in Walter Scott, editor, The Works of John Dryden, now First Collected in Eighteen Volumes. Illustrated with Notes, Historical, Critical, and Explanatory, and a Life of the Author, by Walter Scott, Esq., volume V, London: Printed for William Miller, Albemarle Street, by James Ballantyne and Co. Edinburgh, 1808, OCLC 317070632, page 226:
      Unhappy Aureng-Zebe is in disgrace; / And your Morat, proclaimed the successor, / Is called, to awe the city with his power. / Those trumpets his triumphant entry tell, / And now the shouts waft near the citadel.
  3. To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.

Translations

Noun

waft (plural wafts)

  1. A light breeze.
  2. Something (such as an odor or scent like a perfume) that is carried through the air.
    • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, London: Methuen, ISBN 978-0-416-16980-5:
      Meanwhile, the wafts from his old home pleaded, whispered, conjured, and finally claimed him imperiously.
    • 2010 September, “The SLM Calendar”, in St. Louis Magazine, volume 16, number 9, St. Louis, Mo.: Hartmann Pub. Co., ISSN 1090-5723, page 170:
      Patrol Magazine says of this Oxford, Miss., band: "Guitars are responsible for every noise in Colour Revolt's mix—not a single note of piano, waft of synthesizer, or evidence of electronic tampering are to be found. []"
  3. (nautical) A flag used to indicate wind direction or, with a knot tied in the center, as a signal; a waif, a wheft.

Translations