English

A waffle (pastry).

Noun

waffle ‎(plural waffles)

1. (countable) A flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern.

   The brunch was waffles with strawberries and whipped cream.

2. (countable, Britain) A potato waffle, a savoury flat potato cake with the same kind of grid pattern.

Derived terms

• waffled
• waffle iron

Translations

External links

• waffle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Verb

waffle ‎(third-person singular simple present waffles, present participle waffling, simple past and past participle waffled)

1. To smash.
   • 1995, Peter Allen David, The Incredible Hulk: What savage beast:

     The cab was waffled in between the two, Marsh never having a prayer or even a full comprehension of what happened to him. He was crushed flat, never even hearing the deafening screech of metal.

   • 1997, Bill Conlin, Kevin Kerrane (editor), "Batting cleanup, Bill Conlin", page 121:

     These were not the Cowboys who were waffled, 45-14, here at mid-season. They came prepared to play a championship football game, with an ultra-conservative game plan suited to the horrendous turf conditions, and came close to pulling it off [...]

   • 2005, Shawn Michaels, with Aaron Feigenbaum, Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story, Page 47:

     Then I waffled him and knocked him down. Why I cut myself open with the razor, I'm not completely sure. I was like the idiot in a bar who gets all worked up and smashes a bottle over his head [...]

   • 2006, Gordon Forbes, Tales from the Eagles Sideline (updated edition), page 2:

     Bednarik, however, says the play became legendary only because of the circumstances. " I did it [...] to the top honcho. He just happened to be there and the pass was thrown to him. I waffled him cleanly." [...] "He just cold-cocked Frank," said linebacker Bob Pellegrini, whose injury sent Bednarik into the game to play defense.

Etymology 2

From the Scots waffle, "to waver, to flutter", a variation of the Scots waff ("to flutter, to wave", related to wave), with the suffix -le added. Alternatively, perhaps derived from waff, an imitation of a dog's (unintelligible and thus meaningless) yelp (cf woof). Also note Old English wæflian ‎(“to talk foolishly”).

Noun

waffle ‎(uncountable)

1. (uncountable) Speech or writing that is vague, pretentious or evasive.

   This interesting point seems to get lost a little within a lot of self-important waffle.

Synonyms

• (vague, pretentious or evasive talk): see Wikisaurus:chatter

Translations

Verb

waffle ‎(third-person singular simple present waffles, present participle waffling, simple past and past participle waffled)

1. (of birds) To move in a side-to-side motion and descend (lose altitude) before landing. Cf wiffle, whiffle.

   The geese waffled as they approached the water.

2. To speak or write vaguely and evasively.
   • 1970, John Galloway, The Gulf of Tonkin resolution, page 115:

     Again the answer was "waffled," for this did not say that no air units had been alerted. Only that none had been "identified." Moreover, the reply concerned air "unit[s]" as opposed to "air craft".

3. To speak or write at length without any clear point or aim.
   • 1976 Tony Hatch, So you want to be in the music business, Everest Books, p68

     Unless you have a great line in gags or repartee don't waffle on aimlessly to your audience, or make in-jokes among yourselves, the band or the compere/DJ.

   • 1984 "Apiary Antics- No.5," British bee journal, Volumes 112-113, p68

     Before getting down to the nitty gritty of beekeeping, most contributors to BBJ like to waffle on for a bit about the weather, the state of their garden or something equally inconsequential.

   • 2005 Bill Condon, No Worries, Univ. of Queensland Press, p78

     She waffled on for ages. Usually I'd say something smart or make it obvious that I wasn't interested and couldn't be bothered listening.

   • 2006 Carl Storm, A Mighty Fine Way to Live and Die, Backstrap Ltd, p8

     The whole thing ended suddenly when the hotel manager arrived. He waffled on for a bit; this settled everyone down.

4. To vacillate.

   He waffles between loving the movie and hating it, depending on who's asking.

5. (transitive) To rotate (one's hand) back and forth in a gesture of vacillation or ambivalence.
   • 2007, Michael Koryta, Sorrow’s Anthem, Macmillan, ISBN 978-0-312-93660-0, page 146:

     “ […] You get anything useful on the background checks?” ¶ He waffled his hand. “Nothing like what you brought back, but still some interesting notes. […] ”

Synonyms

• (vacillate): blow hot and cold
• (speak or write vaguely and evasively): beat around the bush

Translations

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowing from English waffle.

Noun

waffle m (plural waffles)

1. waffle (type of flat pastry)