WAFT

pennant, pennon, streamer, waft

(noun) a long flag; often tapering

waft

(verb) be driven or carried along, as by the air; “Sounds wafted into the room”

waft

(verb) blow gently; “A breeze wafted through the door”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

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

(ergative) To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.

(intransitive) To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.

To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.

Noun

waft (plural wafts)

A light breeze.

Something (such as an odor or scent like a perfume) that is carried through the air.

(nautical) A flag used to indicate wind direction or, with a knot tied in the center, as a signal; a waif, a wheft.

Source: Wiktionary


Waft, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wafted; p. pr. & vb. n. Wafting.] Etym: [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 Shak.

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.

Note: This verb is regular; but waft was formerly somwafted.

Waft, v. i.

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

Waft, n.

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.)

Definition: A knot, or stop, in the middle of a flag. [Written also wheft.]

Note: 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."

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

13 June 2025

AIRPLANE

(noun) an aircraft that has a fixed wing and is powered by propellers or jets; “the flight was delayed due to trouble with the airplane”


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Coffee Trivia

An article published in Harvard Men’s Health Watch in 2012 shows heavy coffee drinkers live longer. The researchers examined data from 400,000 people and found out that men who drank six or more coffee cups per day had a 10% lower death rate.

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