_wagen_; A.S. _waegn_, Eng., _wain_.] WAGTAIL, wag't[=a]l, _n._ any bird of the family _Motacillidae_, so named from their constant wagging of the tail--the pipits or titlarks, &c.: (_Shak._) a pert person.
WAHABEE, WAHABAI, wa-ha'b[=e], _n._ one of a sect of Puritan Moslems founded in Central Arabia about 1760 by Abd-el-_Wahhab_ (1691-1787), whose aim was to restore primitive Mohammedanism--also WAHa'BITE.--_n._ WAHa'BIISM, the doctrine and practices of the Wahabis.
WAHOO, wa-h[=oo]', _n._ the burning bush, a richly ornamental shrub: the bear-berry, which yields cascara sagrada: the winged elm, with valuable hard-grained wood.
WAID, WAIDE. Old spellings of _weighed_.
WAIF, w[=a]f, _n._ a stray article: anything found astray without an owner: a worthless wanderer.--_adj._ vagabond, worthless. [O. Fr. _waif_, _wef_--Ice. _veif_, any flapping or waving thing.]
WAIFT, w[=a]ft, _n._ (_Spens._) a waif.
WAIL, w[=a]l, _v.i._ to lament or sorrow audibly.--_v.t._ to bemoan: to grieve over.--_n._ a cry of woe: loud weeping.--_n._ WAIL'ER.--_adj._ WAIL'FUL, sorrowful, mournful.--_n._ WAIL'ING.--_adv._ WAIL'INGLY. [M. E.
_weilen_--Ice. _vaela_, _vala_, to wail--_vae_, _vei_, woe.]
WAIN, w[=a]n, _n._ a wagon.--_v.t._ (_rare_) to carry.--_ns._ WAIN'AGE, the team and implements necessary for the cultivation of land; WAIN'-ROPE, a rope for binding a load on a wain or wagon; WAIN'WRIGHT, a wagon-maker.--THE LESSER WAIN, the constellation Ursa Minor. [A.S. _waegen_, _waen_--_wegen_, to carry; cf. Ger. _wagen_, L. _veh[)e]re_.]
WAINSCOT, w[=a]n'skot, _n._ the panelled boards on the walls of apartments: a collector's name for certain noctuoid moths.--_v.t._ to line with, or as if with, boards or panels.--_ns._ WAIN'SCOTING, WAIN'SCOTTING, the act of lining with boards or panels: materials for making a wainscot. [Orig. perh.
wood used for a partition in a wagon--Dut. _wagenschot_, oakwood, beechwood--_wagen_, wagon, _schot_, partition. Skeat explains as a corr. of Old Dut. _waegheschot_, wall-hoarding, from Old Dut. _waeg_, a wall, _schot_, a partition.]
WAIST, w[=a]st, _n._ the smallest part of the human trunk, between the ribs and the hips: the bodice of a woman's dress: the middle part, as of a ship, of a musical instrument--(_Shak._) of a period of time; (_Shak._) something that surrounds.--_ns._ WAIST'-ANCHOR, an anchor stowed in the waist of a ship; WAIST'BAND, the band or part of a garment which encircles the waist; WAIST'BELT, a belt for the waist; WAIST'BOAT, a boat carried in the waist of a vessel; WAIST'CLOTH, a piece of cloth worn around the waist, and hanging below it, in India; WAIST'COAT, a short coat worn immediately under the coat, and fitting the waist tightly; WAISTCOATEER' (_obs._), a strumpet; WAIST'COATING, material for men's waistcoats, usually of a fancy pattern and containing silk.--_adjs._ WAIST'-DEEP, -HIGH, as deep, high, as to reach up to the waist.--_n._ WAIST'ER, a green-hand on a whaler: an old man-of-war's-man who has not risen. [A.S. _waext_, growth (Ice. _voxtr_); conn, with _waestme_, growth, _weaxen_, to grow.]
WAIT, w[=a]t, _v.i._ to stay in expectation (with _for_): to remain: to attend (with _on_): to follow: to lie in ambush.--_v.t._ to stay for: to await: (_coll._) to defer: (_obs._) to accompany.--_n._ ambush, now used only in such phrases as 'to lie in wait,' 'to lay wait:' the: act of waiting or expecting: delay: (_pl._) itinerant musicians, originally watchmen, who welcome-in Christmas.--_ns._ WAIT'ER, one who waits: an attending servant: a salver or tray: a custom-house officer: (_obs._) a watchman; WAIT'ERAGE, service; WAIT'ERING, the employment of a waiter; WAIT'ING, act of waiting: attendance.--_adv._ WAIT'INGLY.--_ns._ WAIT'ING-MAID, -WOM'AN, a female attendant; WAIT'ING-ROOM, a room for the convenience of persons waiting; WAIT'ING-VASS'AL (_Shak._), an attendant; WAIT'RESS, a female waiter.--WAIT ATTENDANCE (_Shak._), to remain in attendance; WAIT UPON, ON, to call upon, visit: to accompany, to be in the service of: (_B._) to look toward, to attend to, do the bidding of.--LIE IN WAIT, to be in hiding ready for attack or surprise.--LORDS, or GROOMS, IN WAITING, certain officers in the Lord Chamberlain's department of the royal household; MINORITY WAITER, a waiter out of employment, as a political minority is out of office. [O. Fr. _waiter_ (Fr. _guetter_), to watch, attend--_waite_, a sentinel--Old High Ger. _wahta_ (Ger. _wacht_), a watchman; cog. with A.S. _wacan_, to watch.]
WAIVE, w[=a]v, _v.t._ to relinquish for the present: to give up claim to: not to insist on a right or claim.--_n._ WAI'VER, the act of waiving: renouncement of a claim: process by which a woman was outlawed. [O. Fr.
_guever_, to refuse, resign--perh. Ice. _veifa_, to move to and fro; cf. L.
_vibr[=a]re_.]
WAIVODE, WAIWODE, WAIWODESHIP. Same as VOIVODE, &c.
WAKE, w[=a]k, _v.i._ to cease from sleep: to lie awake: (_B._) to watch: to be roused up, active, or vigilant: to return to life: (_Shak._) to hold a late revel: to keep vigil.--_v.t._ to rouse from sleep: to keep vigil over: to excite, disturb: to reanimate:--_pa.t._ and _pa.p._ waked or woke.--_n._ act of waking: feast of the dedication of a church, formerly kept by watching all night: sitting up of persons with a corpse.--_adj._ WAKE'FUL, being awake: indisposed to sleep: vigilant.--_adv._ WAKE'FULLY.--_n._ WAKE'FULNESS.--_v.t._ and _v.i._ W[=A]'KEN, to wake or awake: to be awake.--_ns._ WAKE'NER, one who or that which wakens; WAKE'NING, act of one who wakens; (Scots law) revival of an action; W[=A]'KER, one who wakes.--_adj._ WAKE'RIFE (_Scot._), wakeful.--_ns._ WAKE'-TIME, time during which one is awake; W[=A]'KING.--_adj._ being awake: rousing from sleep: passed in the waking state. [A.S. _wacan_, to be born, also _wacian_, to waken (cf. _weccan_, Ger. _wecken_). Cf. _Wait_, _Watch_.]
WAKE, w[=a]k, _n._ the streak of smooth water left in the track of a ship: hence (_fig._) 'in the wake of,' in the train of, immediately after. [Ice.
_vok_, a hole in the ice, _vokr_, moist. The root is seen in L.
_hum[=e]re_, to be moist, Gr. _hugros_, moist.]
WAKE-ROBIN, w[=a]k'-rob'in, _n._ the cuckoo-pint, _Arum maculatum_: in America, any species of trillium.
WALDENSES, wol-den's[=e]z, _n.pl._ a famous Christian community of austere morality and devotion to the simplicity of the Gospel, which originally grew out of an anti-sacerdotal movement originated by Peter _Waldo_ of Lyons in the second half of the 12th century--long cruelly persecuted, but still flourishing in the valleys of the Cottian Alps.--_adj._ and _n._ WALDEN'SIAN.
WALDGRAVE, wold'gr[=a]v, _n._ an old German title of nobility, originally a head forest-ranger. [Ger. _waldgraf_.]
WALDHORN, wold'horn, _n._ a hunting-horn, a French horn without valves.
[Ger.]
WALE, w[=a]l, _n._ a raised streak left by a stripe: a ridge on the surface of cloth: a plank all along the outer timbers on a ship's side.--_v.t._ to mark with wales.--_n._ W[=A]'LER, one who chastises severely. [A.S. _walu_, the mark of a stripe or blow; Ice. _volr_, a rod.]
WALE, w[=a]l, _n._ (_Scot._) the choice or pick of anything.--_v.t._ to choose. [Ice. _val_, choice; Ger. _wahl_, choice; from the root of _will_.]
WALER, w[=a]'l[.e]r, _n._ in India, a horse imported from New South _Wales_, or from Australia generally.
WALHALLA, wal-hal'la, _n._ Same as VALHALLA.
WALK, wawk, _v.i._ to move along leisurely on foot with alternate steps: to pace: to travel on foot: to conduct one's self: to act or behave: to live: to be guided by: (_coll._) to move off, depart: to be stirring, move about, go restlessly about (as of a ghost).--_v.t._ to pass through or upon: to cause to walk.--_n._ act or manner of walking: gait: that in or through which one walks: distance walked over: place for walking, promenade: place for animals to exercise: path: high pasture-ground: conduct: course of life, sphere of action, a hawker's district or round: (_obs._) a hunting-ground: (_pl._) grounds, park (_obs._).--_adj._ WALK'ABLE, fit for walking.--_ns._ WALK'-AROUND', a dancing performance by negroes in which a large circle is described, also the music for such; WALK'ER, one who walks: (_law_) a forester: one who trains and walks young hounds: a gressorial bird; WALK'ING, the verbal noun of walk: pedestrianism; WALK'ING-BEAM, in a vertical engine, a horizontal beam, usually trussed, that transmits power to the crankshaft through the connecting-rod; WALK'ING DRESS, a dress for the street or for walking; WALK'ING-FAN, a large fan used out of doors to protect the face from the sun; WALK'ING-LEAF, a leaf-insect; WALK'ING-STICK, -CANE, -STAFF, a stick, cane, or staff used in walking; WALK'ING-STICK, also a sort of long, slender-bodied bug; WALK'ING-TOAD, a natterjack; WALK'-[=O]'VER, a race where one competitor appears, who has to cover the course to be entitled to the prize: an easy victory.--WALK ABOUT, a former order of an officer to a sentry, waiving the customary salute; WALK AWAY FROM, to distance easily; WALK'ER! a slang interjection of incredulity (also HOOKEY WALKER!); WALKING GENTLEMAN, LADY, a gentleman, lady, who plays ornamental but unimportant parts on the stage; WALK INTO (_coll._), to beat: to storm at: to eat heartily of; WALK ONE'S CHALKS, to quit, go away without ceremony; WALK TALL, to behave haughtily; WALK THE CHALK, CHALK-MARK, to keep a correct course in manners or morals; WALK THE HOSPITALS, to be a student under clinical instruction at a general hospital or infirmary; WALK WITH, to attend as a sweetheart.--HEEL-AND-TOE WALK, a mode of walking in which the heel of one foot is put on the ground before the toe of the other leaves it. [A.S. _wealcan_, to roll, turn; cog. with Ger. _walken_, to full cloth.]
WALKING, wawk'ing, _n._ the act or process of fulling cloth.--_n._ WALK'MILL, a fulling-mill.
WALKYR, wol'kir. Same as VALKYR.
WALL, wawl, _n._ an erection of brick, stone, &c. for a fence or security: the side of a building: (_fig._) defence, means of security: in mining, one of the surfaces of rock enclosing the lode: (_anat._) a paries or containing structure or part of the body: (_pl._) fortifications.--_v.t._ to enclose with, or as with, a wall: to defend with walls: to hinder as by a wall.--_n._ WALL'-CLOCK, a clock hung on a walk.--_adj._ WALLED, fortified.--_ns._ WALL'ER, one who builds walls; WALL'-FLOWER, a plant with fragrant yellow flowers, found on old walls: a woman at a ball who keeps her seat, presumably for want of a partner--applied sometimes to men; WALL'-FRUIT, fruit growing on a wall; WALL'ING, walls collectively: materials for walls; WALL'-KNOT, a nautical method of tying the end of a rope.--_adj._ WALL'-LESS.--_ns._ WALL'-LIZ'ARD, -NEWT, a gecko; WALL'-MOSS, the yellow wall-lichen: the stone-crop; WALL'-PAINT'ING, the decoration of walls with ornamental painted designs; WALL'-P[=A]'PER, paper usually coloured and decorated, for pasting on the walls of a room; WALL'-PIECE, a gun mounted on a wall; WALL'-PLATE, a horizontal piece of timber on a wall, under the ends of joists, &c.; WALL'-SPACE (_archit._), a plain expanse of wall; WALL'-SPRING, a spring of water running between stratified rocks; WALL'-TOW'ER, a tower built into and forming part of a line of fortification or a fortified city-wall; WALL'-TREE, a tree trained against a wall; WALL'-WORT, the European dwarf elder; HANG'ING-WALL, that wall of the vein which is over the miner's head while working, the opposite wall being called the FOOT'-WALL.--WALL A ROPE, to make a wall-knot on the end of a rope.--DRIVE TO THE WALL, to push to extremities; GO TO THE WALL, to be hard pressed: to be pushed to extremes; HANG BY THE WALL, to hang up neglected: to remain unused; PUSH, or THRUST, TO THE WALL, to force to give place; THE WALL, the right of taking the side of the road near the wall when encountering another person, as in the phrase to GIVE, or TAKE, THE WALL. [A.S. _weall_, _wall_; Ger. _wall_, both from L. _vallum_, a rampart--_vallus_, a stake.]
WALLA, WALLAH, wol'a, _n._ a worker, agent: fellow.--COMPETITION WALLAH, a term applied in Anglo-Indian colloquial speech to a member of the Civil Service who obtained appointment by the competitive system instituted in 1856. [Yule explains _w[=a]l[=a]_ as a Hindi adjectival affix, corresponding in a general way to the Latin _-arius_. Its usual employment as affix to a substantive makes it frequently denote agent, doer, keeper, owner, &c.]
WALLABA, wol'a-ba, _n._ a Guiana tree with winged leaves and streaked reddish wood.
WALLABY, wol'ab-i, _n._ a small kangaroo.--ON THE WALLABY, ON THE WALLABY TRACK, out of employment, a slang Australian phrase derived from the shy habits of the kangaroo.
WALLACHIAN, wal-[=a]'ki-an, _adj._ of or pertaining to _Wallachia_, a Danubian principality, since 1878 forming with Moldavia the kingdom of Roumania.--_ns._ WALL'ACH, WALL'ACK, a native or inhabitant of WALLACHIA.
[From a Slavonic term represented by Pol. _Wloch_, an Italian, _Woloch_, a Wallach; all from Old High Ger. _walh_ (A.S. _wealh_), a foreigner.]
WALLET, wol'et, _n._ a bag for carrying necessaries on a journey: a knapsack: a pocket-book: a bag for tools: (_Shak._) anything protuberant.
[M. E. _walet_, possibly from _watel_, a bag.]
WALL-EYE, wawl'-[=i], _n._ an eye in which the white part is very large: the popular name for the disease of the eye called glaucoma.--_adj._ WALL'-EYED, very light gray in the eyes, esp. of horses: (_Shak._) glaring, fierce. [The adj. is the earlier, prob. from Ice. _vald-eygthr_--_vagl_, a disease of the eye, and _eygthr_, eyed--_auga_, an eye.]
WALLOON, wal'[=oo]n, _adj._ of or pertaining to a population of mixed Celtic and Romanic stock akin to the French, occupying the tract along the frontiers of the Teutonic-speaking territory in the South Netherlands, from Dunkirk to Malmedy.--_n._ a native or inhabitant of that part of Flanders: the language of the Walloons, a patois or popular dialect of northern French, with a considerable infusion both of Old Celtic and Low German elements. [O. Fr. _Wallon_--Late L. _Wallus_--L. _Gallus_, a Gaul; cog.
with _Gael_, _Welsh_, _Wallachian_, A.S. _wealh_, a foreigner.]
WALLOP, wol'op, _v.i._ (_dial._) to boil and bubble: to move clumsily, to waddle about, to kick about as one does for a little when hung up by the neck--also _n._ [O. Fr. _galoper_, to boil, gallop--Old Flem. _walop_, a gallop; perh. traceable to Old. Flem. _wallen_ (A.S. _weallan_), to boil.]
WALLOP, wol'op, _v.t._ (_slang_) to beat, flog.--_n._ a blow.--_ns._ WALL'OPER, one that wallops; WALL'OPING, a thrashing.--_adj._ (_slang_) great, bouncing. [Orig. dubious; most prob. a particular use of preceding word.]
WALLOW, wol'[=o], _v.i._ to roll about, as in mire: to live in filth or gross vice.--_n._ the place an animal wallows in.--_n._ WALL'OWER. [A.S.
_wealwian_--L. _volv[)e]re_.]
WALLOW, wol'[=o], _v.i._ (_prov._) to fade away.
WALLSEND, wawlz'end, _n._ a kind of coal originally dug at _Wallsend_ on the Tyne.
WALNUT, wawl'nut, _n._ a genus (_Juglans_) comprising seven or eight species of beautiful trees of natural order _Juglandaceae_--the wood of the common walnut is much used for furniture and gunstocks; its ripe fruit is one of the best of nuts, and yields an oil used by artists, &c.--BLACK WALNUT, a North American walnut, the timber of which is more valuable than that of common walnut, though the fruit is inferior. [A.S. _wealh_, foreign, _hnut_, a nut; Ger. _wallnuss_.]
WALPURGIS NIGHT, val-p[=oo]r'gis n[=i]t, the night before the first of May, during which German witches rode on broomsticks and he-goats to hold revel with their master the devil at the ancient places of sacrifice, esp. the Brocken in the Harz Mountains. [So called with reference to the day of St _Walpurga_, abbess of Heidenheim, who died about 778.]
WALRUS, wol'rus, _n._ a genus of aquatic, web-footed (pinniped) Carnivores, representative of a family (_Trichechidae_) intermediate between the sea-lions and the seals--the upper canine teeth developed into enormous tusks--also called the _Morse_ or the Seahorse. [Dut.,--Sw. _vallross_ (Ice. _hross-hvalr_)--_vall_, a whale, Ice. _hross_, a horse.]
WALTY, wol'ti, _adj._ (_naut._) inclined to lean or roll over.
WALTZ, wawlts, _n._ a German national dance performed by two persons with a rapid whirling motion, introduced into England in 1813: the music for such.--_v.i._ to dance a waltz: (_slang_) to move trippingly.--_ns._ WALTZ'ER; WALTZ'ING. [Ger. _walzer_--_walzen_, to roll.]
WALY, WALIE, wa'li, _adj._ (_Scot._) beautiful: strong, large. [Conn. with _wale_, choice, and perh. influenced by A. S. _welig_, rich--_wel_, well.]