wagging
Variant of wag
wag
definition
wag (wag)
transitive verb wagged, wagging wag′·ging
- to cause (something fastened or held at one end) to move rapidly and repeatedly back and forth, from side to side, or up and down the dog wagged his tail
- to shake (a finger) or nod (the head), as in summoning, reproving, etc.
- to move (the tongue) in talking, esp. in idle or malicious gossip
Etymology: ME waggen, prob. < ON vaga, to move back and forth, rock, akin to OE wagian, to shake, totter < IE base *weĝh-, to move > L vehere, to carry
intransitive verb
- to move rapidly and repeatedly back and forth, from side to side, or up and down: said as of a part of the body
- to keep moving in talk, esp. in idle or malicious gossip: said of the tongue
- to walk or move with a swaying motion; waddle
noun
the act or an instance of wagging
Related Forms:
- wagger wag′·ger noun
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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