WAG • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Wag

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noun

Wag n.

The act of wagging; a shake; as, a wag of the head. (Colloq.)

A man full of sport and humor; a ludicrous fellow; a humorist; a wit; a joker. "We wink at wags when they offend." "A counselor never pleaded without a piece of pack thread in his hand, which he used to twist about a finger all the while he was speaking; the wags used to call it the thread of his discourse."

verb

Wag v. t. (past & past part. wagged; pres. part. wagging) To move one way and the other with quick turns; to shake to and fro; to move vibratingly; to cause to vibrate, as a part of the body; as, to wag the head. "No discerner durst wag his tongue in censure." "Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head." Note: Wag expresses specifically the motion of the head and body used in buffoonery, mirth, derision, sport, and mockery.

Wag v. i.

To move one way and the other; to be shaken to and fro; to vibrate. "The resty sieve wagged ne'er the more."

To be in action or motion; to move; to get along; to progress; to stir. (Colloq.) ""Thus we may see," quoth he, "how the world wags.""

To go; to depart; to pack oft. (R.) "I will provoke him to 't, or let him wag."

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Etymology of 'Wag'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Wag" Quotes from Famous Books

... and his daughters were lined up on the warm side of the lean-to, shading their faces from the sun. When the comer was so near that they could see he was strange to them, Lancaster gave a peremptory wag of the head, and the two girls disappeared around a corner. Their father stayed on watch, his jaws working ...

— The Plow-Woman • Eleanor Gates

... board; and Dicky himself gained many friends by the feeling way in which he spoke of it. I was very soon seated alongside him in the berth, and our tongues were rattling away as fast as they could wag. ...

— Salt Water - The Sea Life and Adventures of Neil D'Arcy the Midshipman • W. H. G. Kingston

... mystery ship was back over the San Francisco area and those people who had maintained that people were being fooled by a wag in a balloon became believers when the object was seen ...

— The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects • Edward Ruppelt

... exhilarating; and as the fire begins to crackle again in the stove, we sit down to the tea-urn, while, chilled with the night cold, our black dog, Polkan, will look in at us through the window, and wag his tail with a cheerful air. Presently, a peasant will pass the window in his cart bound for the forest to cut firewood, and the whole party will feel merry and contented together. Abundant grain lies stored in the byres, and great stacks of wheat are glowing ...

— Poor Folk • Fyodor Dostoyevsky

... taking pity on the animal, placed some bread in his hat and carried it to him. It happened that when he turned out the bread the root which the little devil had given him fell out also. The old dog swallowed it with the bread and was almost instantly cured, when he jumped up and began to wag his tail as an expression of joy. Ivan's father and mother, seeing the dog cured so quickly, asked by what means he ...

— The Kreutzer Sonata and Other Stories • Leo Tolstoy

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