wag
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Wag \Wag\, v. i.
1. To move one way and the other; to be shaken to and fro; to
vibrate.
[1913 Webster]
The resty sieve wagged ne'er the more. --Dryden.
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2. To be in action or motion; to move; to get along; to
progress; to stir. [Colloq.]
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"Thus we may see," quoth he, "how the world wags."
--Shak.
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3. To go; to depart; to pack oft. [R.]
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I will provoke him to 't, or let him wag. --Shak.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Wag \Wag\, n. [From {Wag}, v.]
[1913 Webster]
1. The act of wagging; a shake; as, a wag of the head.
[Colloq.]
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2. [Perhaps shortened from wag-halter a rogue.] A man full of
sport and humor; a ludicrous fellow; a humorist; a wit; a
joker.
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We wink at wags when they offend. --Dryden.
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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. --Addison.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Wag \Wag\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Wagged}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Wagging}.] [OE. waggen; probably of Scand. origin; cf. Sw.
vagga to rock a cradle, vagga cradle, Icel. vagga, Dan.
vugge; akin to AS. wagian to move, wag, wegan to bear, carry,
G. & D. bewegen to move, and E. weigh. [root]136. See
{Weigh}.]
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.
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No discerner durst wag his tongue in censure. --Shak.
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Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and
wag his head. --Jer. xviii.
16.
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Note: Wag expresses specifically the motion of the head and
body used in buffoonery, mirth, derision, sport, and
mockery.
[1913 Webster]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
114 Moby Thesaurus words for "wag":
bad boy, banana, beat, bob, bobble, booger, brandish, buffoon,
bugger, burlesquer, card, careen, caricaturist, clown, coggle,
comedian, comic, cutup, dangle, devil, droll, elf, enfant terrible,
epigrammatist, farceur, flap, flaunt, float, flourish, fluctuate,
flutter, fly, funmaker, funnyman, gag writer, gagman, gagster,
hood, hoodlum, hooligan, humorist, imp, ironist, jester, joker,
jokesmith, jokester, kidder, knave, lampooner, lash, librate,
little devil, little monkey, little rascal, lurch, madcap, minx,
mischief, mischief-maker, nutate, oscillate, parodist, pendulate,
pitch, pixie, practical joker, prankster, puck, punner, punster,
quipster, rapscallion, rascal, reel, reparteeist, resonate, rock,
rogue, roll, rowdy, ruffian, satirist, scamp, scapegrace, shake,
show-off, squirm, swag, sway, swing, swinging, switch, take, toss,
twist and turn, twitch, undulate, vacillate, vibrate, waggle,
wagwit, wave, waver, wield, wiggle, wigwag, wisecracker, wit,
witling, wobble, wriggle, writhe, zany
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