*wad*

adv. [ For now on (OE. an) days. See A-, 1. ] In these days; at the present time. [ 1913 Webster ]

What men of spirit, nowadays,
Come to give sober judgment of new plays? Garrick. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Probably fr. AS. swe&unr_;ian to bind. ] [ Written also swod. ] 1. A cod, or pod, as of beans or pease. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Swad, in the north, is a peascod shell -- thence used for an empty, shallow-headed fellow. Blount. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A clown; a country bumpkin. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. ] “Country swains, and silly swads.” Greene. [ 1913 Webster ]

There was one busy fellow was their leader,
A blunt, squat swad, but lower than yourself. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A lump of mass; also, a crowd. [ Low, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Coal Mining) A thin layer of refuse at the bottom of a seam. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Swaddled p. pr. & vb. n. Swaddling ] 1. To bind as with a bandage; to bind or warp tightly with clothes; to swathe; -- used esp. of infants; as, to swaddle a baby. [ 1913 Webster ]

They swaddled me up in my nightgown with long pieces of linen. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To beat; to cudgel. [ Obs. ] Hudibras. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ AS. swe&unr_;il, swe&unr_;el, fr. swe&unr_;ain to bind. See Swathe. ] Anything used to swaddle with, as a cloth or band; a swaddling band. [ 1913 Webster ]

They put me in bed in all my swaddles. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The shoveler. [ Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A term of contempt for an Irish Methodist. Shipley. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Swaddle, v. [ 1913 Webster ]

Swaddling band,
Swaddling cloth, or
Swaddling clout, a band or cloth wrapped round an infant, especially round a newborn infant. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke ii. 12. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ n., . [ After one Twaddell, its inventor. ] A form of hydrometer for liquids heavier than water, graduated with an arbitrary scale such that the readings when multiplied by .005 and added to unity give the specific gravity. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. & t. [ See Twattle. ] To talk in a weak and silly manner, like one whose faculties are decayed; to prate; to prattle. Stanyhurst. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Silly talk; gabble; fustian. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have put in this chapter on fighting . . . because of the cant and twaddle that's talked of boxing and fighting with fists now-a-days. T. Hughes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who prates in a weak and silly manner, like one whose faculties are decayed. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Twaddle, v. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Idle trifling; twaddle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ 1st pref. un- + swaddle. ] To take a swaddle from; to unswathe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Woad. ] Woad. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Probably of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. vadd wadding, Dan vat, D. & G. watte. Cf. Wadmol. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A little mass, tuft, or bundle, as of hay or tow. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically: A little mass of some soft or flexible material, such as hay, straw, tow, paper, or old rope yarn, used for retaining a charge of powder in a gun, or for keeping the powder and shot close; also, to diminish or avoid the effects of windage. Also, by extension, a dusk of felt, pasteboard, etc., serving a similar purpose. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A soft mass, especially of some loose, fibrous substance, used for various purposes, as for stopping an aperture, padding a garment, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wed hook, a rod with a screw or hook at the end, used for removing the wad from a gun. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Waded; p. pr. & vb. n. Wadding. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To form into a mass, or wad, or into wadding; as, to wad tow or cotton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To insert or crowd a wad into; as, to wad a gun; also, to stuff or line with some soft substance, or wadding, like cotton; as, to wad a cloak. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. (Min.) (a) An earthy oxide of manganese, or mixture of different oxides and water, with some oxide of iron, and often silica, alumina, lime, or baryta; black ocher. There are several varieties. (b) Plumbago, or black lead. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & v. See Waddy. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ See Wad a little mass. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A wad, or the materials for wads; any pliable substance of which wads may be made. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any soft stuff of loose texture, used for stuffing or padding garments; esp., sheets of carded cotton prepared for the purpose. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Waddled p. pr. & vb. n. Waddling ] [ Freq. of wade; cf. AS. wædlian to beg, from wadan to go. See Wade. ] To walk with short steps, swaying the body from one side to the other, like a duck or very fat person; to move clumsily and totteringly along; to toddle; to stumble; as, a child waddles when he begins to walk; a goose waddles. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

She drawls her words, and waddles in her pace. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To trample or tread down, as high grass, by walking through it. [ R. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, waddles. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a waddling manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Waddied p. pr. & vb. n. Waddying. ] To attack or beat with a waddy. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n.; pl. Waddies [ Written also waddie, whaddie. ] [ Native name. Thought by some to be a corrup. of E. wood. ] [ Australia ] 1. An aboriginal war club. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A piece of wood; stick; peg; also, a walking stick. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. An Australian tree (Pittosporum bicolor); also, its wood, used in making waddies. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. Woad. [ Obs. ] Mortimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Waded; p. pr. & vb. n. Wading. ] [ OE. waden to wade, to go, AS. wadan; akin to OFries. wada, D. waden, OHG. watan, Icel. va&unr_;a, Sw. vada, Dan. vade, L. vadere to go, walk, vadum a ford. Cf. Evade, Invade, Pervade, Waddle. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To go; to move forward. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

When might is joined unto cruelty,
Alas, too deep will the venom wade. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Forbear, and wade no further in this speech. Old Play. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To walk in a substance that yields to the feet; to move, sinking at each step, as in water, mud, sand, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

So eagerly the fiend . . .
With head, hands, wings, or feet, pursues his way,
And swims, or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flies. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence, to move with difficulty or labor; to proceed &unr_;lowly among objects or circumstances that constantly &unr_;inder or embarrass; as, to wade through a dull book. [ 1913 Webster ]

And wades through fumes, and gropes his way. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The king's admirable conduct has waded through all these difficulties. Davenant. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To pass or cross by wading; as, he waded &unr_;he rivers and swamps. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of wading. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, wades. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) Any long-legged bird that wades in the water in search of food, especially any species of limicoline or grallatorial birds; -- called also wading bird. See Illust. g, under Aves. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Wade, v. [ 1913 Webster ]

Wading bird. (Zool.) See Wader, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Of Scand. origin; cf. Icel. va&unr_;māl a woollen stuff, Dan vadmel. Cf. Wad a small mass, and Woodmeil. ] A coarse, hairy, woolen cloth, formerly used for garments by the poor, and for various other purposes. [ Spelled also wadmal, wadmeal, wadmoll, wadmel, etc. ] Beck (Draper's Dict.). Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Scot. wad a pledge; akin to Sw. vad a wager. See Wed. ] (Scots Law) A kind of pledge or mortgage. [ Written also wadsett. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who holds by a wadset. [ 1913 Webster ]