WAVER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does waver mean? 

• WAVER (noun)
  The noun WAVER has 3 senses:

1. someone who communicates by waving

2. the act of pausing uncertainly

3. the act of moving back and forth

  Familiarity information: WAVER used as a noun is uncommon.

• WAVER (verb)
  The verb WAVER has 7 senses:

1. pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness

2. be unsure or weak

3. move hesitatingly, as if about to give way

4. move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern

5. move back and forth very rapidly

6. sway from side to side

7. give off unsteady sounds, alternating in amplitude or frequency

  Familiarity information: WAVER used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WAVER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone who communicates by waving

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("waver" is a kind of...):

communicator (a person who communicates with others)

Derivation:

wave (signal with the hands or nod)

wave (move or swing back and forth)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of pausing uncertainly

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

falter; faltering; hesitation; waver

Context example:

there was a hesitation in his speech

Hypernyms ("waver" is a kind of...):

pause (temporary inactivity)

Derivation:

waver (pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The act of moving back and forth

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

flicker; flutter; waver

Hypernyms ("waver" is a kind of...):

motility; motion; move; movement (a change of position that does not entail a change of location)

Derivation:

waver (sway from side to side)

waver (move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern)

waver (move back and forth very rapidly)

waver (move hesitatingly, as if about to give way)

• WAVER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they waver    ... he / she / it wavers   
Past simple: wavered   
Past participle: wavered   
-ing form: wavering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

hesitate; waffle; waver

Context example:

Authorities hesitate to quote exact figures

"Waver" entails doing...:

doubt (lack confidence in or have doubts about)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "waver"):

dwell on; linger over (delay)

boggle (hesitate when confronted with a problem, or when in doubt or fear)

hover; linger (move to and fro)

hover; oscillate; vacillate; vibrate (be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action)

falter; waver (be unsure or weak)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
Somebody ----s whether INFINITIVE

Derivation:

waver (the act of pausing uncertainly)

waverer (one who hesitates (usually out of fear))

wavering (indecision in speech or action)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be unsure or weak

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

falter; waver

Context example:

Their enthusiasm is faltering

Hypernyms (to "waver" is one way to...):

hesitate; waffle; waver (pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

waverer (one who hesitates (usually out of fear))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move hesitatingly, as if about to give way

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

falter; waver

Hypernyms (to "waver" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

waver (the act of moving back and forth)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

fluctuate; vacillate; waver

Context example:

the line on the monitor vacillated

Hypernyms (to "waver" is one way to...):

swing (alternate dramatically between high and low values)

Verb group:

fluctuate (cause to fluctuate or move in a wavelike pattern)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

waver (the act of moving back and forth)

wavering (the quality of being unsteady and subject to changes)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Move back and forth very rapidly

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

flicker; flitter; flutter; quiver; waver

Context example:

the candle flickered

Hypernyms (to "waver" is one way to...):

move back and forth (move in one direction and then into the opposite direction)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

waver (the act of moving back and forth)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Sway from side to side

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

waver; weave

Hypernyms (to "waver" is one way to...):

sway; swing (move or walk in a swinging or swaying manner)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

waver (the act of moving back and forth)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Give off unsteady sounds, alternating in amplitude or frequency

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

quaver; waver

Hypernyms (to "waver" is one way to...):

sound; vocalise; vocalize; voice (utter with vibrating vocal chords)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

 Context examples 

Yet do not suppose, because I complain a little or because I can conceive a consolation for my toils which I may never know, that I am wavering in my resolutions.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

There is not a shadow of wavering.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I could see that she wavered.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

While you were in the smallest degree wavering, I said nothing about it, because I would not influence; but it would have been the loss of a friend to me.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

An instant later a white-faced, hard-breathing policeman had opened the door, the candle wavering in his trembling hand.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Easier the other way, perhaps; and yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black shadow wavering down upon me?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My reason wavered, but it did not fail me utterly.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

So far as I know—and I believe his honest heart was transparent to me—he never wavered again, in his solemn certainty of finding her.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It wavered and quivered above us for a minute, the morning sun gleaming upon its sleek, sinuous coils.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The dusk had come nigh hand completely, and as I opened out the cleft between the two peaks, I became aware of a wavering glow against the sky, where, as I judged, the man of the island was cooking his supper before a roaring fire.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)