Meaning

To swing or wave, especially in the air, wind, etc.; to flutter..

Definitions by Sense

1. To swing or wave, especially in the air, wind, etc.; to flutter.
2. To move without purpose or a specified destination; to roam, to wander.
3. To sway back and forth, as if about to fall; to reel, to stagger, to totter.
4. To begin to weaken or show signs of weakening in resolve; to falter, to flinch, to give way.
5. To feel or show doubt or indecision; to be indecisive between choices; to vacillate.
6. Of a body part such as an eye or hand, or the voice: to become unsteady; to shake, to tremble.
7. Of light, shadow, or a partly obscured thing: to flicker, to glimmer, to quiver.
8. Chiefly of a quality or thing: to change, to fluctuate, to vary.

Example Sentences

Flowers wavered in the breeze.

There was neuer ſuche aſſemble made in Bretayne before⸝ for if the frenchmen were puyſſãt [puissant]⸝ in lyke wiſe ſo were the engliſſhmen⸝ and eche parte thought to fyght⸝ for euery day they ſhewed them ſelfe in the felde⸝ with baners and penons waueryng with the wynde⸝ it was great pleaſure to behold thẽ [them].

Lord (ſayth he) Put them as a wheele and a ſtoble before the face of the wynde. For as the ſtoble, whyle the wynde bloweth wauereth and flyethe aboue in the ayre, nowe hygh nowe lowe, but anone as the wynde paſſeth it falleth adowne to the erthe and lyeth there ſtylle.

Thus many thinges commyng together, partly by chaunce ⁊ partly by purpoſe, cauſed at length, not common people onely, whiche wauer with the wynde, but wyſe men alſo ⁊ ſome lordes, to marke the matter and muſe thee vpon: […]

The byrdes fliyng and wauoring in the ayer, in the ſtede of houſes haue neſtes to reſt them in. But the ſonne of man ſo is deſtitute of all ſuccours of this worlde, that he hath no place to laye his head in.

Theſe Penoncels are made of certain ſmal peeces of Taffeta or Sarcinet, cut after the forme of a Pennon, vvherevvith Martiall men doe oftentimes adorne their Speares and Launces, vvhich albeit of themſelues they be things of no moment, yet doe they very often (like as alſo Banners doe) aſtoniſh the Enemie through their continuall motion, foraſmuch as they are euermore vvafting and vvauering in the vvinde, vvhereby they doe ſo occupy the enemies eie as that it breedeth a terrour in the minde of their foes, […]

Mean vvhile, the Leaves, / That, late, the Foreſt clad vvith lively Green, / Nipt by the drizzly Night, and Sallovv-hu'd, / Fall, vvavering, thro' the Air; or ſhovver amain, / Urg'd by the Breeze, that ſobs amid the Boughs.

[B]y the red and dusky light of the torches, he could discern a figure wavering and struggling as it hung suspended above the heads of the multitude.

Word Forms

• wavers
• wavering
• wavered
• no-table-tags
• glossary
• waver
• waverest
• waveredst
• wavereth
• -

Synonyms for waver

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When Should You Use Waver?

Use waver when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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