Library / English Dictionary

WAVER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of moving back and forth

Synonyms:

flicker; flutter; waver

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of pausing uncertainly

Example:

there was a hesitation in his speech

Synonyms:

falter; faltering; hesitation; waver

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

pause (temporary inactivity)

Derivation:

waver (pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness)

Sense 3

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)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Give off unsteady sounds, alternating in amplitude or frequency

Synonyms:

quaver; waver

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

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

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

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sway from side to side

Synonyms:

waver; weave

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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 3

Meaning:

Move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern

Example:

the line on the monitor vacillated

Synonyms:

fluctuate; vacillate; waver

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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 4

Meaning:

Move back and forth very rapidly

Example:

the candle flickered

Synonyms:

flicker; flitter; flutter; quiver; waver

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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 5

Meaning:

Move hesitatingly, as if about to give way

Synonyms:

falter; waver

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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 6

Meaning:

Pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness

Example:

Authorities hesitate to quote exact figures

Synonyms:

hesitate; waffle; waver

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

"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 7

Meaning:

Be unsure or weak

Example:

Their enthusiasm is faltering

Synonyms:

falter; waver

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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))

Credits

 Context examples: 

The barrier effect would prevent the star from being a bright source of X-rays except for those times when the magnetic barrier might waver briefly, allowing material to slip through and fall onto the neutron star's surface.

(NASA Satellite Spots a Mystery That's Gone in a Flash, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

If Jo had only known what a great happiness was wavering in the balance for one of them, she would have turned dove-like in a minute, but unfortunately, we don't have windows in our breasts, and cannot see what goes on in the minds of our friends.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Catherine cheerfully complied, and being properly equipped, was more impatient than ever to be at the pump-room, that she might inform herself of General Tilney's lodgings, for though she believed they were in Milsom Street, she was not certain of the house, and Mrs. Allen's wavering convictions only made it more doubtful.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Had she not seen him in Derbyshire, she might have supposed him capable of coming there with no other view than what was acknowledged; but she still thought him partial to Jane, and she wavered as to the greater probability of his coming there with his friend's permission, or being bold enough to come without it.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

And Cheese-Face, ready to drop and die, or to stay on his legs and die, a grisly monster out of whose features all likeness to Cheese-Face had been beaten, wavered and hesitated; but Martin sprang in and smashed him again and again.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

For two months Alleyne had wavered betwixt death and life, with a broken rib and a shattered head; yet youth and strength and a cleanly life were all upon his side, and he awoke from his long delirium to find that the war was over, that the Spaniards and their allies had been crushed at Navaretta, and that the prince had himself heard the tale of his ride for succor and had come in person to his bedside to touch his shoulder with his sword and to insure that so brave and true a man should die, if he could not live, within the order of chivalry.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I tried to word my refusal, but wavered.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Julia wavered; but was he only trying to soothe and pacify her, and make her overlook the previous affront?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

His manners, however, must have been unmarked, wavering, dubious, or she could not have been so misled.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

That she would never waver in it, never be diverted from it, never relinquish it, while there was any chance of hope.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)