Wag vs. Wave — What's the Difference?

(especially with reference to an animal's tail) move or cause to move rapidly to and fro

In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities, sometimes as described by a wave equation. In physical waves, at least two field quantities in the wave medium are involved.

Play truant from (school).

Move one's hand to and fro in greeting or as a signal

A wife or girlfriend of a sports player, typically characterized as having a high media profile and a glamorous lifestyle.

Move to and fro with a swaying motion while remaining fixed to one point

To move briskly and repeatedly from side to side, to and fro, or up and down

Style (hair) so that it curls slightly

To move rapidly in talking. Used of the tongue.

A long body of water curling into an arched form and breaking on the shore

(Archaic) To be on one's way; depart.

A sudden occurrence of or increase in a phenomenon, feeling, or emotion

To move (a body part) rapidly from side to side or up and down, as in playfulness, agreement, or admonition

A gesture or signal made by moving one's hand to and fro

The act or motion of wagging

A slightly curling lock of hair

A humorous or droll person; a wit.

A periodic disturbance of the particles of a substance which may be propagated without net movement of the particles, such as in the passage of undulating motion, heat, or sound.

To swing from side to side, such as of an animal's tail, or someone's head, to express disagreement or disbelief.

A member of the women's reserve of the US Navy, organized during World War II, but now no longer a separate branch.

To play truant from school.

A ridge or swell moving through or along the surface of a large body of water.

(obsolete) To be in action or motion; to move; progress.

A small ridge or swell moving across the interface of two fluids and dependent on surface tension.

(obsolete) To go; to depart.

Often waves The sea

An oscillating movement.

A moving curve or succession of curves in or on a surface; an undulation

A witty person.

A curve or succession of curves, as in the hair.

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.

A curved shape, outline, or pattern.

To move one way and the other; to be shaken to and fro; to vibrate.

A movement up and down or back and forth

To be in action or motion; to move; to get along; to progress; to stir.

A surge or rush, as of sensation

To go; to depart; to pack oft.

A sudden great rise, as in activity or intensity

The act of wagging; a shake; as, a wag of the head.

A rising trend that involves large numbers of individuals

A man full of sport and humor; a ludicrous fellow; a humorist; a wit; a joker.

One of a succession of mass movements

A witty amusing person who makes jokes

A maneuver in which fans at a sports event simulate an ocean wave by rising quickly in sequence with arms upraised and then quickly sitting down again in a continuous rolling motion.

Causing to move repeatedly from side to side

A widespread, persistent meteorological condition, especially of temperature

Move from side to side;

A disturbance that travels through a medium. Energy is transferred by a wave from one region of the medium to another without causing any permanent displacement of the medium.

A graphic representation of the variation of such a disturbance with time.

A single cycle of a periodic wave.

To move freely back and forth or up and down in the air, as branches in the wind.

To make a signal with an up-and-down or back-and-forth movement of the hand or an object held in the hand

To have an undulating or wavy form; curve or curl

To cause to move back and forth or up and down, either once or repeatedly

To move or swing as in giving a signal

To signal or express by waving the hand or an object held in the hand

To signal (a person) by using the hand to move in a specified direction

To arrange into curves, curls, or undulations

(intransitive) To move back and forth repeatedly and somewhat loosely.

(intransitive) To move one’s hand back and forth (generally above the shoulders) in greeting or departure.

To call attention to, or give a direction or command to, by a waving motion, as of the hand; to signify by waving; to beckon; to signal; to indicate.

(intransitive) To have an undulating or wavy form.

(transitive) To raise into inequalities of surface; to give an undulating form or surface to.

(transitive) To produce waves to the hair.

To swing and miss at a pitch.

(transitive) To cause to move back and forth repeatedly.

To signal (someone or something) with a waving movement.

To fluctuate; to waver; to be in an unsettled state.

To move like a wave, or by floating; to waft.

To generate a wave.

Obsolete spelling of waive

A moving disturbance in the level of a body of liquid; an undulation.

(poetic) The ocean.

(physics) A moving disturbance in the energy level of a field.

A shape that alternatingly curves in opposite directions.

Any of a number of species of moths in the geometrid subfamily Sterrhinae, which have wavy markings on the wings.

A loose back-and-forth movement, as of the hands.

(figuratively) A sudden, but temporary, uptick in something.

One of the successive swarms of enemies sent to attack the player in certain games.

(usually "the wave") A group activity in a crowd imitating a wave going through water, where people in successive parts of the crowd stand and stretch upward, then sit.

See Waive.

To play loosely; to move like a wave, one way and the other; to float; to flutter; to undulate.

To be moved to and fro as a signal.

To fluctuate; to waver; to be in an unsettled state; to vacillate.

To move one way and the other; to brandish.

To raise into inequalities of surface; to give an undulating form a surface to.

To move like a wave, or by floating; to waft.

To call attention to, or give a direction or command to, by a waving motion, as of the hand; to signify by waving; to beckon; to signal; to indicate.

An advancing ridge or swell on the surface of a liquid, as of the sea, resulting from the oscillatory motion of the particles composing it when disturbed by any force their position of rest; an undulation.

A vibration propagated from particle to particle through a body or elastic medium, as in the transmission of sound; an assemblage of vibrating molecules in all phases of a vibration, with no phase repeated; a wave of vibration; an undulation. See Undulation.

Water; a body of water.

Unevenness; inequality of surface.

A waving or undulating motion; a signal made with the hand, a flag, etc.

The undulating line or streak of luster on cloth watered, or calendered, or on damask steel.

Something resembling or likened to a water wave, as in rising unusually high, in being of unusual extent, or in progressive motion; a swelling or excitement, as of feeling or energy; a tide; flood; period of intensity, usual activity, or the like; as, a wave of enthusiasm; waves of applause.

One of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water)

A movement like that of an ocean wave;

(physics) a movement up and down or back and forth

Something that rises rapidly;

The act of signaling by a movement of the hand

A hairdo that creates undulations in the hair

An undulating curve

A persistent and widespread unusual weather condition (especially of unusual temperatures)

A member of the women's reserve of the United States Navy; originally organized during World War II but now no longer a separate branch

Signal with the hands or nod;

Move or swing back and forth;

Move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion;

Twist or roll into coils or ringlets;

Set waves in;