Meaning & use
wave
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Meanings
nouncountable
A moving ridge of water on the surface of the sea or a lake.
Grammar: A countable noun: a big wave, many waves.
Patterns
- wave of water
- ride a wave
A huge wave knocked the surfer off his board.
Small waves slapped against the side of the boat.
We listened to the waves crashing on the rocks.
verbtransitive or intransitive
To move your hand from side to side as a greeting, farewell or signal.
Grammar: Without an object it is a gesture: she waved. With an object it is the thing moved: she waved her hand.
Patterns
- wave to someone
- wave at someone
- wave something
The children waved from the bus window.
She waved her scarf to catch our attention.
He waved goodbye and walked away.
nouncountablefigurative
A sudden increase or spread of a feeling, event or activity.
Grammar: Usually followed by of: a wave of panic, a wave of protests.
Patterns
- a wave of something
A wave of relief swept over her.
A new wave of protests began in the capital.
The heat wave lasted ten days.
nouncountablephysicstechnical
In physics, a disturbance that carries energy through a medium or through space, such as sound or light.
Grammar: A scientific use often found in compounds: sound wave, radio wave.
Patterns
- sound wave
- radio wave
Sound waves travel through air at a steady speed.
Radio waves carry signals across long distances.
The device detects light waves from distant stars.
nouncountable
A gentle curve or ripple in hair.
Grammar: Often plural: soft waves in her hair.
Her hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders.
He used a brush to create loose waves.
The stylist added a few waves to her hair.
Word forms
| plural | waves |
|---|---|
| third person singular | waves |
| past tense | waved |
| past participle | waved |
| -ing form | waving |
Common combinations
- wave goodbye
- We waved goodbye as the train left.
- heat wave
- A heat wave pushed temperatures past forty degrees.
- crime wave
- Police reported a wave of burglaries in the area.
- wave of enthusiasm
- A wave of enthusiasm greeted the announcement.
- ride the wave
- The band rode the wave of its early success.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- wavy adjective
- having a curved, rippling shape
- waver verb
- to shake slightly or become uncertain
- waveform noun
- the shape of a wave on a graph
- wavelength noun
- the distance between two peaks of a wave
Commonly confused: wave or waive? wave or waver?
wave vs waive
Waive means to give up a right or rule voluntarily, and sounds just like wave.
wave vs waver
Waver means to be unsteady or hesitate, and is not the same as waving a hand.
Practice
The management decided to ___ the late fee, so customers did not have to pay it.
Choose one answer.
Waive means to give up a charge or right. Wave is a homophone but means a gesture or water movement, and weave and waver have different meanings.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “wave”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.