Meaning of wave In English

• 0 to raise your hand and move it from side to side as a way of greeting someone, telling someone to do something, or adding emphasis to an expression:

  • I waved to/at him from the window but he didn't see me.

  • I was waving my hand like mad but he never once looked in my direction.

  • She was so annoyed she wouldn't even wave us goodbye/wave goodbye to us.

  • She waves her hands about/around a lot when she's talking.

  • You'll have to wait till the policeman waves the car on.

  • You can't just wave me away as if I were a child!

• 1 to move from side to side, or to make something move like this while holding it in the hand:

  • The corn waved gently in the summer breeze.

  • A crowd of people ran down the street waving banners.

  • He seems to think I can wave a magic wand and everything will be all right.

• 2 If hair waves, it curls slightly:

  • If she leaves her hair to dry on its own, it just waves naturally.

• 3 a raised line of water that moves across the surface of an area of water, especially the sea:

  • At night, I listened to the sound of the waves breaking/crashing against the shore.

• 4 the action of raising your hand and moving it from side to side as a way of greeting someone, etc.:

  • Give Grandpa a wave.

• 5 a wave-like movement made by a crowd watching a sports game, when everyone stands and lifts up their arms and then sits down again one after another:

  • The crowd did the Wave.

• 6 the pattern in which some types of energy, such as sound, light, and heat, are spread or carried:

  • radio waves

• 7 a larger than usual number of events of a similar, often bad, type, happening within the same period:

  • a crime wave

  • The country was swept by a wave of protests.

  • A new wave of job losses is expected this year.

  • There are fears that easing the lockdown rules will trigger a second wave of the disease.

  • There were warnings that his death would trigger a fresh wave of attacks.

• 8 a sudden strong feeling that gets stronger as it spreads:

  • A wave of panic swept through the crowd.

• 9 a series of slight curves in a person's hair:

  • Your hair has a natural wave, but mine's just straight.

• 10 to raise your hand and move it from side to side as a greeting, or to get someone's attention or give information:

  • [ I ] She leaned out the window and waved (good-bye).

  • [ M ] As soon as we showed our papers as journalists, the policeman waved us in (= moved his hand to allow us to go in).

  • [ T ] He was very excited and rushed into the room waving a piece of paper.

  • [ I ] Flags waved in the breeze.

• 11 a raised movement of water rolling across the surface esp. of the sea:

  • We were so close we could hear the waves breaking on the beach.

  • A wave of emotion swept through her as she visited her home town.

• 12 the continuous, repeating pattern in which some types of energy, such as sound, light, and heat, are spread or carried:

  • electromagnetic waves

• 13 a movement of your raised hand from side to side or up and down as a greeting or goodbye, or to get someone's attention or give information:

  • She looked at him for a long time, and then, with a wave of her hand, she was off.

• 14 a larger than usual number of events of a similar, often bad, type, happening within the same period:

  • a wave of sth During the recession there was a wave of bankruptcies and mass unemployment.

  • a crime wave

• 15 the pattern in which some types of energy, such as sound, light, and heat, are spread or carried:

  • light/sound/radio waves Large amounts of data is transmitted via light waves inside fiberoptic cables.

• 16 to do things that make people notice you, often in a way that causes trouble:

  • Sometimes, an employee feels intimidated by workplace bullying, but, they don't want to make waves.