wadn.1
/wɒd/, U.S. /wɑd/ 1. figurative.1607 Fayre Mayde of Exchange i. C 2 b Yonder bundle of sighes, yonder wad of grones.
a. A bundle of hay or straw (occasionally of hemp, etc.); esp. a small bundle of hay, peas, beans, vetches, etc., made at the time of cutting or reaping; a portion of a sheaf of cereal plants or of reed. Now dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > bundle of hay or straw
feald?14..
bottlec1405
bunch?a1505
straw wisp?a1513
stook1571
wad1573
botillage1576
windling1645
pottle1730
bolting1784
strike1817
windle1825
wap1828
hay-pack1841
wake1847
plack1871
tibbin1900
1573 T. Twyne tr. Virgil in T. Phaer & T. Twyne tr. Virgil Whole .xii. Bks. Æneidos xi. 26 Hereon the lad aloft on wad of cuntrey straw they lay.
1596 E. Spenser Hymne Heauenly Loue in Fowre Hymnes 226 Where he encradled was In simple cratch, wrapt in a wad of hay.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xvii. ix. 508 When it [a crop of lupines] is cut downe, to make it into wads or bottles, and so to burie them at the roots of trees.
1620 G. Markham Farwell to Husbandry ix. 65 Laying before the Plow long wades or roules of the straw of Lupyns, Pease, or else Fetches,..you shall turne the furrowes..vpon the waddes.
1622 J. Taylor Arrant Thiefe (1625) C 2 A wispe of Rushes, or a clod of land, Or any wadde of Hay that's next to hand They'l steale.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Epist. & Rev. (1 Cor. vii. 31) In the Popes inthronization,..a piece of tow, or wad of straw is set on fire before him, and one appointed to say, Sic transit gloria mundi.
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Dict. in Compl. Gard'ner sig. Biiiv To wrap up Plants, or tender Trees with Wads or Wisps of Straw.
1706 R. Estcourt Fair Example iii. i You shall find her upon a Wad of Straw, with one Brat at her Breast.
1763 Museum Rusticum (1764) 1 24 The reapers lay it on the land in wads as they call them, or parcels about the quantity of half a sheaf of wheat unbound.
1799 J. Wolcot Nil Admirari iii. iii, in Wks. (1816) III. 447 At times she finds of hemp a little wad, Begs some young Levite spin it.
1807 R. C. Hoare Tour Ireland 302 A wad of straw, or perhaps heath laid on a damp clay floor.
1808 C. Vancouver Gen. View Agric. Devon v. 123 A cylindrical pearl barley machine, is also used to cleanse the wad of its smut.
1888 F. T. Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. Wad, a bundle of straw tied up by a thatcher... A bundle of reed less than a full sheaf of 28 lbs. weight is also called a wad.
b. A heap; also, a swath. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > mass formed by collection of particles > an accumulation > heap or pile
heapc725
cockeOE
hill1297
tassc1330
glub1382
mow?1424
bulkc1440
pile1440
pie1526
bing1528
borwen1570
ruck1601
rick1608
wreck1612
congest1625
castle1636
coacervation1650
congestion1664
cop1666
cumble1694
bin1695
toss1695
thurrock1708
rucklea1725
burrow1784
mound1788
wad1805
stook1865
boorach1868
barrow1869
sorites1871
tump1892
fid1926
clamp-
1742 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman July vii. 51 [To mow vetches] cock them in little Wads as we do the Clover-grass.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 589 It is the usual practice to put them [cut pea crops] up into small heaps, termed wads, which are formed by setting small parcels against each other.
1856 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. (new ed.) II. (Gloss.) 726/3 Wad, a heap of beans or pease laid out to dry, previous to binding. In the county of Devon, applied to a handful of thatch.
1906 Times 25 June 14/4 The wet wads formed by the horse rake are avoided.
2. in extended use.1895 W. D. Howells Impressions & Experiences (1896) 164 Such a small, dull wad of out-worn womanhood!—her grey old head bent upon her knees, and her withered arms wound in her thin shawl.1913 Sat. Rev. 22 Mar. 365/2 He will find them well padded by wads of extracts from second-hand authorities.
a. A small bundle of a soft, flexible material; esp. for use as a plug, pad, or rubber.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > [noun] > that which is soft > small bundle of soft material
wad1580
the world > space > relative position > closed or shut condition > that which or one who closes or shuts > [noun] > that which closes an aperture > material or composition used for > bundle of material
wisp?1507
wad1861
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Torche..a wad of strawe or cloutes that wenches vse to put on their heds when they cary any thing.
1622 J. Mabbe tr. M. Alemán Rogue ii. 355 It was injoyned me..of old ends of Ragges, or of Flax and Tow, to make wads and wisps for those that goe to the Long-house.
1752 ‘H. Beaumont’ Crito 17 The vast Wad of Linen that they [women] carry upon their Head.
1781 W. Hayley Triumphs of Temper iv. 85 She on the types her inky wad let fall.
1861 G. M. Musgrave By-roads in Picardy 173 The neck of the flask being closed with only a mere wad of cotton.
1887 Poor Nellie (1888) 398 I've to go about with wads of cotton~wool ready in my pocket for my two ears.
b. Something rolled up tightly, as a roll of bank notes. Chiefly U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > bundle > rolled up
collar1712
wad1771
1771 Exmoor Scolding (ed. 7) (Gloss.) at Rumple A Garment rumbled [sic] up to a Wad, with many Plaits and Wrinkles.
1864 G. A. Sala in Daily Tel. 27 Sept. A little wallet containing one or more dollar bills, or at least a wad of fractional currency.
1888 Bow-Bells Weekly 22 June 396 Never roll gloves into each other in a wad, for they will never look as well after.
1890 A. C. Gunter Miss Nobody (1891) ii. 24 Handing Everett a wad of greenbacks.
1899 F. H. Burnett De Willoughby Claim x. 132 He..finally rolled his paper into a hard wad and threw it at the counter.
1899 S. R. Crockett Kit Kennedy lii MacWalter pulled a thick wad of bank notes out of his pocket.
1908 S. E. White Riverman xix Dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief dampened into a tiny wad.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > textile fabric > textile fabric made from specific material > made from choice of fibres > [noun] > cotton or silk
wad1540
rumal1622
wat1662
1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII c. 14 Item for every tonne Tolose wadde accompting viij hole bales..for a tonne xx s.
1695 P. Motteux tr. F. Pidou de St. Olon Present State Morocco 139 The Traffick of Provence consists in..Velvet, Cottons, Wadds [Fr. cottonines], and other Commodities from the Levant.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Wad, a sort of Flocks of Silk, course Flannel, or Cotton.
1761 Ann. Reg., Chron. 132/1 The plant known by the name of..Asclepias... From the silky wad it affords we [in France] call it Soyeuse.
4.
a. A plug of tow, cloth, etc., a disk of felt or cardboard, to retain the powder and shot in position in charging a gun or cartridge.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > wad
tampion1481
wadding1627
wad1667
wisp1688
patch1799
junk wad1822
grummet1828
patching1835
oil patch1861
grummet-wad1867
1667 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 2 476 Another [experiment]..is a Wooden Tampion..hollow'd towards the Bullet,..and..hollow likewise towards the Powder, and serving instead of a Wadd.
1669 S. Sturmy Mariners Mag. v. xii. 68 Put the Powder home gently, and after put in a good Wad..; then put in the Shot.., and after him another Wad.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Wad, a quantity of old rope-yarns rolled firmly together into the form of a ball, and used to confine the shot or shell..in the breech of a piece of artillery.
1856 ‘Stonehenge’ Man. Brit. Rural Sports i. i. ii. §5. 24 After using the powder-flask..drive down..a single piece of wadding; then pour in the charge of shot, drive down another wad, [etc.].
1862 F. A. Griffiths Artillerist's Man. (ed. 9) 112 No. 5 serves No. 3 with projectiles, wads, if necessary, and traverses.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) I. 194/1 The escape of gas was prevented by means of a felt wad attached to the back of the cartridge.
1881 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. 300 Wads are punched out of sheets of various materials by cutters fixed in a press. Those most commonly used are made of felts, cardboard, or jute.
1890 D. Davidson Mem. Long Life ii. 34 We..rowed too closely past the Victory as she was firing her royal salute, and one of her wads just cleared our heads.
b. In figurative phrase to shoot one's wad, to do all that one can do. Cf. to have shot one's bolt at shoot v. 21b colloquial (chiefly U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > endeavour > make an attempt or endeavour [verb (intransitive)] > do one's utmost
forcec1340
to give business to1340
to set (up) one's rest1589
to strain every nerve1837
to shoot one's wad1914
1914 Dial. Notes 4 112 Shoot one's wad, to do or say what one can.
1970 A. Cameron et al. Computers & Old Eng. Concordances 31 Well, I'm really not an expert on it. I've practically shot my wad.
1971 B. Malamud Tenants 8 I want to be thought of as a going concern, not a freak who had published a good first novel and shot his wad.
5.
a. A lump of a soft or plastic substance. rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > softness > pliableness > [noun] > plasticity > plastic substance > lump of
wad1794
1794 R. B. Sheridan Duenna (new ed.) iii. 75 Eyes like two dead beetles in a wad of brown dough.
1838 W. M. Thackeray Fashnable Fax in Wks. (1900) XIII. 254 The haldermin, who was helpin the tuttle, puts on Biffeter's plate a wad of green fat.
b. A mass, heap, large quantity. Scottish and northern.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > (a) great quantity or amount
felec825
muchc1230
good wone1297
plentyc1300
bushelc1374
sight1390
mickle-whata1393
forcea1400
manynessa1400
multitudea1400
packc1400
a good dealc1430
greata1450
sackful1484
power1489
horseloadc1500
mile1508
lump1523
a deal?1532
peckc1535
heapa1547
mass1566
mass1569
gallon1575
armful1579
cart-load1587
mickle1599
bushelful1600–12
a load1609
wreck1612
parisha1616
herd1618
fair share1650
heapa1661
muchness1674
reams1681
hantle1693
mort1694
doll?1719
lift1755
acre1759
beaucoup1760
ton1770
boxload1795
boatload1807
lot1811
dollop1819
swag1819
faggald1824
screed1826
Niagara1828
wad1828
lashings1829
butt1831
slew1839
ocean1840
any amount (of)1848
rake1851
slather1857
horde1860
torrent1864
sheaf1865
oodlesa1867
dead load1869
scad1869
stack1870
jorum1872
a heap sight1874
firlot1883
oodlings1886
chunka1889
whips1888
God's quantity1895
streetful1901
bag1917
fid1920
fleetful1923
mob1927
bucketload1930
pisspot1944
shitload1954
megaton1957
mob-o-ton1975
gazillion1978
buttload1988
shit ton1991
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Wad, a large quantity. ‘We've a wad o' hay to year.’
1915 Chambers's Jrnl. 12 June 442/1 True, we haven't got a great wad of it on hand; but I don't like the idea of that silver being on the premises.
c. A bun, a cake; also, something to eat, a sandwich. slang (originally Services' slang).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > [noun] > a cake
cakea1325
drop1723
fuggan1810
Kuchen1854
wad1919
tabnab1933
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > cake > bun > [noun]
bun1371
wig1376
barley-bun1552
simnel cake1699
simlin1701
muffin1703
Chelsea bun1711
cross-bun1733
hot cross bun1733
penny bun1777
Sally Lunn1780
huffkin1790
Bath-bun1801
teacake1832
English muffin1842
saffron bun1852
Belgian bun1854
Valentine-bun1854
cinnamon roll1872
lunn1874
Yorkshire teacake1877
barmbrack1878
cinnamon bun1879
sticky bun1880
pan dulce1882
schnecke1899
wad1919
tabnab1933
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > bread with spread or filling > [noun] > sandwich
sandwich1762
butty1827
round1901
dodger1919
wad1919
sanger1943
sarnie1961
sarmie1970
sambo1972
sammie1978
1919 Athenæum 1 Aug. 695/1 Wad, a bun.
1927 T. E. Lawrence Let. 8 Feb. (1938) 506 No wads, so I'm able to do without money.
1937 D. M. Jones In Parenthesis 4 We've got too many buns—and all those wads.
1942 G. Kersh Nine Lives Bill Nelson i. 3 I'm in a caff, getting a tea 'n' a wad.
1960 ‘A. Burgess’ Doctor is Sick 226 Give us a bob for a cuppa and a wad, guv.
1973 Guardian 2 June 13/4 He found himself..in Kashmir sharing a char and wad with Sikh pilots.
1983 Verbatim Autumn 8/2 Like a ‘pick’, a ‘wad’ is also eaten standing up. A ‘wad’, however, is a solitary piece of inferior, if not disgusting food. The diner falls upon it with little pleasure, merely to quiet the beast in his belly.
6. Ceramics.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > pottery manufacturing equipment > [noun] > case for protecting during firing
saggar1752
wad1825
cassette1909
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > clay > [noun] > for making pottery > piece of
bat1825
twig1889
wad1891
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 468 When a sagger is filled with clay ware, on its outer edges are placed thick pieces of coarse clay, called wads from their being employed to wedge or closely join the interstice between two saggers.
1891 Cent. Dict. Wad, 3. In ceram., a small piece of finer clay used to cover the body of an inferior material in some varieties of earthenware; especially, the piece doubled over the edge of a vessel.
Compounds
C1. General attributive. (In sense 4.)
wad gauge n.
ΚΠ
1828 J. M. Spearman Brit. Gunner 73 Wad Gauges.
wad punch n.
ΚΠ
1875 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Wad-punch, a tubular steel punch used for cutting gun-wads, etc.
wad room n.
ΚΠ
1756 Gentleman's Mag. 26 426 His gunner concealed 43 barrels of powder in the wad room, covering them with wads and lumber.
C2.
wadcutter n. chiefly U.S. a bullet designed to cut a neat hole in a paper range target.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > competitive shooting > [adjective] > type of bullet
wadcutter1957
1957 Amer. Speech 32 195 Wadcutter, a lead bullet designed to be used on paper targets and having no ogive but abrupt shoulders so that a full caliber hole is punched in a target.
1981 D. Boggis Time to Betray xi. 61 A potential opportunity to..loose the five rounds of .32 wadcutter from the Walther GSP precision automatic.
wad hook n. (a) a spiral tool for withdrawing wads or charges from guns; (b) Mining (see quot. 1881).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > device for discharging missiles > firearm > equipment for use with firearms > [noun] > ball or wad extractor
screw1562
tireball1591
worm1591
wad hook1611
ball-drawer1844
society > occupation and work > equipment > piercing or boring tools > [noun] > boring tool > for boring in the ground > equipment for use with
sinking-chain1820
runner1839
rotary table1845
wad hook1881
socket1883
spreadera1884
whipstock1903
1611 J. Florio Queen Anna's New World of Words Cauafieno, Gunners call it a wad-hooke.
1766 J. Entick Surv. London in New Hist. London IV. 344 Rammers, hand-spikes, wad-hooks.
1879 Man. Siege & Garrison Artillery Exercises 199 The shell extractor and wadhook [are placed] outside the pit.
1881 Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Engineers 1880–1 9 190 Wad-hook. A tool with two spiral steel blades for removing fragments from the bottom of deep bore-holes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
wadn.2
/wɒd/, U.S. /wɑd/ 1. Surveying. A straight line taken in measuring from one mark to another. ? Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > straightness > [noun] > rectilinear quality > a straight line > specifically in surveying
wad1610
1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia ii. iv. 53 These dimensions are found or performed either Cominus or Eminus... The first..needes no amplification, but for precise keeping in the Wadd or right line. The Wadd is delineated either to a marke in sight or out of sight. If the First; let the Chaine~leaders Wadd vpon the marke by some intermediall eminence and at the setting down of euery pricke, let each man waue his mate into the right Wadd.
2.
a. dialect. ‘A line, esp. one marked out between two parcels of land’ ( Eng. Dial. Dict.); also see quots.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > edge, border, or margin > boundary > [noun] > land-boundary
thresholdeOE
randeOE
markeOE
mereOE
limiting1391
march1402
confrontc1430
bourne1523
limity1523
mereing1565
mark-mere1582
ring1598
land-mere1603
limit1655
field boundary1812
landimere1825
section-line1827
wad1869
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale Wad, a line or rank.
1886 R. E. G. Cole Gloss. Words S.-W. Lincs. Wad, a mark set up as a guide to plough straight by. Hence Line, order, position.
1889 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (ed. 2) Wad, a mark in shooting, ploughing, land measuring, &c.
b. Way or course of travel, track. literal and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > [noun]
wayOE
route?c1225
line1426
itinerary?a1475
tract1555
road1598
wad1854
1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 377 Wad. 3. A way or beaten track, a line of conduct pertinaciously adhered to. ‘He goes on in the old wad,’ i.e. in the same manner as formerly.
Compounds
wad-staff n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough-staff
acre-staffc1300
plough staffc1325
plough-batc1400
plough-potec1400
pattle1404
plough pattle1404
paddle1407
paddle-staff1583
pad-staff1650
sull-paddle1669
spade-staff1706
plough-spade1712
plough cleaner1850
wad-staff1856
wad-stick1889
1856 J. C. Morton Cycl. Agric. (new ed.) II. (Gloss.) 726/3 Wadstaff, (Notts.), guide staff to plough by.
wad-stick n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > ploughing equipment > [noun] > plough-staff
acre-staffc1300
plough staffc1325
plough-batc1400
plough-potec1400
pattle1404
plough pattle1404
paddle1407
paddle-staff1583
pad-staff1650
sull-paddle1669
spade-staff1706
plough-spade1712
plough cleaner1850
wad-staff1856
wad-stick1889
1889 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (ed. 2) Wad~staff, wad-stick, a tall white wand painted with rims of various colours, used as a mark for ploughmen in setting out furrows.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
wadn.3
/wɒd/, U.S. /wɑd/ 1. A local name for plumbago or black lead; also called black wad. Also dialect a black-lead pencil (see Eng. Dial. Dict.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > native elements and alloys > [noun] > native carbon
black lead?a1560
wad1614
killow1666
wad-lead1780
plumbago1784
graphite1796
plumbagine1800
kish1812
lead1816
pot lead1876
cliftonite1887
shungite1892
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > mineral material > [noun] > graphite
black lead?a1560
wad1614
killow1666
wad-lead1780
plumbago1784
graphite1796
plumbagine1800
lead1816
pot lead1876
1614 in Mem. Literary & Philos. Soc. Manch. (1819) 2nd Ser. 3 169 Except the wad holes and wad, commonly called black cawke, within the commons of Seatollor, or elsewhere within the commons and wastes of the said manor [of Borrowdale].
a1696 R. Plot in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) (1698) 20 183 The Mineral Substance, called, Black Lead..found only at Keswick in Cumberland, and there called, Wadt, or Kellow.
1836 Penny Cycl. V. 225 (Borrowdale) The most remarkable product of the valley is graphite, plumbago, or black-lead (provincially wad).
1872 H. I. Jenkinson Guide Eng. Lake District 127 The lead, or plumbago, locally termed ‘wad',..is the best material ever discovered for making lead pencils.
2. An impure earthy ore of manganese.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > ore > [noun] > metal ore > manganese ore
wad1783
asbolan1837
groroilite1844
manganolite1893
1783 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 73 284 Some Experiments upon the Ochra friabilis nigro fusca of Da Costa..; and called by the Miners of Derbyshire, Black Wadd.
1796 R. Kirwan Elements Mineral. (ed. 2) II. 465 Mr. Wedgewood dissolved a quantity of black wadd in a large quantity of nitrous acid heated.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 1279 Wadd, is the provincial name..of an ore of manganese in Derbyshire, which consists of the peroxide of that metal, associated with nearly its own weight of oxide of iron.
1884 Athenæum 16 Aug. 212/3 The not very interesting manganese mineral wad.
Compounds
General attributive. (In sense 1.)
wad-hole n.
ΚΠ
1614Wad hole [see sense 1].
wad-lead n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > types of mineral > native elements and alloys > [noun] > native carbon
black lead?a1560
wad1614
killow1666
wad-lead1780
plumbago1784
graphite1796
plumbagine1800
kish1812
lead1816
pot lead1876
cliftonite1887
shungite1892
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > mineral material > [noun] > graphite
black lead?a1560
wad1614
killow1666
wad-lead1780
plumbago1784
graphite1796
plumbagine1800
lead1816
pot lead1876
1780 G. Jars Voy. Metall. 2 554 in Philol. Soc. Trans. (1908) 148 Mine de plomb pour les crayons nommés Black-lead or Wad-Léad.
wad-mine n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > workplace > places where raw materials are extracted > mine > [noun] > other mines
crystal mine1600
metal pita1603
salt mine1669
copper-grove1702
wad-mine1747
1747 Gentleman's Mag. Dec. 583/1 Wadd mines in the Cumberland Dialect, signifies the black-lead mines.
1836 Penny Cycl. V. 225 (Borrowdale) The wad mine.
wad-pencil n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > writing instrument > [noun] > pencil > lead pencil
lead-pencil1688
keelivine1808
wad-pencil1825
1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words (at cited word) A wad pencil.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† wadn.4
Obsolete. rare.
Origin and sense obscure: only in proverbial phrase, apparently meaning ‘in that course there is danger’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > there is danger in a course of action [phrase]
it is perilc1325
wad1524
1524 T. Wolsey in State Papers Henry VIII (1836) IV. 92 Praying you eftsones, that the ereccion of the yong King be not dilayed by any diet to be kept upon the Bordre or other communicacion; for in that pad there lyeth a wad.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
wadv.1
/wɒd/, U.S. /wɑd/ I. To form into a wad.
1. transitive. To lay up (the cut haulm of beans, peas, etc.) in bundles.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > harvest (a crop) [verb (transitive)] > make into sheaves or bundles
sheaf1506
sheave1579
bottle1611
swathe1611
wad1677
gripa1722
tipple1799
tuffle1799
windle1808
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire ix. 256 After the sithe they wad both Beans and Peas.
1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming 341 They take care to Wad them [sc. beans] as soon as Mown, and put them into single small Parcels.
1779 W. Marshall Exper. & Observ. conc. Agric. & Weather 93 In dry weather, Pease properly wadded with a Prong are much sooner ready to carry than those left in hard bundles by the Foot and Sithe.
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 891 When..crops of this sort that have run to seed,..are left..it is the usual practice to cut and wad them in the same manner as for peas.
1813 T. Batchelor Gen. View Agric. Bedford. 108 (E.D.D.) The process of wadding, and gleaning beans..is rather a tedious one.
2. To press (loose or fibrous material) into a small compass or into a close, compact mass; U.S. to roll up tightly. Also with up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > gather in one mass or form lumps > accumulate > agglomerate or conglomerate > press into a compact mass
wad1676
impack1867
1676 J. Evelyn Philos. Disc. Earth 181 If you lay any fearn-brakes or other trash about them [sc. the roots]..let it not be wadded too close.
1896 N.Y. Weekly Witness 23 Dec. 16/4 A most peculiar cholera-remedy was in use in Persia. It consisted in wadding-up a leaf from the Koran and forcing it down the patient's throat.
1915 G. Stratton-Porter M. O'Halloran viii ‘Can you help me?’ ‘Sure!’ said Mickey, wadding his cap into his back pocket.
3. transferred. To pack (persons) closely.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > crowd together
thrumble1513
throng1539
pack1545
serr1562
close1566
frequent1578
thwack1589
contrude1609
crowd1612
serry1639
wedge1720
stuff1728
pig1745
jam1771
condensate1830
wad1850
sardine1895
1850 W. M. Thackeray Pendennis II. xx. 202 An honest holiday-maker with his family wadded into a tax-cart.
II. To furnish with or as with a wad or wadding.figurative.1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch I. ii. xx. 351 If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life..we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity.† 6. ? To rub with a wad. Obsolete.
4. To put a wad in (a gun, a cartridge).
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > fire (a gun) [verb (transitive)] > load or prime (a gun) > put wad into
wad1579
1579 L. Digges & T. Digges Stratioticos 113 His Gunner..to wadde and ramme, to cleanse, scoure, and coole the Peeces.
1881 W. W. Greener Gun & its Devel. 301 When loaded with shot, the cartridges are wadded in the Erskine machine.
1894 S. R. Crockett Mad Sir Uchtred 83 He had wadded it [sc. a gun] with three leaves of the Bible.
5. To line, fill out, pad, as with wadding; to quilt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > make internal or interior [verb (transitive)] > line > pad or stuff
stopc1400
stuffc1450
bolster1530
suffulce1599
pad1741
wad1759
upholster1873
1759 J. G. Cooper tr. J. B. Gresset Ver-vert iv. 48 His skin with sugar being wadded, With liquid fires his entrails burn'd.
1788 W. Cowper Gratitude 11 This wheel-footed studying chair,..Wide-elbow'd, and wadded with hair.
1842 W. M. Thackeray Miss Tickletoby's Lect. iii Straight the King's great chair was brought him..Languidly he sunk into it, it was comfortably wadded.
1846 W. M. Thackeray Bk. Snobs xiv Lord Glenlivat..playfully wadded the insides of the boots with cobbler's wax.
1848 W. M. Thackeray Lett. 1 Nov. You say your prayers in carved stalls wadded with velvet cushions.
1862 C. A. Collins Cruise upon Wheels (1863) xxiv. 413 My thick flannel dressing-gown, lined and wadded.
1883 M. B. Betham-Edwards Disarmed xxiii She wore a loose gown of crimson satin, wadded after the fashion of the olden time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > cleaning > scouring, scrubbing, or rubbing > scour, scrub, or rub [verb (transitive)] > with a wad
wad1688
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xix. 184/2 Wad or wash him [sc. a horse] round.
7. To plug (the ears) with wads.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > hear [verb (transitive)] > listen to > restrain from hearing > plug the ears
bombase1582
solder1702
wad1876
1876 ‘Ouida’ In Winter City iii They have wadded their ears and..would not hear.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
wadv.2
/wɒd/, U.S. /wɑd/ intransitive. To walk with the chain in a straight line from one mark to another in land-surveying.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > earth sciences > geography > map-making > surveying > survey [verb (intransitive)] > walk from one mark to another
wad1610
1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia ii. iv. 53 Let the Chaine~leaders Wadd vpon the marke by some intermediall eminence.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 139/1 Geometrical Terms used in Surveying and Measuring of Lands... Wadding, keeping in a right Line.
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale Wad, to set out a line, in land-surveying or engineering, by putting in a series of stakes or stubs.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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