wag

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

wag, v. t. [OE. waggen; probably of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. vagga to rock a cradle, vagga cradle, Icel. vagga, Dan. vugge; akin to AS. wagian to move, wag, wegan to bear, carry, G. & D. bewegen to move, and E. weigh. √136. See Weigh.].

 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.  [1913 Webster]
" Wag expresses specifically the motion of the head and body used in buffoonery, mirth, derision, sport, and mockery."  [1913 Webster]
"No discerner durst wag his tongue in censure."  [1913 Webster]
"Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head."  [1913 Webster]

wag, v. i. 

•  To move one way and the other; to be shaken to and fro; to vibrate.  [1913 Webster]

  "The resty sieve wagged ne'er the more."  [1913 Webster]
•  To be in action or motion; to move; to get along; to progress; to stir.  [1913 Webster]

  "“Thus we may see,” quoth he, “how the world wags.”"  [1913 Webster]
•  To go; to depart; to pack oft.  [1913 Webster]

  "I will provoke him to 't, or let him wag."  [1913 Webster]

wag, n. [From Wag, v.].

•  The act of wagging; a shake; as, a wag of the head.  [1913 Webster]
•  A man full of sport and humor; a ludicrous fellow; a humorist; a wit; a joker.  [1913 Webster]

  "We wink at wags when they offend."  [1913 Webster]

  "A counselor never pleaded without a piece of pack thread in his hand, which he used to twist about a finger all the while he was speaking; the wags used to call it the thread of his discourse."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

wag, v. & n.
--v. (wagged, wagging)
1 tr. & intr. shake or wave rapidly or energetically to and fro.
2 intr. archaic (of the world, times, etc.) go along with varied fortune or characteristics.
--n. a single wagging motion (with a wag of his tail).

Idiom

the tail wags the dog the less or least important member of a society, section of a party, or part of a structure has control. tongues (or beards or chins or jaws) wag there is talk.

wag, n.
1 a facetious person, a joker.
2 Brit. sl. a truant (play the wag).

Etymology

prob. f. obs. waghalter one likely to be hanged (as WAG(1), HALTER)

THESAURUS

wag

bad boy, banana, beat, bob, bobble, booger, brandish, buffoon, bugger, burlesquer, card, careen, caricaturist, clown, coggle, comedian, comic, cutup, dangle, devil, droll, elf, enfant terrible, epigrammatist, farceur, flap, flaunt, float, flourish, fluctuate, flutter, fly, funmaker, funnyman, gag writer, gagman, gagster, hood, hoodlum, hooligan, humorist, imp, ironist, jester, joker, jokesmith, jokester, kidder, knave, lampooner, lash, librate, little devil, little monkey, little rascal, lurch, madcap, minx, mischief, mischief-maker, nutate, oscillate, parodist, pendulate, pitch, pixie, practical joker, prankster, puck, punner, punster, quipster, rapscallion, rascal, reel, reparteeist, resonate, rock, rogue, roll, rowdy, ruffian, satirist, scamp, scapegrace, shake, show-off, squirm, swag, sway, swing, swinging, switch, take, toss, twist and turn, twitch, undulate, vacillate, vibrate, waggle, wagwit, wave, waver, wield, wiggle, wigwag, wisecracker, wit, witling, wobble, wriggle, writhe, zany

ROGET THESAURUS

wag

Humorist

N humorist, wag, wit, reparteeist, epigrammatist, punster, bel esprit, life of the party, wit-snapper, wit-cracker, wit- worm, joker, jester, Joe Miller, drole de corps, gaillard, spark, bon diable, practical joker, buffoon, farceur, merry-andrew, mime, tumbler, acrobat, mountebank, charlatan, posturemaster, harlequin, punch, pulcinella, scaramouch, clown, wearer of the cap and bells, wearer of the motley, motley fool, pantaloon, gypsy, jack-pudding, jack in the green, jack a dandy, wiseacre, wise guy, smartass, fool, zany, madcap, pickle-herring, witling, caricaturist, grimacier, persifleur.

Oscillation

N oscillation, vibration, libration, motion of a pendulum, nutation, undulation, pulsation, pulse, alternation, coming and going, ebb and flow, flux and reflux, ups and down, fluctuation, vacillation, wave, vibratiuncle, swing, beat, shake, wag, seesaw, dance, lurch, dodge, logan, loggan, rocking-stone, vibroscope, oscillating, oscillatory, undulatory, pulsatory, libratory, rectilinear, vibratory, vibratile, pendulous, to and fro, up and down, backwards and forwards, hither and yon, seesaw, zigzag, wibble-wabble, in and out, from side to side, like buckets in a well.

VB oscillate, vibrate, librate, alternate, undulate, wave, rock, swing, pulsate, beat, wag, waggle, nod, bob, courtesy, curtsy, tick, play, wamble, wabble, dangle, swag, fluctuate, dance, curvet, reel, quake, quiver, quaver, shake, flicker, wriggle, roll, toss, pitch, flounder, stagger, totter, move up and down, bob up and down, pass and repass, ebb and flow, come and go, vacillate, teeter, brandish, shake, flourish.

Agitation

VB be agitated, shake, tremble, tremble like an aspen leaf, quiver, quaver, quake, shiver, twitter, twire, writhe, toss, shuffle, tumble, stagger, bob, reel, sway, wag, waggle, wriggle, wriggle like an eel, dance, stumble, shamble, flounder, totter, flounce, flop, curvet, prance, cavort, squirm, throb, pulsate, beat, palpitate, go pitapat, flutter, flitter, flicker, bicker, bustle, ferment, effervesce, foam, boil, boil over, bubble up, simmer, toss about, jump about, jump like a parched pea, shake like an aspen leaf, shake to its center, shake to its foundations, be the sport of the winds and waves, reel to and fro like a drunken man, move from post to pillar and from pillar to post, drive from post to pillar and from pillar to post, keep between hawk and buzzard, agitate, shake, convulse, toss, tumble, bandy, wield, brandish, flap, flourish, whisk, jerk, hitch, jolt, jog, joggle, jostle, buffet, hustle, disturb, stir, shake up, churn, jounce, wallop, whip, vellicate.