Wag , n. [From Wag, v.]
1. The act of
wagging; a shake; as, a wag
of the head. [Colloq.]
2. [Perhaps shortened from wag-halter a rogue.] A
man full of
sport and humor; a ludicrous fellow; a humorist; a
wit; a joker.
We
wink at wags when they offend.
Dryden.
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.
Addison.
Wag , v. i. 1. To
move one way and the other; to be shaken to and
fro; to vibrate.
The resty sieve wagged ne'er the more.
Dryden.
2. To be in action or
motion; to move; to get along; to progress; to stir. [Colloq.]
"Thus we may see," quoth he, "how the world wags."
Shak.
3. To go;
to depart; to pack oft. [R.]
I will provoke him to 't, or let him wag.
Shak.
Wag (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wagged (?);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Wagging.]
[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.
No discerner
durst wag his tongue in
censure.
Shak.
Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
Jer.
xviii. 16. &fist; Wag expresses specifically the motion of the
head and body used in buffoonery, mirth, derision, sport, and mockery.
Hear it pronounced