/
wɒft,
wɑːft/
v.
pass easily or gently through the air.
▸move with a gliding motion.
n.
- a gentle movement of air.
▸a scent carried in the air.
-
(also weft)
Nautical, historical a knotted ensign or garment displayed by a ship as a signal.
Etymology
C16 (in the sense ‘escort a ship’): back-form. from obs. wafter ‘armed convoy vessel’, from Low Ger., Du. wachten ‘to guard’; sense 2 perh. rel. to Scots and northern waff ‘a signal or wave’, a var. of wave.
