*wai*

adv. [ OE. atwaine, atwinne; pref. a- + twain. ] In twain; asunder. [ Obs. or Poetic ] “Cuts atwain the knots.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Awaited; p. pr. & vb. n. Awaiting. ] [ OF. awaitier, agaitier; &unr_; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait. ] 1. To watch for; to look out for. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To wait on, serve, or attend. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To wait for; to stay for; to expect. See Expect. [ 1913 Webster ]

Betwixt these rocky pillars Gabriel sat,
Chief of the angelic guards, awaiting night. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To be in store for; to be ready or in waiting for; as, a glorious reward awaits the good. [ 1913 Webster ]

O Eve, some farther change awaits us night. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To watch. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To wait (on or upon). [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To wait; to stay in waiting. Darwin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A waiting for; ambush; watch; watching; heed. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

pred. adj. 1. expected. Opposite of unexpected.
Syn. -- anticipated, hoped-for, prospective. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bewailed p. pr. & vb. n. Bewailing. ] To express deep sorrow for, as by wailing; to lament; to wail over. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hath widowed and unchilded many a one,
Which to this hour bewail the injury. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To bemoan; grieve. -- See Deplore. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To express grief; to lament. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Such as may, or ought to, be bewailed; lamentable. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who bewails or laments. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Wailing over; lamenting. -- Be*wail"ing*ly, adv. [1913 Webster]

n. The act of bewailing. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Boat + swain. ] 1. (Naut.) An officer who has charge of the boats, sails, rigging, colors, anchors, cables, cordage, etc., of a ship, and who also summons the crew, and performs other duties. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) (a) The jager gull. (b) The tropic bird. [ 1913 Webster ]

Boatswain's mate, an assistant of the boatswain. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Charles + wain; cf. AS. Carles w&aemacr_;n (for wægn), Sw. karlvagnen, Dan. karlsvogn. See Churl, and Wain. ] (Astron.) The group of seven stars, commonly called the Big Dipper, in the constellation Ursa Major, or Great Bear. See Ursa major, under Ursa. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

☞ The name is sometimes also applied to the Constellation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cock a boat + swain; hence, the master of a boat. ] The steersman of a boat; a petty officer who has charge of a boat and its crew. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ or . [ From Conestoga, Pennsylvania. ] A kind of large broad-wheeled wagon, usually covered, for traveling in soft soil and on prairies. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ OE. cordewan, cordian, OF. cordoan, cordouan, fr. Sp. cordoban. See Cordovan. ] A term used in the Middle Ages for Spanish leather (goatskin tanned and dressed), and hence, any leather handsomely finished, colored, gilded, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

Buskins he wore of costliest cordwain. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. cordwaner, cordiner, fr. OF. cordoanier, cordouanier, F. cordonnier. ] A worker in cordwain, or cordovan leather; a shoemaker. [ Archaic. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To wait or watch for; to be on guard against. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Cockswain. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Dag a loose end? ] A coarse woolen fabric made of daglocks, or the refuse of wool. “Under coverlets made of dagswain.” Holinshed. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Naut.) Having a deep waist, as when, in a ship, the poop and forecastle are much elevated above the deck. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A framework on which dishes, food, etc., are passed from one room or story of a house to another; a lift for dishes, etc.; also, a piece of furniture with movable or revolving shelves. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. a. Belonging to Hawaii or the Sandwich Islands, or to the people of Hawaii. -- n. A native of Hawaii. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a lady appointed to attend to a queen or princess. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. See Landing waiter, under Landing, a. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having a long waist; long from the armpits to the bottom of the waist; -- said of persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Long from the part about the neck or shoulder, or from the armpits, to the bottom of the weist, or to the skirt; -- said of garments; as, a long-waisted coat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A timid man or boy considered childish or unassertive.
Syn. -- sissy, pansy, milksop, Milquetoast. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Zool.) A lake whitefish; the roundfish. See Roundfish. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Naut.) Having a flush deck, or with only a moderate depression amidships; -- said of a vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

. [ shirt + waist; see waist{ 3 }, n. ] 1. A woman's blouse resembling a men's shirt in cut and style; -- in England called a blouse. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

2. a type of woman's dress with a bodice tailored like a shirt; -- also called shirt dress, shirtwaist dress, and shirtwaister. [ RHUD ] [ PJC ]

. A costume consisting of a plain belted blouse and skirt of the same material. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Having a short waist. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Strait-jacket. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. swain, swein, Icel. sveinn a boy, servant; akin to Sw. sven, Dan. svend, AS. swān, OHG. swein. ] 1. A servant. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Him behoves serve himself that has no swain. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A young man dwelling in the country; a rustic; esp., a cuntry gallant or lover; -- chiefly in poetry. [ 1913 Webster ]

It were a happy life
To be no better than a homely swain. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Blest swains! whose nymphs in every grace excel. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or resembling, a swain; rustic; ignorant. “An ungentle and swainish beast.” Milton. -- Swain"ish*ness, n. Emerson. [1913 Webster]

n. A little swain. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Swain + mote meeting: cf. LL. swanimotum. ] (Eng. Forest Law) A court held before the verders of the forest as judges, by the steward of the court, thrice every year, the swains, or freeholders, within the forest composing the jury. [ Written also swanimote, and sweinmote. ] Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The condition of a swain. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Cf. Sweep. ] To walk proudly; to sweep along. [ Prov. Eng. ] Todd. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The twaite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ CF. Icel. þveit a piece of land, fr. þvīta to cut. See Thwite, and cf. Doit, and Twaite land cleared of woods. ] Forest land cleared, and converted to tillage; an assart. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Thwaite occurs in composition as the last element in many names of places in the north of England; as, in Rosthwaite, Stonethwaite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A customhouse officer who watches the landing of goods from merchant vessels, in order to secure payment of duties. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. [ OE. twein, tweien, tweyne, AS. twēgen, masc. See Two. ] Two; -- nearly obsolete in common discourse, but used in poetry and burlesque. “Children twain.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Matt. v. 41. [ 1913 Webster ]

In twain, in halves; into two parts; asunder. [ 1913 Webster ] When old winter split the rocks in twain. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ] --
Twain cloud. (Meteor.) Same as Cumulo-stratus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Prov. E. ] (Zool.) A European shad; -- called also twaite shad. See Shad. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (O. Eng. Law) A piece of cleared ground. See Thwaite. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ 1st pref. un- + twain. ] To rend in twain; to tear in two. [ Obs. ] Skelton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ For weighed. ] Oppressed with weight; crushed; weighed down. [ Obs. ] Tusser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. waif, gaif, as adj., lost, unclaimed, chose gaive a waif, LL. wayfium, res vaivae; of Scand. origin. See Waive. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Eng. Law.) Goods found of which the owner is not known; originally, such goods as a pursued thief threw away to prevent being apprehended, which belonged to the king unless the owner made pursuit of the felon, took him, and brought him to justice. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, anything found, or without an owner; that which comes along, as it were, by chance. “Rolling in his mind old waifs of rhyme.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A wanderer; a castaway; a stray; a homeless child. [ 1913 Webster ]

A waif
Desirous to return, and not received. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]