online medical dictionary | definition of waver

1. To play or move to and fro; to move one way and the other; hence, to totter; to reel; to swing; to flutter. "With banners and pennons wavering with the wind." (Ld. Berners) "Thou wouldst waver on one of these trees as a terror to all evil speakers against dignities." (Sir W. Scott)

2. To be unsettled in opinion; to vacillate; to be undetermined; to fluctuate; as, to water in judgment. "Let us hold fast . . . Without wavering." (Heb. X. 23) "In feeble hearts, propense enough before To waver, or fall off and join with idols." (Milton)

Synonyms: To reel, totter, vacillate. See Fluctuate.

Origin: OE. Waveren, from AS. Waefre wavering, restless. See Wave.

A sapling left standing in a fallen wood.

Origin: From Wave, or Waver.

(01 Mar 1998)