wag
verb/wæɡ/
/wæɡ/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they wag | /wæɡ/ /wæɡ/ |
| he / she / it wags | /wæɡz/ /wæɡz/ |
| past simple wagged | /wæɡd/ /wæɡd/ |
| past participle wagged | /wæɡd/ /wæɡd/ |
| -ing form wagging | /ˈwæɡɪŋ/ /ˈwæɡɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] wag (something) if a dog wags its tail, or its tail wags, its tail moves from side to side several times
- The dog raced ahead, its tail wagging furiously.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- furiously
- happily
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- [transitive] wag something to shake your finger or your head from side to side or up and down, often because you do not approve of something
- ‘Just remember what I said,’ she repeated, wagging her finger at him.
- He wagged his head from side to side.
- [transitive] wag something (Australian English, New Zealand English) to stay away from school without permission
- to wag school
Word Originverb Middle English (as a verb): from the Germanic base of Old English wagian ‘to sway’.
Idioms
See wag in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryset tongues wagging | tongues are wagging
- (informal) to cause people to start talking/people are talking about somebody’s private affairs
- His sudden resignation set tongues wagging.
- This is a small island and tongues are beginning to wag.
the tail (is) wagging the dog
- used to describe a situation in which the most important aspect is being influenced and controlled by somebody/something that is not as important
Check pronunciation:
wag