different between wattle vs waffle

English

Etymology

From Middle English wattel, watel, from Old English watel, watul (“hurdle”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?w?t?l/
• (US) enPR: wät??l, IPA^(key): /?w?t?l/, [?w?.?l?]
• Rhymes: -?t?l
• Homophone: what'll (in some accents with the wine-whine merger)

Noun

wattle (countable and uncountable, plural wattles)

1. A construction of branches and twigs woven together to form a wall, barrier, fence, or roof.
   • ?, Alfred Tennyson, The Holy Grail

     And there he built with wattles from the marsh / A little lonely church in days of yore.

2. A single twig or rod laid on a roof to support the thatch.
3. A wrinkled fold of skin, sometimes brightly coloured, hanging from the neck of birds (such as chicken and turkey) and some lizards.
4. A barbel of a fish.
5. A decorative fleshy appendage on the neck of a goat.
6. Loose hanging skin in the neck of a person.
7. Any of several Australian trees and shrubs of the genus Acacia, or their bark, used in tanning.

Coordinate terms

• (skin on head of birds): caruncle, comb, cockscomb, crest, snood

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

wattle (third-person singular simple present wattles, present participle wattling, simple past and past participle wattled)

1. (transitive) To construct a wattle, or make a construction of wattles.
2. (transitive) To bind with wattles or twigs.

Further reading

• wattle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?w?fl/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?w?f?l/, /?w?-/
• Rhymes: -?f?l
• Hyphenation: waf?fle

Etymology 1

The noun is borrowed from Dutch wafel (“waffle; wafer”), from Middle Dutch wafel, wafele, wavel, from Old Dutch *w?vila, from Proto-Germanic *w?bil?, *w?bil?, possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *web?- (“to braid, weave”) (whence Dutch weven (“to weave”) and English weave), and possibly reinforced by German Waffel (“waffle; wafer”). The English word is a doublet of wafer.

The verb (“to smash”) derives from the manner in which batter is pressed into the shape of a waffle between the two halves of a waffle iron.

Noun

waffle (plural waffles)

1. (countable, originally US) A flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern, often eaten hot with butter and/or honey or syrup.

2. (countable, Britain) In full potato waffle: a savoury flat potato cake with the same kind of grid pattern.
3. (construction, also attributively) A concrete slab used in flooring with a gridlike structure of ribs running at right angles to each other on its underside.
   • 1970, Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute, Manual of Standard Practice

     Both joists and slab are cast in place to form a monolithic unit, integral with the supporting beams and columns. The joists form a characteristic waffle pattern on the underside. Structural design of joist construction: one-way or waffle flat slab […]

   • 1993, Harry Parker, James Ambrose, Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders:

     The most widely used type of waffle construction is the waffle flat slab, in which solid portions around column supports are […] These beams may be produced as projections below the waffle, as shown […]

   • 2008, Edward G. Nawy, Concrete Construction Engineering Handbook, CRC Press (?ISBN), page 9:

     In one-way (pan joist) and two-way (waffle) joist construction, a similar layout is usually adopted.

4. (textiles, chiefly attributively) A type of fabric woven with a honeycomb texture.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

waffle (third-person singular simple present waffles, present participle waffling, simple past and past participle waffled)

1. (transitive, slang) To smash (something).
   • 1997, Bill Conlin, Kevin Kerrane (editor), "Batting cleanup, Bill Conlin", page 121:

     These were not the Cowboys who were waffled, 45–14, here at mid-season. They came prepared to play a championship football game, with an ultra-conservative game plan suited to the horrendous turf conditions, and came close to pulling it off [...]

   • 2005, Shawn Michaels, with Aaron Feigenbaum, Heartbreak & Triumph: The Shawn Michaels Story, Page 47:

     Then I waffled him and knocked him down. Why I cut myself open with the razor, I'm not completely sure. I was like the idiot in a bar who gets all worked up and smashes a bottle over his head [...]

   • 2006, Gordon Forbes, Tales from the Eagles Sideline (updated edition), page 2:

     Bednarik, however, says the play became legendary only because of the circumstances. "I did it [...] to the top honcho. He just happened to be there and the pass was thrown to him. I waffled him cleanly." [...] "He just cold-cocked Frank," said linebacker Bob Pellegrini, whose injury sent Bednarik into the game to play defense.

Translations

Etymology 2

The verb is borrowed from Scots waffle (“to waver, flap, flutter; to cause to flap or wave; to move uncertainly, stagger, totter; (figuratively) to vacillate, waver; of the wind: to gust, especially in different directions; to crease, wrinkle; to confuse, tangle; to become limp or soft; a flapping, waving; a tossing about, as if by wind; weak gust of wind; light fall of snow; loosely woven or thin cloth; feeble person; flexible; feeble, weak”), from waff (“to wag, wave; to flap, flutter; to agitate the air, to fan; of an air current or wind: to blow, waft; to set moving, drive; to scatter with a flapping or waving movement; flapping or waving movement, a flutter; signal made by waving; banner, flag; air current, draft, puff; material blown about by the wind; slight aroma, whiff; soft sound, murmur; quick view, glimpse; slight touch, glancing blow; mild illness; short experience (especially of something pleasant); apparition, ghost”) + -le (diminutive or frequentative suffix). Waff is derived from Early Scots waff (“signal; gust of wind; glimpse; a flapping, waving”), from Northern Middle English wafe, waffe, a variant of waven (“to move to and fro, sway; to stray, wander; (figuratively) to follow a weaving course; (figuratively) to vacillate, waver; to move something to and fro, wave”) (whence wave), from Old English wafian (“to wave”), from Proto-Germanic *wab?n?, *wabjan? (“to sway; to wander”), from Proto-Indo-European *web?- (“to braid, weave”).

Regarding sense 5 (“to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point”), compare Old English wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Germanic *babal?n? (“to babble, chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *b??- (“to say”) and/or Proto-Indo-European *baba- (“to talk vaguely; to mumble”). The Oxford English Dictionary does not derive the English word waffle from this Old English word.

The noun is derived from the verb.

Verb

waffle (third-person singular simple present waffles, present participle waffling, simple past and past participle waffled)

1. (intransitive) To speak or write evasively or vaguely.

   Synonym: beat around the bush
2. (intransitive) Of a bird: to move in a side-to-side motion while descending before landing.

   Synonym: whiffle

3. (intransitive, aviation, road transport, colloquial) Of an aircraft or motor vehicle: to travel in a slow and unhurried manner.
4. (intransitive, originally Northern England, Scotland, colloquial) To be indecisive about something; to dither, to vacillate, to waver.

   Synonym: blow hot and cold
5. (transitive, intransitive) Often followed by on: to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point; to ramble.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:prattle

   • 1976 Tony Hatch, So you want to be in the music business, Everest Books, p68

     Unless you have a great line in gags or repartee don't waffle on aimlessly to your audience, or make in-jokes among yourselves, the band or the compere/DJ.

   • 1984 "Apiary Antics- No.5," British bee journal, Volumes 112-113, p68

     Before getting down to the nitty gritty of beekeeping, most contributors to BBJ like to waffle on for a bit about the weather, the state of their garden or something equally inconsequential.

   • 2005 Bill Condon, No Worries, Univ. of Queensland Press, p78

     She waffled on for ages. Usually I'd say something smart or make it obvious that I wasn't interested and couldn't be bothered listening.

   • 2006 Carl Storm, A Mighty Fine Way to Live and Die, Backstrap Ltd, p8

     The whole thing ended suddenly when the hotel manager arrived. He waffled on for a bit; this settled everyone down.

6. (transitive) To hold horizontally and rotate (one's hand) back and forth in a gesture of ambivalence or vacillation.
   • 2007, Michael Koryta, Sorrow’s Anthem, Macmillan, ?ISBN, page 146:

     “ […] You get anything useful on the background checks?” / He waffled his hand. “Nothing like what you brought back, but still some interesting notes. […]”

Derived terms

• waffler
• waffling (adjective, noun)

Translations

Noun

waffle (uncountable)

1. (colloquial) (Often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:chatter

Translations

Etymology 3

Possibly from waff (“(dialectal) to bark, woof”) (imitative of a dog’s yelp) + -le (diminutive or frequentative suffix).

Verb

waffle (third-person singular simple present waffles, present participle waffling, simple past and past participle waffled)

1. (intransitive, Britain, dialectal) Of a dog: to bark with a high pitch like a puppy, or in muffled manner.

Noun

waffle (plural waffles)

1. (Britain, dialectal) The high-pitched sound made by a young dog; also, a muffled bark.

See also

• wuffle

References

Further reading

• waffle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• waffle slab on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English waffle.

Noun

waffle m or f (in variation) (plural waffles)

1. waffle (type of flat pastry)

Spanish

Alternative forms

• wafle (less frequent spelling)

Etymology

Borrowed from English waffle.

Noun

waffle m (plural waffles)

1. (Latin America) waffle (type of flat pastry)

   Synonym: (Spain) gofre

Related terms

• waflera