Wag v.

Inflected wagged, wagging. Forms: 3–7 wagge, 4, 6 wage, 6–8 wagg, 4– wag. [ME. wagge-n, f. root of OE. waʓian (ME. waȝe-n) to oscillate, shake: see WAW v.

  The verb may be regarded as an iterative or emphatic form of waʓian WAW v., which is often nearly synonymous; it was used, e.g., of a loose tooth, and (ME.) in the proverb 4 c. Parallel formations from the same root are ON. vagga wk. fem., cradle (Sw. vagga, Du. vugge), (M)Sw. vagga to rock a cradle, early mod.G. waggen (mod.HG. dial. wacken) to waver, totter. Cf. WAGGLE v.]

  I.  Intransitive uses.

  1.  To be in motion or activity; to stir, move. Now colloq. (chiefly in negative context), to stir, move one’s limbs.

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 374. Þis wrastlunge is ful bitter to monie þet beoð ful uorð iðe weie touward heouene; for þe ȝet fondunges … waggeð oðer hwules.

c. 1460.  Towneley Myst., xxx. 226. Vnethes may I wag, man, for wery in youre stabill Whils I set my stag, man.

c. 1480.  Henryson, Test. Cress., 196. Ane horne he [sc. Mars] blew … Quhilk all this warld with weir has maid to wag.

c. 1532.  Du Wes, Introd. Fr., in Palsgr., 939. To brawle or to wage, bransler.

1582.  Fetherstone, Dial. agst. Dancing, A 4 b. The wofull wayling of the widowe doeth not once make him [the rich man] wagge. Ibid. (1585), trans. Calvin on Acts i. 4. 6. Warlike discipline requireth this, that no man wagge, vnlesse hee be commaunded by the captaine.

1587.  Turberv., Trag. Tales, 52. [He] did feele a thing by happe, Within her wombe to wagge, and beat against her brest.

1593.  Bilson, Govt. Christ’s Ch., xiii. 289. If you can not tie them to your fansies, to binde them fast to their chaires that they shall not wagge.

1631.  [Mabbe], Celestina, xix. 189. Our unfortunate Master is falne from the ladder, and neither speakes nor wagges.

1636.  Featly, Clavis Myst., xxiii. 297. Driven to fly with her heavie burden with which she is scarce able to wag.

1650.  T. B[ayley], Worcester’s Apoph., Ep. Rdr. 2. Some … field-Chaplains … envying that a loyall pen should wagge, where they [etc.].

1653.  H. Cogan, trans. Pinto’s Trav., xxiv. 91. Which gave us such an alarum, as not daring scarce to wag we got out again with all secrecy.

1692.  R. L’Estrange, Josephus, Antiq., VI. v. (1733), 138. The miserable Distress of their Condition drew Tears and Pity wherever they came, but not a Creature durst so much as wag to help them.

1860.  Whyte-Melville, Market Harb., xii. I’ve a hack here at Welford…. He’s short of work, poor devil! and could hardly wag coming up the hill.

  † 2.  To totter, stagger, be in danger of falling.

c. 1340.  Nominale (Skeat), 166. M[an] sliduth vp-on hyse, W[oman] waggi[t]h [Fr. ercule; error for croule] and falluth lowe.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XVIII. 61. Þe wal wagged and clef and al þe worlde quaued.

c. 1440.  Gesta Rom. (Harl. MS.), 110. Þey [sc. two beasts] gnowe at the Rote of the tree … to throwe it downe, in so muche that the wrecchid man felte it wagge.

1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, VII. xvii. 238. And thenne they stode wagyng and scateryng [1529 stakerynge], pontyng, blowynge and bledynge.

  3.  To oscillate, shake or sway alternately in opposite directions, as something working on a pivot, fitting loosely in a socket, or the like. Of a boat or ship: To rock.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. VIII. 31. Þe wynde and þe water and þe bote waggynge Maketh þe man many a tyme to falle and to stonde.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Reeve’s T., 119. Yet saugh I neuere, by my fader kyn, How that the hopur wagges til and fra.

c. 1394.  P. Pl. Crede, 226. His chyn wiþ a chol lollede … þat all wagged his flesh as a quyk mire.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. xlv. (Bodl. MS.). Iuce þerof hette wiþ vynegre fastene[þ] teþe þatt waggen.

c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 513/1. Waggon’, or waveron’, or stere be hyt selfe as a thynge hangynge, vacillo.

c. 1520.  Skelton, Magnyf., 1821. I sawe a wethercocke wagge with the wynde!

a. 1572.  Knox, Hist. Ref., Wks. 1846, I. 147. Syd gounis mycht have bene sein wantonly wag from the one wall to the other.

1640.  Wilkins, New Planet, V. (1707), 196. It could not wag with the least kind of Declination.

1654.  Whitelocke, Swed. Ambassy (1772), II. 371. Mar. She wagges! she wagges!… My lord, uppon my life the ship did wag; I saw her move.

1725.  Bradley’s Family Dict., s.v., Tunnel, There should be a Stick … to keep up the Head and Tail [of a stalking horse], which last should be at some distance from the Body, that it may wag in moving.

1818.  Scott, Rob Roy, xviii. Better a finger aff as aye wagging.

  † b.  Of leaves, corn, reeds, etc.: To waver, shake. Obs.

1398.  Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. vii. (1495), 607. A rede … wagyth wyth the wynde.

c. 1400.  Laud Troy Bk., 8968. As levis wagges with the wynde.

1423.  James I., Kingis Q., lx. Bot blawe wynd, blawe,… That sum twig may wag, and mak hir to wake.

1568.  Grafton, Chron., I. 7. The little boye espying the bush to wag,… imagined that there lay some wilde beast.

1658.  trans. Porta’s Nat. Magic, IV. i. 113. Binde [the Vines] … with strings or thongs, that they may be surely stayed from wagging up and down.

1663.  Patrick, Parab. Pilgrim, xxxvi. (1687), 457. If a leaf wagged, it was by the sweet breath of those Musicians which sate among the branches.

a. 1722.  Lisle, Husb. (1757), 243. No grass of any other kind did wag.

  Proverbial phrase.  1596.  J. Melvill, Autob. & Diary (Wodrow Soc.), 362. The King … lyked of nan that wald nocht wag as the bus [= bush] waggit.

  † c.  fig. To waver, vacillate. Obs.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), VII. 321. Robard, waggynge as a reed, assented anon.

1566.  Drant, Horace, Sat., I. i. A v. Thy mynde it waues and wagges.

  † d.  To dangle on the gallows, be hanged. Obs.

c. 1430.  Pilgr. Lyf Manhode, III. xvii. (1869), 144. It is þe hand þat maketh the feet to wagge [Fr. balter] and þe eres to be kitte.

1547.  Boorde, Brev. Health, § 151. Let them beware of wagging in the Galowes.

15[?].  A pore Help, 256, in Hazlitt, E. P. P. (1866), 261. Your happe may be to wagse Upon a wodden nagge.

  4.  Of a limb, the head or tail, etc.: To be moved briskly from side to side.

1484.  Caxton, Fables of Æsop, III. xvii. [The ape said to the fox] What auaylleth to the soo long a taylle, hit doth but wagge.

1601.  Holland, Pliny, IX. x. I. 241. The Troglodites have among them certaine Tortoises, with broad hornes like the pegges in a Lute or Harpe, and the same will wagge and stirre so, as in swimming they helpe themselves therewith.

1602.  Shaks., Ham., V. i. 290.

1693.  Humours Town, 92. Their Elbows wag faster than their Tongues.

1830.  Scott, Demonol., i. 15. A humourist, who planted himself … with his eyes riveted on the … bronze lion that graces the front of Northumberland-house … and having attracted the attention of those who looked at him by muttering ‘By Heaven it wags!’ [etc.].

  b.  Of the tongue, † lips: To move briskly in animated talk: often with an implication of foolish or indiscreet speech.

1590.  Tarlton’s Newes Purgat., 24. When her tung could not wagge, she heaued her hands aboue water.

1599.  B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Rev., V. iii. For the solemne Addresse, two Lips wagging, and neuer a wise word.

1604.  Breton, Grimellos Fort. (Grosart), 13/1. Being one that loued to heare a tongue wagge, either her owne, her Gossips, her Maides, or her Pyes.

1828.  Scott, F. M. Perth, ii. ‘Daughter,’ said Simon, ‘your tongue wags too freely.’

1863.  Geo. Eliot, Romola, x. Boys whose tongues were used to wag in concert at the most brutal street games.

1883.  Frances M. Peard, Contrad., xxvii. I know you will be careful not to set tongues wagging.

  c.  Proverb.

[13[?]:  see WAW v.]

c. 1550.  Disc. Common Weal Eng. (1893), 138. It is a common proverbe, it is mery in hall when beardes wagges all.

1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 129.

1573–80.  Tusser, Husb. (1878), 126.

1597.  Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., V. iii. 35.

1731–8.  Swift, Pol. Conversat., 170. Come, they say, ’tis merry in the Hall, when Beards wag all.

  d.  To sway the body from side to side; (of a dog) to walk with a swaying movement.

1726.  Garretson, Sch. Manners, 36. Run not hastily in the street, nor go too slowly: wag not to and fro, nor use any antick or wanton posture either of thy head, hands, feet or body.

1868.  Julia Kavanagh, Dora, xxi. They all left the inn…, Eva as usual clinging to Dora’s side, and Fido wagging slowly behind her.

  † 5.  To move about from place to place; to wander. Also, to drift (in water). Obs.

c. 1325.  Poem Times Edw. II., 190, in Pol. Songs (1839), 332. He wole wagge about the cloistre and kepen hise fet clene in house.

1382.  Wyclif, Job xxxviii. 41. Who maketh redi to the crowe his mete, whan his briddis crie to God, hider and thider waggende [Vulg. vagantes].

c. 1400.  Destr. Troy, 13542. Thus I skope fro the skathe with skyrme of my hondes, And with wawes of the water wagget to bonke.

c. 1555.  Harpsfield, Divorce Hen. VIII. (Camden), 251. The head thus being above, the body beneath in water, wagging and removing to and fro.

  † 6.  To move, budge from a place. Obs.

c. 1400.  Laud Troy Bk., 5875. Thei myght onethes a-wey wagge With siluer and gold.

1585.  Fetherstone, trans. Calvin on Acts xvi. 27. 402. Though his bands wer loosed, he did not once wag from his place.

1589.  Puttenham, Engl. Poesie, III. xix. (Arb.), 240. It is said by manner of a prouerbiall speach that he who findes himselfe well should not wagge.

1609.  C. Butler, Fem. Mon. (1634), 9. As many [bees] as are stricken, within an hour after, will not be able to wag out of the place.

1666.  Glanvil, Consid. Witches (1667), 20. The separated souls of the wicked … cannot possibly wag from the place of their confinement.

1675.  Wycherley, Country-Wife, IV. iv. Mrs. Pin. Sir go we’l follow you. Spar. I will not wag without you.

1715.  Hearne, Collect. (O. H. S.), V. 133. I cannot wag out of Oxford till the Term is ended.

1730.  Fielding, Rape upon Rape, III. xi. I’ll not wag without you.

  7.  To go, depart, be off. Now colloq.

1594.  Lyly, Mother Bombie, II. i. 58. But let mee bee wagging.

1598.  Shaks., Merry W., I. iii. 7. Discard (bully Hercules) casheere; let them wag; trot, trot. Ibid. (1599), Much Ado, V. i. 16. If such a one will smile and stroke his beard, And sorrow, wagge [read Bid sorrow wagge], crie hem, when he should grone.

1601.  W. Percy, Cuckqueanes & Cuckolds Errants, IV. i. (Roxb.), 47. My gentleman, let him wagge, whither he please, in the name of Jehoua.

1652.  A. Ross, Hist. World, II. iv. 64. He [Heliogabalus] … never would wag any where without 60 Chariots.

1779.  Cowper, Yearly Distr., 50. Come, neighbours, we must wag.

  b.  To travel or make one’s way; to ‘jog along.’ lit. and fig.

1684.  Bunyan, Pilgr., II. 183. They made a pretty good shift to wagg along.

1798.  J. Jefferson, Lett. to Boucher, 23 Feb. (MS.). People in Hampshire not only wag the head or hand,… but they wag out, when they take a walk.—It always puts me in mind of a Duck.

1840.  Longf., Sp. Stud., III. vi. Thus I wag through the world, half the time on foot, and the other half walking.

1903.  ‘Angus McNeill’ (T. W. H. Crosland), Egregious English, iii. 28. So he wagged along and helped to build up the commercial greatness and probity and honour of his country.

  c.  In proverbial phrases with ‘the world’ as subject. How the world wags: how affairs are going. To let the world wag (as it will): to regard the course of events with unconcern. (For other expressions analogous to these, see the quots.)

a. 1529.  Skelton, Sp. Parrot, 90. In flattryng fables men fynde but lyllyl fayth: But moveatur terra, let the world wag.

1538.  Latimer, Lett. to Cromwell, Serm & Rem. (1845), 396. By this bill inclosed your lordship can perceive something, how the world doth wag with Warwick college.

1550.  Crowley, Epigr., 361. Let the world wagge, we must neades haue drynke.

1575.  Gascoigne, Glasse Govt., Wks. 1910, II. 63. I warrant thee wee two will live howe soever the world wagge.

1600.  Shaks., A. Y. L., II. vii. 23. Thus may we see (quoth he) how the world wagges.

1611.  Cotgr., s.v. Gallere, Vogue la gallere, let the world wag, slide, goe how it will; let goe a Gods name.

1637.  Sanderson, Serm. (1681), II. 73. Solomons sluggard,… who foldeth his hands together, and letteth the world wag as it will.

1700.  T. Brown, Amusem. Ser. & Com., 130. Let us then go and see how the World wags in the City Circle.

1702.  Secret Mercury, 2–9 Sept., 2/1. I retir’d to my Lodgings and let the World wagg for that Night.

1790.  Gouv. Morris, in Sparks, Life & Writ. (1832), II. 105. Let the world wag as it may.

1791.  Mme. D’Arblay, Diary, July. I shall not, I hope, be forgetful, when the world wags ill, [etc.].

1823.  Scott, Quentin D., xxv. ‘I will have a rouze with Dunois,’ said Crèvecœur, ‘wag the world as it will.’

c. 1845.  C. Brontë, Professor, i. But you shall hear … how the world has wagged with me.

1861.  Congressional Globe, 18 Feb., 967/3. But I believe the world has wagged along about the same after as they did before the resolutions passed.

1877.  W. Black, Green Past., xlii. Let the world wag on as it may.

  † d.  To ‘get on,’ associate with. Obs.

c. 1560.  A. Scott, Poems (S. T. S.), xxxiv. 89. Ȝe wantoun wowaris waggis With thame that hes the cunȝe.

1562.  J. Heywood, Prov. & Epigr. (1867), 90. I with ale, and ale with me wag away.

  8.  slang. To play truant. Also to wag it. Cf. WAG sb.² 3

1848.  Dickens, Dombey, xxii. ‘My misfortunes all began in wagging, Sir; but what could I do, exceptin’ wag?’ ‘Excepting what?’ said Mr. Carker. ‘Wag, Sir. Wagging from school.’ ‘Do you mean pretending to go there, and not going?’ said Mr. Carker. ‘Yes, Sir, that’s wagging, Sir.’

1901.  W. S. Walker, In the Blood, i. 13. They had ‘wagged it’ from school, as they termed it, which … meant truancy in all its forms.

  II.  Transitive uses.

  † 9.  To set in movement, cause to quiver or oscillate; to shake or stir by force. Obs.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XVI. 41. And þanne fondeth þe fende my fruit to destruye, With alle þe wyles þat he can and waggeth þe rote.

1387.  Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 189. Centauri, as it were an hundred wynde waggers: for þey wagged wel þe wynde faste in hir ridynge.

1387–8.  T. Usk, Test. Love, I. Prol. 90. Ouer that he had power of strength to pull vp the spere, that Alisander the noble might neuer wagge.

c. 1425.  Cast. Persev., 1943, in Macro Plays, 135. Þis worthy, wylde werld, I wagge with a wyt.

1471.  Caxton, Recuyell (Sommer), 212. Than he began a lityll and a lityll to wagge the ston and to seke the Ioyntures that helde hit.

1508.  Fisher, 7 Penit. Ps., vi. Wks. (1876), 18. The lefe that with a lytell wynde is wagged and blowen doune.

1582.  N. Lichefield, trans. Castanheda’s Conq. E. Ind., I. ix. 25 b. They adiudged that the gabell [i.e., cable] had bene wagged or shaken by a kinde of Fish called a Tunnie.

1587.  Turberv., Trag. Tales, 14. But how much more the louer made his mone,… The more shee sate vnmoued, like the stone, Whom waues do beat, but wag not from his place.

1609.  C. Butler, Fem. Mon. (1634), 51. The Place … must be kept close and quiet; free from noise and noisome cattel, that may either wag or wake them.

1612.  Selden, Illustr. Drayton’s Poly-olb., i. 16. So great, that many men’s vnited strength cannot remoue it, yet with one finger you may wagge it.

a. 1677.  Barrow, Serm., xiv. Wks. 1687, I. 202. A small transient pleasure, a tickling the ears, wagging the lungs, forming the face into a smile [etc.].

  † b.  To nudge. Obs.

1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XIX. 199. I wondred what þat was, & wagged conscience, And was afered of the lyȝte.

  10.  To brandish (a weapon). Also, to wave (something) defiantly, as a signal, or to attract notice. Obs. exc. in jocular use (cf. flag-wagging).

c. 1300.  Havelok, 89. He was te beste knith at nede, Þat heuere micthe … wepne wagge, or folc vt lede.

1535.  Coverdale, Isa. x. 24. Be not afrayde for the kinge of the Assirians: He shal wagg his staff at the,… But [etc.].

1577–87.  Harrison, England, II. ix. 181/1, in Holinshed. The other … wagging a scroll which he had in his hand before the iudge.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., IV. iv. 18. So these two champions … in their hands their idle troncheons held, Which neither able were to wag, or once to weld.

1806.  Scott, Health Ld. Melville, vii. While there’s one Scottish hand that can wag a claymore, sir.

  11.  To move (a limb or part of the body attached by a joint) to and fro, up and down, or from side to side: usually implying rapid and repeated movement. † Also, to blink repeatedly with, ‘bat’ (the eyes).

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., B. 1484. As þay with wynge vpon wynde hade waged her fytheres.

1530.  Palsgr., 770/1. Do you nat se hym, he waggeth his hande at you.

1542.  Brinklow, Lament. (1874), 111. What a blyndnes is it to thynke my sinnes forgeuen me, when a prest … hath wagged two or thre fyngers ouer my head?

1574.  Withals’ Dict., 67 b/2. Þætus, he that waggeth the eyes.

1594.  Marlowe & Nashe, Dido, II. i. 324. Achates, see King Priam wags his hand, He is aliue, Troy is not ouercome.

1597.  A. M., trans. Guillemeau’s Fr. Chirurg., 3/3. When the patient may easylye wagge his lower chawe bone.

1611.  Cotgr., Gambayer, to wag the legs in sitting, as children vse to do.

1611.  Coryat, Crudities, 229. They wagge their hands vp and downe very often.

1768.  Tucker, Lt. Nat., I. II. xxviii. 202. Nothing can be more harmless than wagging your finger considered in itself, yet if the finger rest against the trigger of a loaded musket and a man stand just before, you cannot do a wronger thing, and why?

1802.  Southey, Ballad St. Antidius, 35. He wagg’d his ears, he twisted his tail, He knew not for joy what to do.

1853.  Kane, Grinnell Exp., xxxvi. (1856), 326. [He] had to wag his leg half an hour by the dial.

  transf.  1596.  Shaks., Merch. V., IV. i. 76. You may as well forbid the Mountaine Pines To wagge their high tops.

  b.  (Chiefly in negative context, typifying the minimum of exertion.) To move, stir (a limb, finger, etc.). Now colloq.

1596.  Spenser, F. Q., V. i. 22. He found him selfe, vnwist, so ill bestad, That limb he could not wag.

1660.  F. Brooke, trans. Le Blanc’s Trav., 181. Travelling on the sands his hoof will burn and cleave, so as ’tis impossible to get him wag a foot.

1671.  Blagrave, Astrol. Pract. Phys., 149. For some hours she would be as seemingly dead, and could wagg neither arm or leg.

1697.  R. Peirce, Bath Mem., I. vi. 125. He told me (with great joy) that he could wagg one of his Toes.

1855.  Planché, trans. C’tess D’Aulnoy’s Fairy Tales (1858), 16. I’ll wager, now, that this idle beauty hasn’t wagged one of her ten fingers.

1861.  C. Reade, Cloister & H., lxxi. (1896), 207. Had it been any but you, believe me I had obeyed you and not wagged a finger.

1898.  F. Harrison, Autob. Mem. (1911), II. xxx. 150. I most positively declined to ask him or anyone to wag a finger to get me there.

  c.  To shake (the head); to move (the head) from side to side.

a. 1340.  Hampole, Psalter, xxi. 6. Þai spake with lippes and wagid þe heued.

1393.  Langl., P. Pl., C. XIII. 19. ‘Owh! how!’ quaþ ich þo and myn hefd waggede.

1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, XIX. ix. 787. And thenne the quene wagged her hede vpon sir Launcelot, as though she wold saye slee hym.

a. 1513.  Fabyan, Chron., ccxxiii. (1533), 147. When Robert had harde that message to the ende, he wagged hys hedde, as he that conceyued some doublenesse in thys reporte.

1526.  Tindale, Matt. xxvii. 39. They that passed by revyled hym, waggynge [Gr. κινοῦντες] ther heeddes.

1540.  Palsgr., Acolastus, Prol. B iv. Why waggest thou thy heed, as though thou were very angry.

1576.  Fleming, Panopl. Epist., 277. These extreme passions of mynde,… when Democritus had heard,… he … wagged his head too and fro: wherein he had some meaning.

a. 1618.  Sylvester, Funeral Elegy, Wks. (Grosart), II. 291. O! Who so constant, but would grieve and grudge (If not a Christian) at th’ All-ordering Judge; And wag his head at Heav’n,—weak earthly worm!

1815.  Scott, Guy M., ii. The poor parents were encouraged to hope that their bairn, as they expressed it, ‘might wag his pow in a pulpit yet.’

1840.  Thackeray, Barber Cox, June. We were introduced instantly…: the little lord wagged his head, my wife bowed very low, and so did Mr. Coddler. Ibid. (1841), Gt. Hoggarty Diam., vii. Tidd at this looked very knowing; and, as our host sunk off to sleep again,… wagged his head at the captain.

1863.  Geo. Eliot, Romola, vi. When once a man is obliged to do something besides wagging his head.

1871.  Longf., Wayside Inn, II. Cobbler of Hagenau, 92. The cobbler … wagging his sagacious head, Unto his kneeling housewife said: [etc.].

  d.  To move (the tongue, † lips) in animated speech: esp. with implication of indiscretion or malignity. Also of the tongue: To utter (words).

1569.  J. Sanford, trans. Agrippa’s Van. Artes, lxii. 91 b. They drawe deepe sighes from the harte: and wagging their lippes doo faigne to saie prayers.

1613.  Shaks., Hen. VIII., I. i. 33. No Discerner Durst wagge his Tongue in censure.

1657.  Trapp, Comm. Ps. cix. 2. II. 860. There is nothing more easie, than to wag a wicked tongue.

1820.  Scott, Monast., iv. The faithful Tibb and Dame Elspeth, excellent persons both, and as thorough gossips as ever wagged a tongue. Ibid. (1827), Jrnl., 10 March. It is brave to see how he wags his Scots tongue.

1840.  Thackeray, Paris Sk.-bk. (1869), 36. Not a tongue was wagged in his praise.

1871.  Dixon, Tower, III. xviii. 196. Every one who owed him grudge would eagerly begin to wag his tongue.

1894.  J. Davidson, Random Itin., 160. When they spoke, they simply left their mouths ajar, and allowed their tongues to wag the maimed words of an unknown dialect.

  e.  Of an animal: To move (its tail) from side to side: in dogs usually an indication of pleasure; in cats often a sign of anger.

c. 1410.  Master of Game (MS. Digby 182), xiii. And whan þei se her maister þei wole make hym chere and wag hir tayles vpon hym.

1545.  Elyot, Dict., Agere caudam, to wagge his tayle.

1599.  Marston, Ant. & Mel., III. (1602), F 2. Tis an old horse can neither wighy, nor wagge his taile.

1620.  J. Taylor (Water P.), Jack a Lent, C 2. All the Dogges in the Towne, doe wagge their tailes for ioy.

1661.  Lovell, Hist. Anim. & Min., 88. They [sc. lambs] wagge the taile whilest sucking.

1710.  Steele, Tatler, No. 231, ¶ 2. The poor Cur looked up and wagged his Tail.

1774.  Goldsm., Nat. Hist., V. 245. Pozzo … asserts, that it [a toucan] leaped up and down, wagged the tail, and cried with a voice resembling that of a magpie.

1791.  Cowper, Odyss., X. 264. They … Paw’d them in blandishment, and wagged the tail.

1863.  Kingsley, Water-Bab., iv. And there … lay five or six great salmon,… wagging their tails, as if they were very much pleased at it.

1865.  H. Kingsley, Hillyars & Burtons, lxii. The dog came wagging his tail.

  † f.  To flap (the wings). Obs.

1496.  Cov. Leet Bk., 577. Litell small been, Þat al aboute fleen, They waggen their whyng.

1584.  R. Scot, Discov. Witchcr., XI. vii. 195. Birds … in what sort they wag their wings.

1596.  Spenser, Hymn Heav. Love, 24. Ere flitting Time could wag his eyas wings About that mightie bound.

  † g.  To sway (the body) about. Obs.

1665.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav. (1677), 191. After the Eastern mode they wagg’d their Bodies, bowing their heads [etc.].

  III.  12. Combinations: wag-at-the-wall Sc. and north., a hanging clock with pendulum and weights exposed (also attrib.); also, ‘a spectre supposed to haunt the kitchen … wagging backwards and forwards before the death of one of the family’ (Jam.); † wag-feather, a swaggering coxcomb; † wag-pasty, a mischievous rogue; † wag-string = WAGHALTER; wag-tongue, a malicious chatterer; † wag-wanton, a wanton; † wag-with [? WITH sb.] = WAGHALTER. Also WAGHALTER, WAG-LEG, WAGSTART, WAGTAIL.

1825.  Brockett, N. C. Words, *Wag-at-the-waw, Wagger, a cheap wooden German clock. Perhaps from the pendulum being exposed; or, provincially, seen wagging against the wall.

1864.  Glasgow Herald, 11 May, 4/6. Others with an armful of cheap wag-at-the-wall clocks.

1894.  J. Davidson, Baptist Lake, 82. ‘It’s nearly half past four,’ said he, looking at a wag-at-the-wall that hung behind him.

1889.  Barrie, Window in Thrums, xix. When I entered, the wag-at-the-wa’ clock had again possession of the kitchen.

1611.  Cotgr., Coqueplumet,… a *wag-feather.

a. 1553.  Udall, Royster D., III. ii. (Arb.), 40. A little *wagpastie, A deceiuer of folkes, by subtill craft and guile.

c. 1563.  Jack Jugler (Roxb.), 28. Truelye this wage pastie is either drunken or mad.

1622.  Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., II. 278. That souldiers boy, who playd the wagge-pasty with his Masters pasty;… opened the lid of the pastie,… and supt vp all the sirrop.

1578.  H. Wotton, Courtlie Controv., 301. The boy … bethoughte hym of a knauerye fitte for a *wagstring.

a. 1591.  H. Smith, Serm. (1637), 223. [We say,] when we see a gracelesse boy, Thou wilt prove a wagstring, if thou live to be elder.

1633.  Heywood, Eng. Trav., IV. Oh thou crafty Wag-string.

1902.  C. Headlam, in Macm. Mag., Oct., 466. A chatterbox she is, and worse,—a regular woman *wag-tongue.

1601.  Deacon & Walker, Answ. Darel, 72. Euery little childe that playeth *wag-wanton.

1604.  Breton, Grimellos Fort. (Grosart), 8/2. Thou wouldest neither carrie a ring, clawe a backe, plaie on both hands, be no wagge-wanton, with thy mistresse, nor Iudas with thy maister.

1611.  J. Davies (Heref.), Panegyr. Verses Coryat’s Crudities, i 3 b. While he most like a *Wag-with Tooke of his Grapes as much as he could wag-with.