Wag (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wagged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Wagging.] [OE. waggen; probably of Scand. origin; cf. Sw. vagga to rock a cradle, vagga cradle, Icel. vagga, Dan. vugge; akin to AS. wagian to move, wag, wegan to bear, carry, G. & D. bewegen to move, and E. weigh. 136. See Weigh.]
To move one way and the other with quick turns; to shake to and fro; to move vibratingly; to cause to vibrate, as a part of the body; as, to wag the head.
No discerner durst wag his tongue in censure.
Shak.
Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
Jer. xviii. 16.
⇒ Wag expresses specifically the motion of the head and body used in buffoonery, mirth, derision, sport, and mockery.
© Webster 1913.
Wag, v. i.
1.
To move one way and the other; to be shaken to and fro; to vibrate.
The resty sieve wagged ne'er the more.
Dryden.
2.
To be in action or motion; to move; to get along; to progress; to stir.
[Colloq.]
"Thus we may see," quoth he, "how the world wags."
Shak.
3.
To go; to depart; to pack oft.
[R.]
I will provoke him to 't, or let him wag.
Shak.
© Webster 1913.
Wag, n. [From Wag, v.]
1.
The act of wagging; a shake; as, a wag of the head.
[Colloq.]
2. [Perhaps shortened from wag-halter a rogue.]
A man full of sport and humor; a ludicrous fellow; a humorist; a wit; a joker.
We wink at wags when they offend.
Dryden.
A counselor never pleaded without a piece of pack thread in his hand, which he used to twist about a finger all the while he was speaking; the wags used to call it the thread of his discourse.
Addison.
© Webster 1913.