wad

1 of 2

noun

ˈwäd 

1

: a small mass, bundle, or tuft: such as

a

: a soft mass especially of a loose fibrous material variously used (as to stop an aperture, pad a garment, or hold grease around an axle)

b(1)

: a soft plug used to retain a powder charge or to avoid windage especially in a muzzle-loading gun

(2)

: a felt or paper disk used to separate the components of a shotgun cartridge

c

: a small mass of a chewing substance

a wad of gum

2

: a considerable amount (as of money)

3

a

: a roll of paper money

b

: money

wad

2 of 2

verb

wadded; wadding

transitive verb

1

a

: to insert a wad into

wad a gun

b

: to hold in by a wad

wad a bullet in a gun

2

: to form into a wad or wadding

especially : to roll or crush into a tight wad

3

: to stuff or line with some soft substance

wadder noun

Synonyms

Noun

• abundance
• barrel
• basketful
• boatload
• bucket
• bunch
• bundle
• bushel
• carload
• chunk
• deal
• dozen
• fistful
• gobs
• good deal
• heap
• hundred
• lashings [chiefly British]
• lashins
• loads
• lot
• mass
• mess
• mountain
• much
• multiplicity
• myriad
• oodles
• pack
• passel
• peck
• pile
• plateful
• plenitude
• plentitude
• plenty
• pot
• potful
• profusion
• quantity
• raft
• reams
• scads
• sheaf
• shipload
• sight
• slew
• spate
• stack
• store
• ton
• truckload
• volume
• wealth
• yard

Verb

• agglomerate
• ball
• roll
• round

Examples of wad in a Sentence

Noun

He spent a wad on clothes.

a starlet who usually gets a big wad of publicity for her nonstop antics

Verb

she wadded up the paper and threw it in the wastebasket

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Our dinner options are greasy pizza or rubbery burgers, the undersides of the tables are speckled with wads of gum and the background noise is the shouting voices of children. —Lizz Schumer, People.com, 3 Dec. 2024

That means having to come up with a sizeable wad of money to the lender, and the situation only gets worse if the car was purchased with a minimal down payment, and/or has a quicker-than-average rate of depreciation. —Jim Gorzelany, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2024

Verb

Simply tear off a sheet of heavy-duty foil, wad it up to form a homemade scouring pad, and get to scrubbing. —Darcy Lenz, Southern Living, 21 Nov. 2024

Still, for many families, the apps are a more efficient mode of communication than, say, a flier wadded up in a kid’s backpack. —Anna North, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English wadde, from Medieval Latin wadda

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1579, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

wad

1 of 2 noun

ˈwäd 

1

: a small mass, bundle, or tuft

a wad of cotton

2

: a soft pad or plug used to hold a powder charge in a gun or cartridge

3

a

: a roll of paper money

b

: a large amount (as of money)

spent a wad on clothes

wad

2 of 2 verb

wadded; wadding

1

: to form into a wad or wadding

wad up a handkerchief

2

: to stuff or line with soft material