▪ I. wand, n.
(wɒnd)
Forms: 3–5 wond, 4–5 wonde, wende, 5 won, 4 waande, 4–6 wande 4 vande, 6 vand), 8–9 dial. wan, 9 Sc. whand, 3– wand.
[a. ON. (*vandu-r) vǫnd-r (MSw. vand-er, Sw. vand, Da. vaand, Norw. vona) = Goth. wandu-s:—OTeut. *wandu-z (not found in WGer.), prob. f. the root *wend-: *wand- (to turn, wind (see wind v.), so that the etymological connotation is that of suppleness or flexibility).]
A stick or rod. The word has little colloquial currency exc. in Sc. and northern dialects, in which it suggests the notion of suppleness; as a literary word it is usually apprehended (by southern readers) as denoting something rigid. In the Bible of 1611 it occurs only once (Ecclus. xxxiii. 24); the Revised Version (1894) substitutes stick.
1. a. A straight slender stick. Now Sc. and dial. In Scottish use, chiefly a slender pliant stick cut from a stem or branch of a shrub or young tree.
The early examples occur chiefly in biblical references, where mod. usage follows the Bible of 1611 in substituting rod; applied, e.g., to the ‘rod’ carried by Moses, to Aaron's ‘rod’ that budded, etc.
| c 1200 Ormin 16178 Þatt he swa swiþe mikell follc Draf all ut off þe temmple, All att hiss wille wiþþ an wand. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2923 And worpen he ðor wondes dun, fro euerilc ðor crep a dragun. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 43 In þat ark ware Moyses tables,..and Aaron wand, and þe ȝerde of Moyses. c 1460 Towneley Myst. viii. 247 Moyses... My Wand he bad, in thi present, I shuld lay downe, and the avyse how it shuld turne to oone serpent. 1587 Harrison England i. xviii. 109/2 in Holinshed, If it..be accompted good soile, on which a man may laie a wand ouer night, and on the morrow find it..ouergrowen with grasse. 1601 Holland Pliny xxxiv. vi. II. 492 [He] made no more adoe, but with a wand or rod that he had in his hand, drew a circle about the king, and compelled him perforce to give him his answere before he stirred his foot without that compasse. 1603 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 487/2 Reddendo unam virgam agrifolii (ane grene holene wand) nomine albe firme. 1616 R. C. Times' Whistle (1871) 35 He that desires to breake a bunch of wandes, Must not take all at once into his handes. 1624 Gataker Transubst. 49 Moses holding a wand in his hand, did cast it from him, and it became a serpent. 1670 Milton Hist. Brit. iv. 157 Sigebert..they..carried by force out of the Monastery into the Camp; where acting the Monk rather then the Captain, with a single wand in his hand, he was slain with Egric. |
| fig. c 1450 Holland Houlate 752 Thow seker trone of Salamon, Thow worthy wand of Aaron. |
b. As a type of slenderness or straightness.
| 1508 Dunbar Gold. Targe 63 Ane hundreth ladyes..With..mydlis small as wandis. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. iii. 23 Now sir, this staffe is my sister: for, looke you, she is as white as a lilly, and as small as a wand. [1608: see wand-like in 15.] |
† c. A light walking-stick, cane.
Obs.| 1548 Udall etc. Erasm. Par. Mark vi. 6–9 For he geueth them leaue to vse eche one a wande, and a payre of sandals. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 202 Bringing him into the corne field, and smyting off, with a wand that I helde in my hande, the eares of wheate. 1607 Peele's Jests (c 1620) 4, I thank you sir, quoth the barber, so on goes George with him in his green Jerkin, a wand in his hand very pretty. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 294 His spear, to equal which the tallest Pine Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the Mast Of some great Ammiral, were but a wand, He walkt with. 1760–2 Goldsm. Cit. W. xiii, From hence our conductor led us through several dark walks.., talking to himself, and flourishing a wand which he held in his hand. |
d. A stick used as a pointer.
| 1589 [see want n.2 5 b]. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop xxviii, Mrs. Jarley..formally invested Nell with a willow wand, long used by herself for pointing out the characters. |
2. a. A young shoot, a slender stem of a shrub or tree, a sapling; a slender branch or twig.
Obs. exc. poet. (
rare) and
dial. † under the wand: in the greenwood.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1418 Þe pipins war don vnder his [Adam's] tung, Þar ras o þam thre wandes yong. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1161 At vche wende vnder wande wapped a flone. c 1400 Melayne 1213 Þ⊇ Messangere bare a wande Of ane Olefe in his hande. c 1400 26 Pol. Poems xv. 60 For al þe body beren þay [sc. man's legs], As a tre þat bereþ wandes. c 1440 York Myst. xii. 78 Vpponne þat wande sall springe a floure. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 537 A toppe of hit [the fig] to sette other a wonde Is holdon best right in Aprilis ende. 1457 Hardyng Chron. in Eng. Hist. Rev. (1912) Oct. 746 Men chastyse ofte grete courours by hakenayse, And writhe the wande while it is yonge and grene. c 1480 Henryson Town & C. Mouse iii, Scho tuik in mynde hir sister vponland, And langit..To se quhat lyfe scho had vnder the wand. 1559 in Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 1565 390/1 Rungis and wandis of hissill and sauch. 1592 Greene Disput. 26 They..bent the tree while it was a wand. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. ix. 17 Into a bird it chaung'd, and from him past, Flying from tree to tree, from wand to wand. 1596 Edw. III, v. 143 A Hasle wand amidst a wood of Pynes. 1850 Allingham Poems, Music-Master i. xxiv, The heart is new As the green wand fresh budded on a fir. 1919 Blackw. Mag. Nov. 645/1 The stem bends like a hazel wand. |
b. as a type of suppleness.
| 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. 2472 And with hym brouȝt..His slepy ȝerde as plyaunt as a wonde. c 1480 Henryson Age & Youth 13 His eyne wes hol, his woce wes hace hostand, walowit & wane, waik as ane wand. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) I. 381 Leicht as ane leif, and waldin as ane wand. |
3. A young shoot of willow cut to be used in basket-making, wattled buildings, or the like. Also
collect. Now
Sc. and
dial.| a 1300 Cursor M. 1672 First bind it wele wit balk and band, And wind it siþen well wit wand. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6900 A litil chapell of wandes þai made. 1457 Nottingham Rec. II. 365 Peid to a man for bondyll wandus jd. 1572 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) I. 375 Cowpe waynes of wandes. 1615 Markham Country Contentm. i. i. 14 Which seats would bee either boorded, or watled with stakes and small wands on the sides to hold vp the earth from falling. 1724 Ramsay Tea-T. Misc. (1733) I. 29 Ane auld kist made of wands. 1770 J. Coates's Coll. Poems 21 The light machine [the cradle] with decent neatness stands, The jetting sides compos'd of slender wands. 1796 W. Marshall Planting I. 187 In Yorkshire, the ‘wands’ are sold by the bundle; but in Glocestershire, where Ozier grounds abound.., the grounds are let..to basket makers. a 1803 Lord William ix. in Scott Minstr. Scott. Bord. III. 267 Your cage shall be of wiry goud, Whar now it's but the wand. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Wan, a long rod to wave into a wattled hedge. |
† 4. a. A rod, stick, or switch for chastisement; also
fig. (in religious use)
Obs. Also
dial. a ‘rod’ or bundle of twigs for flogging.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5888 Ȝerd ne vond heo preste non þat child uorto bete. a 1300 Cursor M. 2612 Abram said..Þou chasti hir sco [read þou] has þe wand. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5878 ‘Þe wande’, he says, ‘of disciplyne smart, Sal chace foly out of þe childes hert’. c 1400 26 Pol. Poems xxiv. 48 To ȝerde of loue y moste me boun; Lord, me chastice wiþ þat wande. c 1400 Cursor M. 29093 (Cotton Galba MS.) Þe first [discipline es]..Als wering of haire and oþer thing..Þat oþer point to vnderstand, Es kneling and beteing with wand. 1549 Compl. Scot. i. 23 Quhiddir that this dolorus afflictione be ane vand of the fadir to correct & chestie the sone be mercy, or [etc.]. 1633 Sir A. Johnston (Ld. Wariston) Diary (S.H.S.) I. 46 If I..had humbled myselth unto the Lord whil the wand was above my head, the Lord would haive spaired. 1828 Craven Gloss., Wand, a rod, a collection of twigs, used for correction. |
† b. under the wand: liable to corporal correction. Hence (with influence of sense 6), subject to (the) rule (
of a person):
= med.L.
sub virga.
Cf. yard n. 4.
Sc. Obs.| c 1400 Rule St. Benet ii. 6 Wide summe sal tu faire speke, and summe gete wid chastiment & haue þam under wand. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 106 The Emperour has mony syndry kynde of peple under his wand. 1575 in Maitl. Cl. Misc. I. 125 Thair is sum brether quhilk ar nocht under the vand of the prouest and bailyeis of the burgh. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj., Quon. Attach. xx, Sa lang as her husband was livand, she was vnder his wand and power. |
5. A stick or switch for urging on a horse.
Obs. exc. dial.| c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxvi. 122 Þai hase owþer in þaire hand a whippe or a wand. 1529 Lyndesay Compl. 180 [Thay] nother sparit spurris nor wandis. 1587 L. Mascall Govt. Cattle, Of Horses (1596) 189 If your horse chance to tyre on the way, if spurre, and wande will not profit, ye shall put three or foure rounde peble stones into one of his eares. 1607 Puritan iii. v. 81 Ile haue an Hackney-mans wand siluerd ore a purpose for you. 1609 Bible (Douay) Ecclus. xxxiii. 25 Fodder, and wande [so 1611; Coverdale 1535, Geneva 1560 whippe; 1894 R.V. stick; Gr. ῥάβδος. Vulg. virga], and burden for an asse. |
† 6. A sceptre.
Obs.| a 1300 [see king n. 14]. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 909 Rohand he ȝaf þe wand And bad him sitt him bi. c 1440 Alphabet of Tales lxxx. 62 He had in his hand a golden wand of þe kynges. a 1500 Lancelot 1891 For he [God] forsuth haith ifyne hyme the wond To Iustefy and Reull in pece his lond. |
7. a. A rod or staff borne as a sign of office;
esp. a tall slender rod of white wood, sometimes of ebony or silver, carried erect by an officer of the royal household or of a court of justice, by a verger or beadle, or by an official whose duty it is to walk before a judge or other high dignitary on occasions of ceremony.
| c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 1327 That day in stede of a white wonde A staf he bare thoo in his honde. c 1472 B.N.C. (Oxf.) Munim., Coldenorton Bdl. G. 18 A won of the bullard of the place. 14.. Sir Beues 3243 (Pynson) Delyuer me thy wande, For Guy, his fader, was my marchal, And so syr Beuys, hys son, shal! 1573 in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 200 Poles and Wandes for the Lictors. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, i. ii. 28 Me thought this staffe mine Office-badge in Court Was broke in twaine And on the peeces of the broken Wand Were plac'd [etc.]. 1598 Drayton Heroical Ep. xiii. (Elinor Cobham to Dk. Humfrey) 62 Do shamefull penance,..Rong with a bell, a Taper in my hand, Bare-foot to trudge, before a Beedles wand. 1610 in J. Davidson Inverurie vi. (1878) 194 Comperit Patrick Leslie, John Johnston,..bailzies, and freely dischargit thame of their offices of bailzies, and jurisdiction thereof, be deliverance of the wand in the hands of the clerk and consall. a 1618 Ralegh Prerog. Parl. 19 What say you to the Parliaments of the White Wands in the three and thirtieth yeere of the King? 1713 Swift Faggot Wks. 1755 IV. i. 8 Stewards..who in solemn sort Appear with slender wands at court. 1728 Young Love Fame i. 207 Some lords it bids admire their wands so white, Which bloom, like Aaron's, to their ravish'd sight. 1776 Pennsylvania Even. Post 9 Apr. 178/2 His Excellency General Washington, the other General Officers and their sutes,..met in the Council Chamber, from whence, preceded by the Sheriff with his Wand, they repaired to the Old Brick Meeting House. 1789 Belsham Ess. I. xiv. 259 A ribband, a title, or a white wand, have been as eagerly pursued..as knowledge, virtue, and everlasting happiness. 1805 Southey Madoc i. xiii. 97 On either hand Three Monks uphold above, on silver wands, The purple pall. 1835 Dickens Sk. Boz, Publ. Dinners, Up rise the visitors, in march fourteen stewards, each with a long wand in his hand, like the evil genius in a pantomime. 1853 ― Bleak Ho. xix, There is only one Judge in town... If the country folks of those assize towns on his circuit could see him now! No full-bottomed wig, no red petticoats, no fur, no javelin-men, no white wands. 1868 Morris Earthly Par. (1870) I. i. 5 And in their hands Long carven silver-banded ebony wands. |
| fig. a 1894 Stevenson In South Seas i. vi. (1900) 46 Our chief..was always called..Taipi-kikino; and yet that was not his name, but only the wand of his false position. |
b. Applied to the
caduceus of Hermes or Mercury.
| c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 1736 He [Mercury] helde a yerde in his ryght honde, That so mervelous a wonde was neuer sen. 1645 Stapylton tr. Musæus B 3 b, Brought to your service by his golden dart, As rough Alcides by the golden wand Of Hermes, to the Lydian Maid's command. 1697 Dryden æneis iv. 355 But first he [Hermes] grasps within his awful Hand The mark of Sov'raign Pow'r, his Magick Wand. 1790 Cowper Odyss. x. 337 A God Met me, the bearer of the golden wand, Hermes. |
8. a. A staff or baton serving as a symbol in certain legal transactions.
| c 1420 Wyntoun Cron. viii. xii. 1963 Þis Iohun þan tuk vp a qwyt wande, And gaf vp in þis Edwardis hande Off þis Kynrik al þe richt Þat he had. 1875 Maine Hist. Inst. ix. 254 The wand which the claimant held in his hand is stated by Gaius to have represented a spear. |
† b. Scots Law.
wand of peace: a silver-tipped baton delivered to an outlaw in token of his restoration to the king's peace; also carried by a king's messenger as the symbol of his office, and broken by him (by way of protest) if he was resisted in the execution of his duty.
| 1511 Reg. Privy Seal Scot. I. 355/2 With power to the schireffis..to relesch him fra the horne and deliver him the wand of pece, etc. 1564–5 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 311 Restoir him to oure Soverane Ladiis peace, and gif to him the wand thairof. 1672 Rec. Justiciary Court Edinb. (S.H.S.) II. 76 He and other persons lybelled, beat and wounded the Messenger after he had laid hold upon the said Hary and touched him with his wand of peace several times. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. i. xxvi. §iii. (1699) 130 The Wand of Peace is that whereby they touch a Rebel, and declares him to be their Prisoner, and when they are deforced, they use to break the wand of Peace. 1815 Scott Antiq. xlii. 1815 ― Guy M. xlvi. |
† 9. a. A measuring rod. (
Cf. metewand,
yard-wand,
ell-wand.) Also
Mining, a measure of 8 feet.
Obs.| a 1637 B. Jonson Underwoods xlii. (1640) 193 Guided by experience, whose straite wand Doth meet, whose lyne doth sound the depth of things. 1670 Pettus Fodinæ Reg. 86 And a Meer shall contain in length 10 wands and 7 feet, that is to say 87 feet. c 1730 Ramsay Maltman ii. (1877) II. 204 Maltmen come for siller, And gaugers with wands o'er soon. 1829 Scott Anne of G. iii, Your..sentiments..rather belong to the sword than the measuring wand. |
† b. A measure of land; ? a
virgate.
Obs.| 1596 Yorksh. Deeds (Yorksh. Arch. Soc., Rec. Ser.) II. 191 [Two] wandes [of meadow] in the Northe Inges. 1684 Rector's Bk., Clayworth (1910) 67 Meadow in Easting 5 Wands, Arable 1½ Ac. |
† 10. Anat. The smaller bone of the forearm, the radius:
= ell-wand 2.
Obs.| 1634 T. Johnson Parey's Wks. vi. xxvi. (1678) 147 The cubit is composed of two bones, the one of which we call the Radius, or Wand. |
11. a. A magic rod; the staff used in enchantments by a fairy or a magician. Now the most prominent sense.
Cf. F.
baguette. Also
fig.| a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 57 On hiȝt in his a hand haldis a wand And kenely be coniurisons callis to him spritis. c 1480 Henryson Test. Cresseid 311 This dulefule sentence Saturne tuik on hand,..And on hir heid he laid ane frostie wand. 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Vict. ii. lviii, A Silver wande the sorceresse did sway. 1634 Milton Comus 659 Comus. Nay Lady sit; if I but wave this wand, Your nerves are all chain'd up in Alabaster. 1667 Dryden Ind. Emp. ii. i, High-Priest..Once, twice, and thrice, I wave my Sacred Wand, Ascend, ascend, ascend at my command. [An earthly Spirit rises.] 1742 Young Nt. Th. ix. 2174 Sleep's dewy wand Has strok'd my drooping lids, and promises My long arrear of rest. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho i, If I creep near yonder oak she will wave her fairy wand. 1798 Wordsw. P. Bell Prol. 146 A potent wand doth Sorrow wield. 1849 W. Irving Goldsmith xlv. (1850) 422 His pen is a wand of power in his hand. 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. xxxvi, If a good fairy had built the house for me with a wave of her wand, I could not have been more considered in it. 1914 19th Cent. Feb. 262 Such a view, attributing as it does magical powers to the wand of the legislator, is in absolute contradiction with facts. |
b. transf. electric wand: see
quot.| 1898 Sloane Electr. Dict. (ed. 2) 627 Torch, Electric Gas Lighting, a portable apparatus for producing a spark for gas lighting... Synonym—Electric Wand. |
12. A fishing-rod. Now chiefly
Sc.| 1565 Sir W. Cecil in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 296, I dowt not but though yow shall be farr off, yow will use a long anglyng wand to catch some knoledg. 1839 T. T. Stoddart Songs & P. 13 To all wights of the wand Welcome are ye! 1895 ‘Cotswold Isys’ Lyra Piscat. 102 And under the shade of the beechen boughs, I deftly ply my wand. 1913 N. Munro New Road xx, He made a fire, and cut a wand, and dropped a maggot in a pool and caught two little fishes. |
13. The straight rigid pipe linking the cleaning head to the hose of a vacuum cleaner.
| 1940 E. Hemingway For whom Bell Tolls xi. 149 The round opening at the end of the wand of a vacuum cleaner. 1967 Boston Sunday Herald 9 Apr. (Advt.), Attachments include braided hose, two wands and rug-bare floor tool. 1978 Choice (Austral. Consumers' Assoc.) Nov. 378 Most vacuum cleaners these days have moulded plastic bodies. Hoses are plastic or cloth covered, and some are of the ‘stretch’ variety. Wands and cleaning heads tend to be either plastic, steel or aluminium or a combination of these. |
14. A hand-held electronic device which can be passed over a bar code to read the data it represents and convert them into a computer-compatible form.
| 1978 Bookseller 17 June 3196/1 The light pen, or ‘wand’, that could read machine-readable codes on books. 1980 Sci. Amer. Apr. 111/1 (Advt.), As part of a portable data entry system, the wand can be used to read shelf tags for inventory control and order entry. 1982 What's New in Computing Nov. 62/1 Intermec designs and manufactures..scanning wands for the printing and computer reading of tickets, tags and labels. |
15. attrib. and
Comb., as
wandlike adj. and
adv.; with the sense ‘made of wicker-work’ (
Sc.) as in
wand-basket,
wand-bed,
wand-cage,
wand-chair; in sense 10, as
wand-smitten,
wand-stricken. Also
wand-bearer, one who carries a wand in a procession or otherwise as a sign of office;
spec. as the title of certain honorary lay officials of
St. Paul's Cathedral, London;
† wand-bone (
wan beyn)
Sc. = sense 9;
† wand-church (
-kirk),
cf. wanded a. 1 b;
† wandclot dial. (meaning obscure);
† wand-hand Sc., the hand that holds the wand or whip;
wand-weaver dial., a basket-maker.
| 1694 Sir J. Foulis Acc. Bk. (S.H.S.) 165 For 2 *wand baskits, 1 1 0. |
| 1840 H. Cockton Val. Vox xv, Two *wand-bearers started off immediately for the men who were elsewhere engaged in the museum. 1872 H. P. Liddon in J. O. Johnston Life & Lett. (1904) vii. 168 Thanksgiving Day... Mr. Foster, John and Mr. G. A. Spottiswoode, as wand-bearers, were present. We all got into church at 9.30. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 422 He has been a true mystic and not a mere routineer or wand-bearer. |
| a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (Bannatyne Club) II. 297 The young laird lying sore seik also..was transportit in ane *wandbed..fra the tolbuith to the castell. |
| c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 123 On the *wan bayn with gret ire can him ta, Cleyffyt the cost rycht cruelly in twa. |
| 1828 Moir Mansie Wauch i. 10 A blackbird..hung above his head in a *whand-cage of my faither's making. |
| 1680 Sir J. Foulis Acc. Bk. (S.H.S.) 40 To m{supr}{sups} urqrt to buy a bairns *wand-chair, 2 18 0. 1685 G. Sinclair Satan's Invis. World 98 The Maid did start up out of a Wand-Chair, where she sat. 1898 N. Munro John Splendid xv, ‘It's your welcome, Argile,’ said I, putting a wand chair to the front for him. |
| c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 6125 A kirke..*wand kirke was called beforne. |
| 1397 Priory of Finchale (Surtees) p. cxviii, Item ij *wand-clots et j stapyll. |
| 1637 Rutherford Let. to R. Stuart 17 June, The devil and temptations now have the advantage of the brae of you, and are upon your *wand-hand and your working hand. 1684 J. Renwick Serm. (1776) 54 There is no land or church that is likely to get the wand-hand, so to speak, of Scotland. |
| 1608 Shakes. Per. v. i. 110 Such a one my daughter might haue beene: My Queenes square browes; her stature to an inch, as *wandlike-straight. 1793 Martyn Lang. Bot., Virgatus..caulis, a rod-like or wand-like stem or branch. 1834 M. Scott Cruise Midge ii, The wand-like tops of the polacre's tall masts. 1847 Darlington Amer. Weeds, etc. (1860) 433 Virgate, wand-like; long, slender, and straight. 1859 Meredith R. Feverel xxii, Know you those wand-like touches of I know not what, before which our grosser being melts. |
| 1897 H. N. Howard Footsteps Proserpine 41 As from the nebulous elemental sea, *Wand-smitten by the Eternal Mind, Earth rose. |
| 1847 M. Howitt Ballads 267 Like that old mystery Of the *wand-stricken rock. |
| 1896 Leeds Mercury Suppl. 12 Sept. (E.D.D.), His two uncles, by trade *wand-weavers. |
Sense 15 in
Dict. becomes 16. Add:
15. a. More fully
curling wand,
styling wand: a heated appliance used for curling or styling hair.
b. Freq. as
mascara wand: a small applicator for mascara, etc.,
usu. with a brush at one end.
| 1962 McCall's Apr. 108 To apply [mascara]..use a magnifying mirror and either brush or wand. 1967 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Oct. 128/2 Mascara comes in four forms: cake, cream, roll-on and brush-on... Wands, either roll-on or brush-on, are applied directly from the applicator. 1974 Good Housekeeping (N.Y.) July 79/1 If the sides of your hair are tapered, a styling wand will curl them back for a ‘winged’ effect. 1982 N.Y. Times Mag. 29 Aug. vi. 240/4 While cleaning out the bathroom medicine chest you find a four-year-old mascara wand that was used only once. Should you toss it out? 1989 B. A. Mason Love Life 55 Carefully, Sue Ellen smudged her eyeliner with a sponge-tipped wand. 1991 Hair Styling Feb. 21/2 When the rollers have cooled, brush hair out, using a curling wand to work in distinct waves moving back from the face, then spritz with spray for all-night hold. |
▪ II. wand, v. (
wɒnd)
[f. wand n.] 1. trans. To wattle, interweave, plait.
to wand in, to enclose with wattle-work.
Sc. and
dial.| c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 368 He kest twa Creillis on ane Capill, with Coillis anew, Wandit thame with widdeis, to wend on that wane. 1573–80 Tusser Husb. (1878) 74 Now make and wand in trim bower to stand in. Leaue wadling about, till arbor be out. 1593 [cf. wanded ppl. a. 1 b]. 1894 Northumbld. Gloss. s.v., The gate's wanded wi' thorns, so nowt can get in. |
2. To beat with a wand or switch.
Sc. and
dial.| a 1585 Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 755 Tait mow, wilde sow! soone bow, or I wand thee. 1657 Attest. Innocency Z. Crofton 10 The Father..bad him if shee offended to take a wand and wand his daughter. 1887 S. Chesh. Gloss. s.v. Wan, Bran yo, I'll wan yo'r hide fo' yŏ. |
3. trans. To scan the bar code on (an article) using a wand (
wand n. 14).
| 1979 Bookseller 22 & 29 Dec. 2693/2 Books could be ‘wanded’ at the point of sale and the information stored on cassettes. 1982 Fortune 27 Dec. 100/1 Go to Section X, Jack, and wand all the woofers. |
Hence
ˈwanding vbl. n.| 1585–6 Reg. Privy Council Scot. IV. 44 Thay have compellit thame, be onlaying of foull hands and feirfull kynd of wanddingis, to satisfie thair..impostis. |
▸
trans. To pass a hand-held metal detector over (a person) for security purposes.
| 1989 Washington Post 19 Aug. c1 Look at that.., they are wanding the Kissingers! Isn't that hysterical? 1998 Independent (Nexis) 19 Nov. 2 A prisoner at the maximum-security prison HMP Whitemoor is ‘wanded’ (checked with a metal detector) by a prison officer as he leaves the kitchen. 2004 AKC Gaz. June 73 Because she had a defibrillator, the guards couldn't wand her and had to pat her down by hand. |
▪ III. wand obs. pa. tense of
wind v.
▪ IV. wand var. wanned
ppl. a.
Obs.