Pa. t. and pa. ppl. wafted. Also 6 ? waffet, wafftt, 6–7 wafte (7 pa. pple. waft). [Back-formation from WAFTER.]
† 1. trans. To convoy (a ship or fleet of ships, persons sailing). Obs.
1513. W. Gonson, in Lett. & Papers War France (1897), 130. A letter … in the wyche he comaundyth me thatt … I shall conducte and wafftt hys vytellars to hys grett army in the water of Brest. I … made hys Grace answer … I wolld go my sellfe in the smallist of the 3 Spanyards sentt fforthe wit me … and leffe John Ysame and Rychiard Barkeley in the other 2 Spanyiarde shyps to waftt over the Zeland fleett.
1513. Echyngham, Ibid., 150. Sir Weston Brown … hath yeven me and Harper in commaundment for to go to Hampton for to wafte the vytlers unto theym.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. IV., 26. Because certain pyrates … were lurkyng at the Temmes mouthe … Thomas Lord Camois with certaine shippes of warte was appointed to wafte over the kyng.
1580. R. Hitchcock, Politique Platt, c iiij. That two of her graces Shippes of warre, suche as yeerely be appointed to wafte the Marchants maie contineue vpon her Maiesties Seas … for two yeares: for the defence of these fishing Shippes.
1622. in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 210. Don Faderique de Toledo, who is gone to waft the West India fleet homeward.
1644. Manwayring, Sea-Mans Dict., s.v., To waft, is to guard any ship, or fleete at sea.
1670. J. Smith, Eng. Improv. Reviv’d, 270. The Fishermen agreed amongst themselves to pay a Dollar upon every last of Herrings, towards the maintenance of certain Ships of Warr, to Waft and secure them in their Fishing.
† b. transf. To guide or direct the course of (a vessel, a swimmer, a floating object, etc.). Obs.
1591. Sylvester, Du Bartas, I. V. 360. A little Fish, that swimming still before, Directs him [the Whale]…: Much like a Childe that loving leads about His aged Father when his eyes be out: Still wafting him through every way so right.
2. To convey safely by water; to carry over or across a river, sea, etc. Obs. exc. poet.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., IV. i. 114. I go of Message from the Queene to France: I charge thee waft me safely crosse the Channell. Ibid. (1593), 3 Hen. VI., III. iii. 253. Ibid., V. vii. 41. Away with her, and waft her hence to France.
1618. J. Taylor (Water P.), Penniless Pilgr., E 2. And as by water I was wafted in, I thought that I in Charons Boate had bin.
1628. Boyle, in Lismore Papers (1886), II. 262. We all landed safely … and the next morning I dischardged Capn Jones … who I hired to wafte me over.
1639. Act in Arch. Maryland (1883), I. 78. No person … other then the owner of the said ferry boat … shall waft or passe any person over the said River.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 731. Nor wou’d th’ Infernal Ferry-Man once more Be brib’d, to waft him to the farther shore.
1768. Ann. Reg., Hist. Eur., 32. Great bodies of the Asiatic troops were continually wafted over to the European side of The Hellespont.
1789. Massachusetts Spy, 9 April, 3/2. An elegant barge is building to waft the great Washington across the Hudson.
1817. Moore, Lalla Rookh, Fire-worshippers, I. 450. Again she sees his pinnace fly, Wafting him fleetly to his home.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., ix. 4. Fair ship,… Spread thy full wings, and waft him o’er.
fig. 1616. B. Jonson, Ev. Man in Hum., Prol. Plays … Where neither Chorus wafts you ore the seas; Nor creaking throne comes downe, the boyes to please.
1670. Milton, Hist. Eng., I. 5. That fond invention that wafted hither the fifty daughters of a strange Dioclesian King of Syria.
refl. 1653. Holcroft, Procopius, Pref. A 2 b. He could gain no footing in Italy, but in all that time was forced to waft himself by stealth from one Port-town to another.
1677. W. Hubbard, Narrative, 27. They, taking the advantage of a low tide, either waded over … or else wafted themselves over upon small Rafts of timber.
b. Of the sea or waves: To carry, transport. Obs. exc. poet.
1613. Day, Festivals, v. (1615), 129. Now the Red-Sea of Baptisme … hath conveyed us, and waft us over.
1671. Milton, P. R., I. 104. A calmer voyage now Will waft me.
1742. Pope, Dunc., IV. 310. Where, eas’d of Fleets, the Adriatic main Wafts the smooth Eunuch and enamour’d swain.
1742. Young, Nt. Th., I. 153. A soul immortal … Thrown into tumult … At aught this scene can threaten … Resembles ocean into tempest wrought, To waft a feather, or to drown a fly.
1878. B. Taylor, Deukalion, II. iii. 69. The waves of earth are waiting to and fro The ashes of great lives.
† c. intr. To sail about, off, to and fro, up and down; to cross over by water. Obs.
a. 1562. G. Cavendish, Wolsey (Kelmscott Press), 150. Ther was no lesse than a thousand bolts … waffetyng uppe and down in Temmes, expectyng my lord’s departyng.
1577–87. Holinshed, Chron., III. 1187/1. Maister William Winter … made Saile towards Scotland, and wafting along the coast in Januarie came into the Forth.
1579. Gosson, Sch. Abuse, Ep. Ded. He had not played long in the Sea, wafting too and fro, at his pleasure, but he returned agayne, stroke sayle, [etc.].
1618. Bolton, Florus, IV. viii. (1636), 305. And now his Navie wafted up and down in the middle of the Sea.
1631. Anchoran, Comenius’ Gate Tongues, 92. Where there is no foord or shallow place they passe, or waft ouer with a wherrie or ferrie boat.
1632. J. Hayward, trans. Biondi’s Eromena, 89. When all these of the Fleete were returned … fifteene of them wafted off towards Porto di Torre.
1648. Gage, West Ind., xxi. 190. We as prisoners were wafting up and down the sea with them. Ibid., 200. We that day wafted about for a good wind.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 1042. Satan … Wafts on the calmer wave by dubious light And like a weather-beaten Vessel holds Gladly the Port.
1700. Dryden, Ovid’s Met., I. 432. High on the summit of this dubious Cliff, Deucalion wafting, moor’d his little Skiff.
1774. Beattie, Minstrel, II. xlix. He braves The surge and tempest,… And to a happier land wafts merrily away!
1814. Capt. Scobell, Jrnl. of the ‘Thais,’ in Tuckey’s Narr. Exped. R. Zaire (1818), Introd. p. xiii. I met several floating islands … which … wafting to the motion of the sea, rushed far into the ocean.
† 3. trans. To buoy up. Obs. rare.
1645. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., IV. vii. 196. Some alledge that spirits are light substances, and naturally ascending do elevate and waft the body upward. Ibid. (1650), IV. vi. (1658), 247. Whether Cripples and mutilated persons … who have lost the greatest part of their thighs, will not sink but float, their lungs being abler to waft up their bodies.
4. Of the wind: To propel (a vessel) or convey (a navigator or passenger) safely.
Originally a mere contextual use of sense 2. The frequency of examples in which the verb denotes the action of the wind gave rise in the 18th c. to the notion that the essential meaning of the verb had reference to this agency, and to the identification of the word with the etymologically distinct WAFT v.2 The older sense 2, so far as it survives, is colored by association with this sense.
a. 1707. Prior, Song, ‘In vain you tell,’ 2. In vain you tell your parting Lover You wish fair Winds may waft Him over.
1713. Derham, Phys.-Theol., 18. The Sea, and the Land-Breezes; the one serving to carry the Mariner in long. Voyages from East to West; the other serving to waft him to particular Places.
1773. Hawkesworth, Cook’s 1st Voy., III. iii. III. 555. The gale that afterwards wafted us to the shore, would then certainly have beaten us to pieces.
1816. J. Wilson, City of Plague, I. ii. 70. While favouring breezes waft his blessed ship Far from the Plague.
1819. Heber, Hymn, ‘From Greenland’s Icy Mountains,’ iv. Waft, waft, ye winds, His story.
1842. Tennyson, ‘You ask me, why,’ 25. Yet waft me from the harbour-mouth, Wild wind!
fig. 1653. Jer. Taylor, Serm., I. viii. 98. The sighs of their feares, and the wind of their prayers waft them safely to their port.
1884. Daily News, 26 May, 5/1. The Conservatism of the present is waiting for a wind?… Will it waft and bear to enterprise and rough seas and daring adventure?
1885. R. Buchanan, Annan Water, iii. What wind of utter despair had wafted her to that place of all places.
5. To carry (something) through the air or through space. a. with sound, scent, infection, etc. as object: said of the wind. Also with away, by, round.
1704. Pope, Pastorals, Summer, 80. Your praise the birds shall chant in ev’ry grove, And winds shall waft it to the pow’rs above.
1781. Cowper, Heroism, 35. The self-same gale that wafts the fragrance round Brings to the distant ear a sullen sound.
1803. Med. Jrnl., X. 136. Assuredly, then, this affection [influenza] has been rather wafted on us, than communicated to us in the way of personal intercourse.
1811. Shelley, St. Irvyne, I. ii. 4. And low, chilling murmurs, the blast wafted by.
1855. Tennyson, Maud, I. xxii. 1. And the woodbine spices are wafted abroad.
1887. Bowen, Æneid, I. 417. Where sweet scents are wafted from garlands ever in bloom.
b. with material object.
1726. Shelvocke, Voy. round World, 425. Nitrous and sulphureous particles … are wafted in the air by diverse winds.
1784. Cowper, Task, III. 540. And ev’n the breathing air Wafts the rich prize [pollen] to its appointed use.
1817. J. Evans, Excurs. Windsor, 457. Our Table Cloth … was in the act of being wafted overboard.
1836. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Vauxhall-Gardens. The balloons were wafted gently away.
1878. Huxley, Physiogr., 192. Dense showers of such dust have been wafted by winds for even hundreds of miles.
c. To send (a sound, fragrance, etc.) through the air; to ‘blow’ (a kiss).
1728. Pope, Dunc., II. 265. Thames wafts it [the sound] thence to Rufus’ roaring hall And Hungerford re-echoes bawl for bawl.
1815. Byron, Hebr. Mel., ‘The harp the monarch,’ 12. It [the harp] told the triumphs of our King, It wafted glory to our God.
1837. Dickens, Pickw., xi. And many a kiss did Mr. Snodgrass waft in the air, in acknowledgment of something very like a lady’s handkerchief.
1855. B’ness Bunsen, in Hare, Life (1879), II. iv. 181. At the year’s beginning and end, one is peculiarly moved to … waft wishes and kind thoughts to many a far-removed locality.
1871. J. R. Macduff, Mem. Patmos, v. 62. This Tree with its perennial fruits, wafting immortal fragrance and distilling immortal balm.
d. To carry in flight: said chiefly of angels.
a. 1718. Prior, Danistonus’ Ad Amicos Imit., 12. Glad I release it from it’s Partner’s Cares; And bid good Angels waft it to the Stars.
1791. Cowper, Iliad, V. 925. Swift as her pinions waft the dove away.
1816. J. Wilson, City of Plague, III. ii. O Heaven protect my faithful Isabel, And waft her safe, as on an angel’s wing, To that sweet lake.
1817. Moore, Lalla Rookh, Fire-worshippers, I. 261. Oft … I’ve wish’d that little isle had wings, And we, within its fairy bow’rs, Were wafted off to seas unknown.
1845. Fitzball, Maritana, II. i. 15, Aria.
| Oh! that angels now might waft him | |
| To the mansions of the blest! |
e. fig. To transport instantaneously, as by magic or in imagination.
1781. Cowper, Conversat., 592. Hopes of heav’n, bright prospects of an hour, That come to waft us out of sorrow’s pow’r.
1820. W. Irving, Sketch Bk., I. 4. With what longing eyes would I gaze after their lessening sails, and waft myself in imagination to the ends of the earth.
6. intr. To pass through the air or through space; to float upon, come or go with the wind or breeze.
1664. Power, Exp. Philos., I. 3. Small hairs … which (by blowing upon) you might see waft to and fro.
1676. Dryden, Aurengz., III. i. Those Trumpets his triumphant Entry tell. And now the Shouts waft near the Cittadel. Ibid. (1690), Amphitryon, II. i. There is an ill savour that offends my Nostrils; and it wafteth this way.
1717. Pope, Eloisa to Abel., 214. Tears that delight, and sighs that waft to heav’n.
1802. Marian Moore, Lascelles, II. 9. I recognized his charming voice in the delightful strains which wafted on my ear.
1890. Daily News, 7 July, 6/2. Great green boxes [of roses] were being opened with very perceptible whiffs of perfume wafting from them.
† b. Of a bird, winged insect: To pass by flying. Obs.
1682. N. O., Boileau’s Lutrin, III. 24. Then wafting at one Reach, they proudly Pearch On highest Pinnacle of the fatal Church!
1712–4. Pope, Rape of Lock, II. 60. Some to the sun their insect-wings unfold, Waft on the breeze, or sink in clouds of gold.
c. Of the breeze: To blow softly.
1804. Something Odd, II. 26. In vain … did the soft breezes of an approaching summer waft around him.
1849. Cupples, Green Hand, xvii. (1856), 176. There wasn’t a breath of air yet, either, save what seemed now and then to waft out of the thick woods.
7. trans. To move, drive or carry away (something) by producing a current of air.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 636. A sort of winnowing machine, which wafts away the finer and lighter parts.
1844. Kinglake, Eöthen, xviii. It seems to you that it is not the donkey, but the donkey-boy who wafts you along with his shouts.
