Also 8 wa, 9 wagh. [An instinctive exclamation; cf. WOUGH, WHAU.] An exclamation indicating grief, indignation or the like. Now chiefly as attributed to N. American Indians and other savages.
1761. Mrs. F. Sheridan, Sidney Bidulph (1796), IV. 92. The other brat … squalls for it [the toy] directly, Waugh, Sir, it was mine first.
1791. J. Long, Voy. Indian Interpreter, 164. Wa! wa! or Oh! oh! replied the Savage, but what is the warrior tied up for?
1827. J. F. Cooper, Prairie, I. xvii. 252. A tall Indian … stood upright, uttering the sententious exclamation, ‘Wagh!’
1832. Lytton, Eugene A., IV. ix. ‘Well, if ever I seed the like?’ quoth the corporal;… ‘augh!—waugh!—bother!’
1834. Whittier, Mogg Megone, 411. Wagh!—Mogg will have the pale-face’s hair.
1846. P. B. St. John, Enchanted Rock, iv. 89. ‘Wagh!’ escaped from the lips of the Indian girl.
1891. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Sydney-side Sax., vi. Talgai sings out ‘Wagh!’ and pointed with his chin, like all blacks do.
