Emily Dickinson Lexicon

waltz (-ed), v. [Ger. walzen, roll, revolve, dance.]

Dance; move lightly; travel nimbly; [fig.] flutter around; dart by.

wampum, n. [Adopted in 16th or 17th C. from northerly dialects of the Algonkin language; *wampampiac, string of white beads.] (webplay: strings).

Currency; coinage; change; shells; strings of beads; ornaments used by American Indians as money; [fig.] stars.

wan, adj. [OE wann, dark, gloomy, black.]

Pale; weak; feeble; pitiful; [fig.] inconsequential; not memorable.

wander (-ed, -ing), v. [OE wandrian.] (webplay: country, duty, God, home, men, mind, moral, sense, turn, way).

1. Depart; leave; stray; move away; [fig.] die; pass on.
2. Rove; ramble aimlessly.
3. Search; seek a home; try to find a dwelling place.
4. Go away; pass by; move on; [fig.] abandon; forsake; give up.
5. Trickle; drip.
6. Drift; roam; travel at a leisurely pace.
7. Linger; tarry; dally; move slowly; [fig.] die painfully.
8. Blow; flow; shift in various directions.

wandering, verbal adj. [see wander, v.] (webplay: course, God).

1. Moving; changing position; [fig.] wind-blown; storm-ravaged; tempest-tossed.
2. Stray; transient; migrating; late in traveling; [fig.] tardy; lost; isolated; disoriented.
3. Unanticipated; spontaneous; [fig.] buzzing; humming; droning.
4. Random; lucky; incidental; occurring by chance.

wandering (-s), verbal n. [see wander, v.]

1. Migration; traveling; trip across land and sea; [fig.] journey; voyage; adventure.
2. Roving; roaming; straying; [fig.] uncertainty; getting lost; going astray; [metaphor] mortal existence; life on earth.

wane (-d, -ing), v. [OE wanian, to lessen.] (webplay: declined, eye, settled).

Fade; decrease gradually; slowly dim.

want, n. [OE.] (webplay: desired, indigence, Poverty, riches, time, wishes).

1. Lack; deficiency; insufficiency.
2. Desire; hope; expectation; anticipation.
3. Need; hunger; poverty.

want (-ed, -s, -ing), v. [ON vanta.] (webplay: food, God, heaven, man, missed, occasion, souls, strength, sufficient, sum).

1. Seek; yearn; long for.
2. Desire; like; ask for; [fig.] invite; plan to include.
3. Wish; will; have a strong intention.
4. Lack; hunger; thirst; crave; be destitute.
5. Need; require.

wanting, verbal n. [OE.]

Lack; need; absence; deficiency.