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| wad [ wod ] |
noun (plural wads) |
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| Definition: |
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1. piece of soft material: a small rounded mass of soft material, usually used to pack or stuff something
  The vase was carefully packed in wads of cotton.
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2. bundle: a roll or small bundle of paper money
a wad of notes
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3. lump of compressed material: a rounded compressed lump of something soft, especially tobacco or gum for chewing
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4. U.S. large quantity: a large number or amount of people or things
(
informal
)
She has a wad of friends.
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5. lot of money: a large amount of money
(
informal
)
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6. arms powder plug: a plug of material such as paper or cloth used to hold the powder charge in a muzzle-loading gun or cannon
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7. arms disk in shotgun cartridge: a disk made of felt or paper, used to hold the powder or shot in a shotgun cartridge
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8. minerals mineral mixture in boggy ground: a fine-grained mixture of hydrated barium manganese oxide and other hydrated oxide minerals. Source: poorly drained boggy ground.
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verb (past and past participle wad·ded, present participle wad·ding, 3rd person present singular wads) |
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| Definition: |
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1. transitive and intransitive verb compress tightly: to compress something into a small mass, or be compressed in this way
He wadded up the speeding ticket and threw it away.
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2. transitive verb put wadding into something: to stuff or plug something with wadding
She wadded her ears so she wouldn't hear the noise.
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3. transitive verb arms keep charge in place: to hold a charge of powder or shot in place
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4. transitive verb arms insert wadding into gun: to insert a piece of wadding into a gun
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| [Mid-16th century. Origin ?] |
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| wad·der noun |
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shoot your wad to use all your resources in achieving something and be unable to achieve anything more
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