ABSTRACT
WAFT, BEAR, CONVEY, FLOAT, SIGNAL, TRANSMIT. Waft, a variant of WAVE (which see), signifies to bear, convey, transport something through a fluid or buoyant medium like the air or sea, to float, as on the water or through the air, to beckon or signal by moving a flag or other object in the air, to transmit (poetical) a message, good wishes, a blessing; also to turn quickly, as "Wafting his eyes to the contrary," Shakespeare's Winter's Tale, to buoy up, as "Their lungs being able to waft up their bodies," Browne's Vulgar Errors, and a breath or current, as of air, as "One wide waft" Thomson's Winter.
