wad

UK: /ˈwɒd/ US: /wɑd/ ,(wod)

Inflections of 'wad' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

wads

v 3rd person singular

wadding

v pres p

wadded

v past

wadded

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

wad¹ /wɑd/   n., v., wad•ded, wad•ding. 
n. [countable]

1. a small mass, as of cotton, used esp. for padding and packing, filling a hole, etc.
2. a roll of bank notes.
3. Informal Terms a fairly large amount of something, as money:
   made a wad in the stock market.
4. a small mass of substance for chewing:
   a wad of chewing tobacco; a wad of gum.

v. [~ + object]

5. Slang Terms to form into a wad, as by rolling tightly: [~ (+ up) + object]
   He wadded (up) the paper.
   [~ + object (+ up)]
   He wadded the paper (up).

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wad¹  (wod), n., v., wad•ded, wad•ding. 
n. 

1. a small mass, lump, or ball of anything:
   a wad of paper; a wad of tobacco.
2. a small mass of cotton, wool, or other fibrous or soft material, used for stuffing, padding, packing, etc.
3. a roll of something, esp. of bank notes.
4. Informal Terms a comparatively large stock or quantity of something, esp. money:
   He's got a healthy wad salted away.
5. a plug of cloth, tow, paper, or the like, used to hold the powder or shot, or both, in place in a gun or cartridge.
6. British Terms a bundle, esp. a small one, of hay, straw, etc.
7. Informal Terms shoot one's wad:
   • to spend all one's money:
     He shot his wad on a new car.
   • to expend all one's energies or resources at one time:
     She shot her wad writing her first novel and her second wasn't as good.
   • Slang (vulgar). (of a man) to have an orgasm.

v.t. 
8. Slang Terms to form (material) into a wad.
9. to roll tightly (often fol. by up):
   He wadded up his cap and stuck it into his pocket.
10. to hold in place by a wad:
    They rammed and wadded the shot into their muskets.
11. to put a wad into;
    stuff with a wad.
12. to fill out with or as if with wadding;
    stuff;
    pad:
    to wad a quilt; to wad a speech with useless information.

v.i. 
13. to become formed into a wad:
    The damp tissues had wadded in his pocket.
• Arab bāṭa'in lining of a garment, batting; compare French ouate, Dutch watte, Swedish vadd
• Medieval Latin wadda
• 1530–40
wad′der, n. 

wad²  (wod), n. 

1. Mineralogy a soft, earthy, black to dark-brown mass of manganese oxide minerals.

• origin, originally uncertain 1605–15

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

wad / wɒd/ noun

1. a small mass or ball of fibrous or soft material, such as cotton wool, used esp for packing or stuffing
2. a plug of paper, cloth, leather, etc, pressed against a charge to hold it in place in a muzzle-loading cannon
3. a disc of paper, felt, pasteboard, etc, used to hold in place the powder and shot in a shotgun cartridge
4. a roll or bundle of something, esp of banknotes

verb (wads, wadding, wadded)

1. to form (something) into a wad
2. (transitive) to roll into a wad or bundle
3. (transitive) to hold (a charge) in place with a wad
4. to insert a wad into (a gun)
5. (transitive) to pack or stuff with wadding; pad

Etymology: 14th Century: from Late Latin wadda; related to German Watte cotton wool