wadding

UK: /ˈwɒdɪŋ/ US: (wod′ing)

From the verb wad: (⇒ conjugate)

wadding is: ⓘ

v pres p

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wad•ding  (wod′ing), n. 

1. any fibrous or soft material for stuffing, padding, packing, etc., esp. carded cotton in specially prepared sheets.
2. material used as wads for guns, cartridges, etc.
3. Surgery any large dressing made of cotton or a similar absorbent material that is used to stanch the flow of blood or dress a wound.
4. a wad or lump.

• wad¹ + -ing¹ 1620–30

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

wadding / ˈwɒdɪŋ/ noun

1. any fibrous or soft substance used as padding, stuffing, etc, esp sheets of carded cotton prepared for the purpose
2. a piece of this
3. material for wads used in cartridges or guns

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