wade

UK: /ˈweɪd/ US: /weɪd/ ,(wād)

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

wades

v 3rd person singular

wading

v pres p

waded

v past

waded

v past p

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

wade /weɪd/   v., wad•ed, wad•ing. 

1. [no object] to walk while partly immersed in water.
2. to walk through a substance, as water or snow, that interferes with one's motion:
   [no object] They waded through the mud.
3. wade through, [~ + through + object] to struggle or make one's way through (some task or job) with effort or difficulty:
   to wade through a pile of bills to be paid.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

wade (wād),  v., wad•ed, wad•ing, n. 

v.i. 

1. to walk in water, when partially immersed:
   He wasn't swimming, he was wading.
2. to play in water:
   The children were wading in the pool most of the afternoon.
3. to walk through water, snow, sand, or any other substance that impedes free motion or offers resistance to movement:
   to wade through the mud.
4. to make one's way slowly or laboriously (often fol. by through):
   to wade through a dull book.
5. [Obs.] to go or proceed.

v.t. 

6. to pass through or cross by wading;
   ford:
   to wade a stream.
7. wade in or into:
   • to begin energetically.
   • to attack strongly:
     to wade into a thoughtless child; to wade into a mob of rioters.

n. 

8. an act or instance of wading:
   We went for a wade in the shallows.

• bef. 900; Middle English waden to go, wade, Old English wadan to go; cognate with German waten, Old Norse vatha; akin to Old English wæd ford, sea, Latin vadum shoal, ford, vādere to go, rush

Synonyms

• 4. labor, toil, plod, plow, work.

Wade  (wād), n. 

1. a male given name.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

wade / weɪd/ verb

1. to walk with the feet immersed in (water, a stream, etc)
2. (intransitive) often followed by through: to proceed with difficulty: to wade through a book
3. (intr; followed by in or into) to attack energetically

noun

1. the act or an instance of wading

Etymology: Old English wadan; related to Old Frisian wada, Old High German watan, Old Norse vatha, Latin vadum ford

ˈwadable, ˈwadeable adjective

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Wade / weɪd/ noun

1. (Sarah) Virginia. born 1945, English tennis player; won three Grand Slam singles titles: US Open (1968), Australian Open (1972), and Wimbledon (1977)