wanes

Noun (1)

wane (plural wanes)

1. A gradual diminution in power, value, intensity etc.
   • In the morning, one might say, his face was of a fine florid hue, but after twelve o’clock, meridian—his dinner hour—it blazed like a grate full of Christmas coals; and continued blazing—but, as it were, with a gradual wane—till six o’clock, P.M., or thereabouts; […].1853, Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener”, in The Piazza Tales, New York: Dix, Edwards & Co, published 1856

   Synonyms:

   decrease, decline

2. The lunar phase during which the sun seems to illuminate less of the moon as its sunlit area becomes progressively smaller as visible from Earth.
   • Some French peasants also prefer to sow in the wane.1906, James George Frazer, Adonis, Attis, Osiris, volume 2, page 133
3. (literary) The end of a period.
   • The day was in its prime, the day was in its wane, and still, uneasy in mind and body, she slept on.1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC
4. A rounded corner caused by lack of wood, often showing bark.
   • Sapwood, or even bark, may appear on the corners, or may have been cut off, resulting in wane, or missing timber.2002, Peter Ross, Appraisal and Repair of Timber Structures, p. 11

Noun (2)

wane (plural wanes)

1. (Scotland, slang) A child.

Noun (3)

wane (plural wanes)

1. (Northern England, Scotland, obsolete) A house or dwelling.

See all 12 meanings of wane