wavers

Verb

waver (third-person singular simple present wavers, present participle wavering, simple past and past participle wavered)

1. (intransitive) To swing or wave, especially in the air, wind, etc.; to flutter.
   • Flowers wavered in the breeze.
2. (dated, intransitive) To move without purpose or a specified destination; to roam, to wander.
   • [T]here vvere tvvo Channels, one on the North, another on the South, vvhere through the fiſher-men did vvander and vvauer vp to Norvvitch, and diuers parts of Suffolke and Norfolke, […]1599, [Thomas] Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, […], London: […] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert] B[urby] […], →OCLC, page 9
3. (archaic, intransitive) To sway back and forth, as if about to fall; to reel, to stagger, to totter.
   • […] Oza for puttyng his hande to the holy ſhryne⸝ that vvas called Archa federis [the Ark of the Covenant]⸝ whan it was broughte by kyng Dauid frõ [from] the citie of Baba [i.e., Ba'alah or Kiriath-Jearim]⸝ though it were wauerynge and in daunger to fall⸝ yet was he ſtryken of god⸝ and fell deed...1531, Thomas Elyot, “The Moste Cõmodious and Necessary Studies Succedyng Ordinatly the Lesson of Poetes”, in The Boke Named the Governour […], London: […] Tho[mas] Bertheleti, →OCLC, 1st boke, folios...
4. (figuratively, intransitive) To begin to weaken or show signs of weakening in resolve; to falter, to flinch, to give way.
   • Despite all the terrible things that happened to her, she never wavered from her beliefs.

   Synonyms:

   blink

5. (figuratively, intransitive) To feel or show doubt or indecision; to be indecisive between choices; to vacillate.
   • […] I ſhall not much vvaver to affirm that thoſe vvords vvhich are made to intimate, as if they forbad all divorce but for adultery […] thoſe vvords tak'n circumſcriptly, […] are as much againſt plain equity, and the mercy of religion, […]1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC, page 34

   Synonyms:

   sway

6. (figuratively, intransitive) Of a body part such as an eye or hand, or the voice: to become unsteady; to shake, to tremble.
   • His voice wavered when the reporter brought up the controversial topic.

See all 22 meanings of waver