wane
wane Lexical Profile
wane Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To decrease gradually in vigor, power, extent, or intensity; to become weaker or approach an end.
"Public enthusiasm for the new policy began to wane after the initial excitement passed."
To have a progressively smaller part of its visible surface illuminated, so that it appears to decrease in size (of the moon).
"After the bright harvest full moon, the lunar disk will slowly wane over the next two weeks."
• noun
A gradual decrease or decline in power, intensity, or extent, especially as used in the phrase 'on the wane'.
"Print newspaper subscriptions have been on the wane for the past two decades."
The period or phase during which the visible illuminated surface of the moon decreases from full to new.
"The farmers traditionally planted root crops during the wane of the moon."
A rounded or beveled edge on a sawn board caused by the curvature of the original log, often retaining bark or lacking square corners.
"The carpenter rejected the pine plank because the wane along one edge made it unsuitable for cabinetry."
Word Nuance & Usage
Do not confuse 'wane' with its homophone 'wain', an archaic word for a large open farm wagon. In astronomical contexts and the idiom 'wax and wane', its direct opposite is 'wax' (meaning to grow larger).
• Rhymes for wane
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'wanian' (to lessen or diminish), derived from the Proto-Germanic root '*wano-', which is also the source of the word 'want'.