waffle /ˈwɒf.əl/verb 8noun 6forms 3 verb8 •(UK) To speak or write evasively or vaguely.He waffled on for much of the earnings call without addressing the fall in share price. •Often followed by on: to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point; to ramble.Unless you have a great line in gags or repartee don't waffle on aimlessly to your audience, or make in-jokes among yourselves, the band or the compere/DJ. — 1976 •(informal) To be indecisive about something; to dither, to vacillate, to waver.I waffled between going to the deposition and going to the doctor's. Wishing Barbara was there, I decided to call the doctor afterward. — 2011 •To hold horizontally and rotate (one's hand) back and forth in a gesture of ambivalence or vacillation.“[…] You get anything useful on the background checks?” / He waffled his hand. “Nothing like what you brought back, but still some interesting notes.[…]” — 2007 •Of a bird: to move in a side-to-side motion while descending before landing.The geese waffled as they approached the water. •(informal) Of an aircraft or motor vehicle: to travel in a slow and unhurried manner. •(slang) To smash (something).The cab was waffled in between the two, Marsh never having a prayer or even a full comprehension of what happened to him. He was crushed flat, never even hearing the deafening screech of metal. — 1995 •(dialect, UK) Of a dog: to bark with a high pitch like a puppy, or in muffled manner. noun6 •A flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern, often eaten hot with butter and/or honey or syrup.The brunch was waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. •(UK) In full potato waffle: a savoury flat potato cake with the same kind of grid pattern. •(informal) (Often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious.This interesting point seems to get lost a little within a lot of self-important waffle. •[before a noun] A type of fabric woven with a honeycomb texture. •[before a noun] A concrete slab used in flooring with a gridlike structure of ribs running at right angles to each other on its underside.In one-way (pan joist) and two-way (waffle) joist construction, a similar layout is usually adopted. — 2008 •(dialect, UK) The high-pitched sound made by a young dog; also, a muffled bark. formswaffled · waffling · waffles
