Wadder

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person or bird that walks through shallow water, especially a long-legged wading species
2. Someone or something that moves through water or wet ground by wading, often a wading bird
3. An animal or person that steps into shallow water, typically a wader with long legs

Etymology: "Wadder" is a noun built from "wad" with the agent suffix "-er," so it names something that wads or a person who does. The spelling reflects a pronunciation rather than a separate history: in many dialects of English, the "t" and "d" sounds between vowels are flapped into a quick tap, so "wadder" and "water" or "ladder" share the same sound. Because the spelling follows the sound, "wadder" is written this way in those accents to show that the "d" is a flap, not a hard consonant.

Synonyms: wader