Wagging

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. A motion characterized by the rapid back-and-forth movement of something, often a tail
2. A gesture indicating excitement, friendliness, or eagerness usually performed by an animal's tail or a part of its body
3. The act of moving an appendage, especially a tail or similar part, in a lively and expressive manner

Etymology: The verb "wag" is older than its gesture sense. It is related to "way" and probably goes back to an Old English root meaning to move or go, though the exact path is uncertain. Its Scandinavian and Dutch relatives show the same sense of swaying or rocking: Old Norse "vagga" meant "cradle," and Swedish "vagga" meant "to rock a cradle." The English verb seems to have started as a form that repeated or intensified this basic motion of back-and-forth movement. Over time "wag" came to describe quick side-to-side motion, and one early use was of a loose tooth that kept rocking in its socket. Its close relative "waggle" carries the same idea of lively, unsteady movement. The modern sense of a tail or body part wagging to show happiness is simply the everyday application of that motion to dogs, which is why "wagging" now suggests friendliness and eagerness.

Synonyms: swaying, moving, shaking, flapping, waving

Antonyms: still, stationary, fixed, motionless, stable