| 释义 |
verbˈwɒf(ə)lˈwɑfəl [no object]informal 1British Speak or write at length in a vague or trivial manner. he waffled on about his problems Example sentencesExamples - But instead of producing the figures to explain why it wouldn't, Mr. Darrell waffled incomprehensibly about students moving schools.
- I either bluster through and waffle away, mumbling on further and further away from the point in hand, or I go to the other extreme and clam up completely.
- Serena, who has hardly said more than two words to me in the past, came over and started waffling on about her trip to France.
- Okay, so I've waffled on enough with my paranoid conspiracy theories.
- They've waffled on at length about it, but as is usual the action comes a generation later.
- Do you realise you waffled on about nothing and by the time I had got to the end of the letter I had forgotten what the whole situation was about?
- Minutes passed by, and the President waffled on, punctuated only by a cough or the quiet dropping of screws.
- It seems they just waffle on in the local press about the litter in the local park.
- Anyone willing to pay money to hear us all waffle on for sixty minutes of unbridled nonsense?
- Despite his tendency to waffle on aimlessly, he does on occasion write things that are worth reading…
- Or maybe that sounds incredibly pretentious and I just waffle.
- In other words, he did waffle on with his answer.
- I've a nagging feeling that I have probably waffled on about this album before, but it still makes me smile.
- Rather than waffle or quote at length from pieces to which I have little to add, I will simply link to few pieces well worth a look.
- Easily outraged punters with nothing better to do have waffled on about him on talk-back programmes and blogs and message boards.
- Of course it's all wrapped in a chocolate coating of beautifully crafted songs and a crisp musicianship, but the 12 tracks on Always Got Tonight do waffle on a bit.
- Though he waffled on about guitars and music, he gave no inkling on the extent of his passion for his other hobby - motorsport.
- Approaching the top of my walk I was waffling into my tape recorder about mushrooms.
- And, having reached a nice rounded and witty conclusion, I'm going to spoil it by waffling on and qualifying what I've said.
- The stars - normally so quick to leap in front of the nearest press crew and start waffling about how ‘incredible’ everyone was - have also been instructed to keep their self-promoting lips tightly sealed.
Synonyms prattle, chatter, babble, ramble, jabber, gibber, gabble, gab, burble, flannel, run on, mutter, mumble, prate, drivel, bleat, cackle British hum and haw informal blather British informal rabbit, witter, natter 2North American Fail to make up one's mind. Joseph had been waffling over where to go Example sentencesExamples - So he waffled even on the issue of a camera in the courtroom.
- I'm waffling here, unwilling to say we were snobby or we were justified in our behavior, but I can see it from both sides.
- But waffling on the central issue of Vietnam is far more difficult.
- Because so many of our allies are waffling at this point.
- The second thing is that you have waffled on whether you would hire gay people in your administration.
- Yes, the Governor is steadfastly pro-choice. And he just signed an anti-global warming bill that he had been waffling on.
- In the latter days of the campaign, Clay waffled on annexing Texas, particularly in his ‘Alabama letters.’
- He has waffled on doing away with the Patriot Act, courted the gun lobby and promised vigorous dialogue with the right.
- Earlier today I'd been waffling about whether or not I'd take the night off and go hear a few bands.
- Today the Senate Democratic leader told me the White House seems to be waffling when it comes to the North Korea standoff.
- I'm sure the residents are confused because of government waffling.
- The spokeswoman waffled for weeks and then finally declined, after explaining that she found some articles on the Reason Web site ‘anti-feminist.’
- I was eating dinner with Miss K, and waffling about the relationship, and I opened the cookie and read this fortune: ‘Make up your mind and do what you want to do.’
- Opponents criticize him for waffling on the issues and for seeming aloof.
- This month, for example, the government waffled on a commitment to buy 73 of Airbus Industrie's new A400 military transports for $9.7 billion.
- For months I had been waffling: should I stay or go?
- He seems to have waffled on the matter, though, and some on the right will probably be more reluctant to withdraw now that blood has been spilled.
- He said broadcasters had only themselves to blame for the rough transition to digital because they waffled on the technology and hadn't invested enough in digital-format programming to lure audiences.
- They keep her from being lonely, take her on trips, and urge her to make medical appointments when she's waffling about whether to see a doctor and really should do so.
noun ˈwɒf(ə)lˈwɑfəl informal 1British mass noun Lengthy but vague or trivial talk or writing. we've edited out some of the waffle Example sentencesExamples - At the time, US government spokespeople dismissed it as so much waffle, especially railing against the intimations that ‘death squads’ might be involved.
- Was all this vague new age waffle disguised as insight still managing to fool people?
- I don't think my blogging muse has quite returned yet, so standby for some more inane waffle.
- All we got from him during Tuesday's ‘debate’ at the party conference was a lot of waffle about the new fees being used to give bursaries to poorer students.
- I tuned in mostly out of a sense of duty, expecting to have to sit through a turgid display of tired political rhetoric and waffle.
- However last month I got perilously close to the maximum free limit, with 97KB of text and waffle on this site in January.
- I shudder to think how much it costs to employ one or more staff to put together this load of waffle, to print off thousands of copies and to send them via the Royal Mail to every household.
- No matter, both locations are stunningly beautiful, and the shots of wide seas, mountains and endless skies makes up for an awful load of waffle.
- You have to get through an awful lot of terrible dialogue and acting, however, plus a lot of fantastically insincere waffle about the environment, to get to those spectacular scenes.
- The promise to launch the biggest-ever public consultation smacks of meaningless waffle.
- Where is the morality in a woman being given 80 grand a year to spout waffle on energy fields and crystals and fitness?
- Lots of waffle about ‘problem-solving committees’, lots of grumbling about the police not doing very much.
- There was no way that I was going to write out some 347 words of waffle in block capitals, so I decided to print out what I'd written and stick it onto the form instead.
- He has the rare ability to shun irrelevant waffle, to identify the important problems and produce important solutions.
- There has been talk of interest from Manchester United, but Moyes dismissed it as waffle.
- Every week councillors nationwide receive pages of waffle from this Government advising us of our duty to take action to reduce carbon emissions.
- When hunting was banned, there was much insincere, scientifically discredited waffle about cruelty to animals.
- This is probably undeserving of the music category, being as it is one part music to five parts self-indulgent waffle.
- What they appear to be getting from this latest cultural think-tank is waffle - and misleading waffle at that.
- Saying ‘there are no easy answers’ is platitudinous waffle.
Synonyms prattle, jabbering, verbiage, drivel, meaningless talk, nonsense, twaddle, gibberish, stuff and nonsense, bunkum, mumbo jumbo, padding, flannel, verbosity, prolixity informal hot air, poppycock, tripe, bosh, bunk, blah, hogwash, eyewash, gobbledegook, rot, tommyrot, guff British informal wittering rare logorrhoea 2US in singular A failure to make up one's mind. Example sentencesExamples - It has been widely suggested that the Vatican meetings this week produced another waffle.
Derivatives noun ˈwɒf(ə)ləˈwɑf(ə)lər informal But because he doesn't typically explain issues in black and white terms he's painted as a waffler, a hopeless compromiser, and, for many on the left, a sellout or a pseudo-liberal. Example sentencesExamples - The club president must rule meetings with a firm hand, keeping the inevitable wafflers and time-wasters under control.
- The truest are not wafflers, and they are not afraid to stand up for something controversial.
- They're wafflers and while it makes good radio and television, it often doesn't make much sense.
- They have compiled a chart and list of quotes on the 2004 Democratic presidential candidates - letting you know who the hawks, doves, and wafflers are.
- He then accused them of being a bunch of over-qualified wafflers who had no idea that the point of business was to sell, sell, sell.
- For a notorious waffler, Beazley's speech was brief and to the point.
- He is such a waffler and so tiresome that I actually turn the radio off when he chimes in.
- They are professional fence-sitters and wafflers of a whole new order.
- If you have a position that falls between these two monochromatic options, you're indecisive, a waffler.
adjectivewaffliest, wafflier ˈwɒf(ə)liˈwɑf(ə)li informal People think poetry is waffly, loose and vague but actually good poetry is utterly precise, no word is wasted. Example sentencesExamples - You couldn't care less, because their language is waffly and you don't understand a word of it.
- But you never know; the press release is one of those waffly ones that doesn't quite tell you everything you want to hear.
- All this has resulted in rather a lot of waffly talk about ‘guidelines’ and ‘best practice’, with developments moving at a slow pace.
- Presumably if Labor keeps it waffly enough, there'll be something in there for everyone else to vote for.
Origin Late 17th century (originally in the sense 'yap, yelp'): frequentative of dialect waff 'yelp', of imitative origin. Someone who waffles now talks on and on in a vague or trivial way, but in the 17th century to waffle was ‘to yap or yelp’, and then ‘to dither’. It came from the English dialect term waff ‘to yelp’ (the same word as woof (early 19th century), both imitating the sound), and seems to have been used mainly in northern England until the modern meaning developed at the start of the 20th century. Waffle meaning ‘a small crisp batter cake’ is quite different: it comes from Dutch wafel, and before that Old French gaufre, the root of wafer (Middle English). Gaufre also meant ‘honeycomb’, and this is probably the basic idea—the criss-cross indentations on a waffle or wafer look like a honeycomb.
nounˈwɒf(ə)lˈwɑfəl A small crisp batter cake, baked in a waffle iron and eaten hot with butter or syrup. Example sentencesExamples - That's everything from eggs and cheese to potato waffles and pancakes.
- Saturday and Sunday is when the fancy breakfasts come out; pancakes and waffles swimming in maple syrup, and bacon and eggs.
- First, another great way to spruce up cake, ice cream, even pancakes and waffles, is a simple strawberry sauce.
- Paying no mind to his father, Chris stuck a frozen waffle into the toaster and pulled the rubber band off of the morning newspaper.
- Upon entering she smelled the sweet aroma of blueberry waffles in the air.
- If you want intense blueberry syrup, make this one to serve over pancakes, waffles or ice cream.
- Some people cook a big breakfast - pancakes, waffles, eggs and toast - even on weekdays.
- We gorged ourselves on boardwalk treats: caramel apples, cotton candy, salt water taffy, hot waffles and ice cream.
- I went to the freezer and discovered that there were more frozen waffles than I'd thought.
- I go to stock up on frozen pizzas, waffles, popcorn, peanut butter and chocolate cookies.
- Satine was sitting at the kitchen table, pouring maple syrup on her waffles.
- On an average weekend morning when the whole family is at home, they'll go through a good jar of the stuff on toast, waffles, pancakes, or eager fingers.
- They sat down at a long table with plates of waffles, syrup, butter, whipped cream, and strawberries piled on top of it.
- Maple syrup is no longer relegated to its standard role of sweetening pancakes and waffles; this versatile ingredient adds flavor to both sweet and savory dishes alike.
- Well, my plans to be good today fell to pieces when Emilie brought caramel waffles back from Amsterdam.
- Angel had never seen so much food: pancakes and eggs, waffles and syrup, and so much more.
- Imagine waking up and being offered homemade waffles, light and crispy, with butter and syrup.
- In France, batter is transformed into crisp beignets and croquettes, into traditional waffles peculiar to each region, and into smooth, light crêpes.
- At the cabin, breakfast takes center stage - always bacon or sausage, waffles or pancakes, and eggs.
- Then a stack of hot waffles tumbling with maple syrup, cream and fresh fruits.
adjectiveˈwɒf(ə)lˈwɑfəl Denoting a style of fine honeycomb weaving or a fabric woven to give a honeycomb effect. Example sentencesExamples - And after a bath, they like to wrap up in a waffle weave bathrobe by Queechee Bo.
- They could be edited together into one, better movie, where we see more of people in flashy leather duds and sunglasses instead of stained waffle undershirts.
- The living areas are tastefully furnished, with all the accessories you'd expect of a spa - big fluffy white towels, cool waffle robes and crisp cotton linen.
- If a guy had a pair of matching white waffle bathrobes, then I would assume other women would have at some stage worn the lady-sized robe.
- In addition to its comfort and coolness, Cross Creek's Cool Knit fabric is really a variation of a pique stitch that creates an interesting waffle texture.
- The waffle material is really lightweight, but does an excellent job of keeping you warm!
- This shirt, which comes in six solid colors, is woven in a waffle pattern and features a treatment that makes the silk truly washable.
Origin Mid 18th century: from Dutch wafel; compare with wafer and goffer. verbˈwɑfəlˈwäfəl [no object]informal 1North American Fail to make up one's mind. Joseph had been waffling over where to go Example sentencesExamples - Opponents criticize him for waffling on the issues and for seeming aloof.
- The second thing is that you have waffled on whether you would hire gay people in your administration.
- So he waffled even on the issue of a camera in the courtroom.
- Today the Senate Democratic leader told me the White House seems to be waffling when it comes to the North Korea standoff.
- In the latter days of the campaign, Clay waffled on annexing Texas, particularly in his ‘Alabama letters.’
- I was eating dinner with Miss K, and waffling about the relationship, and I opened the cookie and read this fortune: ‘Make up your mind and do what you want to do.’
- He said broadcasters had only themselves to blame for the rough transition to digital because they waffled on the technology and hadn't invested enough in digital-format programming to lure audiences.
- Because so many of our allies are waffling at this point.
- He has waffled on doing away with the Patriot Act, courted the gun lobby and promised vigorous dialogue with the right.
- I'm waffling here, unwilling to say we were snobby or we were justified in our behavior, but I can see it from both sides.
- Yes, the Governor is steadfastly pro-choice. And he just signed an anti-global warming bill that he had been waffling on.
- The spokeswoman waffled for weeks and then finally declined, after explaining that she found some articles on the Reason Web site ‘anti-feminist.’
- But waffling on the central issue of Vietnam is far more difficult.
- Earlier today I'd been waffling about whether or not I'd take the night off and go hear a few bands.
- This month, for example, the government waffled on a commitment to buy 73 of Airbus Industrie's new A400 military transports for $9.7 billion.
- They keep her from being lonely, take her on trips, and urge her to make medical appointments when she's waffling about whether to see a doctor and really should do so.
- He seems to have waffled on the matter, though, and some on the right will probably be more reluctant to withdraw now that blood has been spilled.
- I'm sure the residents are confused because of government waffling.
- For months I had been waffling: should I stay or go?
2British Speak or write, especially at great length, without saying anything important or useful. he waffled on about everything that didn't matter Example sentencesExamples - Easily outraged punters with nothing better to do have waffled on about him on talk-back programmes and blogs and message boards.
- But instead of producing the figures to explain why it wouldn't, Mr. Darrell waffled incomprehensibly about students moving schools.
- Serena, who has hardly said more than two words to me in the past, came over and started waffling on about her trip to France.
- Approaching the top of my walk I was waffling into my tape recorder about mushrooms.
- In other words, he did waffle on with his answer.
- They've waffled on at length about it, but as is usual the action comes a generation later.
- I either bluster through and waffle away, mumbling on further and further away from the point in hand, or I go to the other extreme and clam up completely.
- I've a nagging feeling that I have probably waffled on about this album before, but it still makes me smile.
- Anyone willing to pay money to hear us all waffle on for sixty minutes of unbridled nonsense?
- Or maybe that sounds incredibly pretentious and I just waffle.
- Despite his tendency to waffle on aimlessly, he does on occasion write things that are worth reading…
- Though he waffled on about guitars and music, he gave no inkling on the extent of his passion for his other hobby - motorsport.
- The stars - normally so quick to leap in front of the nearest press crew and start waffling about how ‘incredible’ everyone was - have also been instructed to keep their self-promoting lips tightly sealed.
- Of course it's all wrapped in a chocolate coating of beautifully crafted songs and a crisp musicianship, but the 12 tracks on Always Got Tonight do waffle on a bit.
- Minutes passed by, and the President waffled on, punctuated only by a cough or the quiet dropping of screws.
- Do you realise you waffled on about nothing and by the time I had got to the end of the letter I had forgotten what the whole situation was about?
- And, having reached a nice rounded and witty conclusion, I'm going to spoil it by waffling on and qualifying what I've said.
- Rather than waffle or quote at length from pieces to which I have little to add, I will simply link to few pieces well worth a look.
- It seems they just waffle on in the local press about the litter in the local park.
- Okay, so I've waffled on enough with my paranoid conspiracy theories.
Synonyms prattle, chatter, babble, ramble, jabber, gibber, gabble, gab, burble, flannel, run on, mutter, mumble, prate, drivel, bleat, cackle
nounˈwɑfəlˈwäfəl informal 1US A failure to make up one's mind. Example sentencesExamples - It has been widely suggested that the Vatican meetings this week produced another waffle.
2British Lengthy but trivial or useless talk or writing. Example sentencesExamples - There was no way that I was going to write out some 347 words of waffle in block capitals, so I decided to print out what I'd written and stick it onto the form instead.
- I tuned in mostly out of a sense of duty, expecting to have to sit through a turgid display of tired political rhetoric and waffle.
- The promise to launch the biggest-ever public consultation smacks of meaningless waffle.
- There has been talk of interest from Manchester United, but Moyes dismissed it as waffle.
- What they appear to be getting from this latest cultural think-tank is waffle - and misleading waffle at that.
- Where is the morality in a woman being given 80 grand a year to spout waffle on energy fields and crystals and fitness?
- Every week councillors nationwide receive pages of waffle from this Government advising us of our duty to take action to reduce carbon emissions.
- At the time, US government spokespeople dismissed it as so much waffle, especially railing against the intimations that ‘death squads’ might be involved.
- All we got from him during Tuesday's ‘debate’ at the party conference was a lot of waffle about the new fees being used to give bursaries to poorer students.
- However last month I got perilously close to the maximum free limit, with 97KB of text and waffle on this site in January.
- I shudder to think how much it costs to employ one or more staff to put together this load of waffle, to print off thousands of copies and to send them via the Royal Mail to every household.
- Lots of waffle about ‘problem-solving committees’, lots of grumbling about the police not doing very much.
- No matter, both locations are stunningly beautiful, and the shots of wide seas, mountains and endless skies makes up for an awful load of waffle.
- You have to get through an awful lot of terrible dialogue and acting, however, plus a lot of fantastically insincere waffle about the environment, to get to those spectacular scenes.
- Was all this vague new age waffle disguised as insight still managing to fool people?
- Saying ‘there are no easy answers’ is platitudinous waffle.
- He has the rare ability to shun irrelevant waffle, to identify the important problems and produce important solutions.
- When hunting was banned, there was much insincere, scientifically discredited waffle about cruelty to animals.
- I don't think my blogging muse has quite returned yet, so standby for some more inane waffle.
- This is probably undeserving of the music category, being as it is one part music to five parts self-indulgent waffle.
Synonyms prattle, jabbering, verbiage, drivel, meaningless talk, nonsense, twaddle, gibberish, stuff and nonsense, bunkum, mumbo jumbo, padding, flannel, verbosity, prolixity
Origin Late 17th century (originally in the sense ‘yap, yelp’): frequentative of dialect waff ‘yelp’, of imitative origin. nounˈwäfəlˈwɑfəl A small crisp batter cake, baked in a waffle iron and eaten hot with butter or syrup. Example sentencesExamples - If you want intense blueberry syrup, make this one to serve over pancakes, waffles or ice cream.
- That's everything from eggs and cheese to potato waffles and pancakes.
- Paying no mind to his father, Chris stuck a frozen waffle into the toaster and pulled the rubber band off of the morning newspaper.
- Imagine waking up and being offered homemade waffles, light and crispy, with butter and syrup.
- Upon entering she smelled the sweet aroma of blueberry waffles in the air.
- First, another great way to spruce up cake, ice cream, even pancakes and waffles, is a simple strawberry sauce.
- On an average weekend morning when the whole family is at home, they'll go through a good jar of the stuff on toast, waffles, pancakes, or eager fingers.
- We gorged ourselves on boardwalk treats: caramel apples, cotton candy, salt water taffy, hot waffles and ice cream.
- Saturday and Sunday is when the fancy breakfasts come out; pancakes and waffles swimming in maple syrup, and bacon and eggs.
- Angel had never seen so much food: pancakes and eggs, waffles and syrup, and so much more.
- Well, my plans to be good today fell to pieces when Emilie brought caramel waffles back from Amsterdam.
- Satine was sitting at the kitchen table, pouring maple syrup on her waffles.
- Some people cook a big breakfast - pancakes, waffles, eggs and toast - even on weekdays.
- They sat down at a long table with plates of waffles, syrup, butter, whipped cream, and strawberries piled on top of it.
- At the cabin, breakfast takes center stage - always bacon or sausage, waffles or pancakes, and eggs.
- I go to stock up on frozen pizzas, waffles, popcorn, peanut butter and chocolate cookies.
- Maple syrup is no longer relegated to its standard role of sweetening pancakes and waffles; this versatile ingredient adds flavor to both sweet and savory dishes alike.
- Then a stack of hot waffles tumbling with maple syrup, cream and fresh fruits.
- In France, batter is transformed into crisp beignets and croquettes, into traditional waffles peculiar to each region, and into smooth, light crêpes.
- I went to the freezer and discovered that there were more frozen waffles than I'd thought.
adjectiveˈwäfəlˈwɑfəl Denoting a style of fine honeycomb weaving or a fabric woven to give a honeycomb effect. Example sentencesExamples - In addition to its comfort and coolness, Cross Creek's Cool Knit fabric is really a variation of a pique stitch that creates an interesting waffle texture.
- This shirt, which comes in six solid colors, is woven in a waffle pattern and features a treatment that makes the silk truly washable.
- If a guy had a pair of matching white waffle bathrobes, then I would assume other women would have at some stage worn the lady-sized robe.
- They could be edited together into one, better movie, where we see more of people in flashy leather duds and sunglasses instead of stained waffle undershirts.
- The waffle material is really lightweight, but does an excellent job of keeping you warm!
- And after a bath, they like to wrap up in a waffle weave bathrobe by Queechee Bo.
- The living areas are tastefully furnished, with all the accessories you'd expect of a spa - big fluffy white towels, cool waffle robes and crisp cotton linen.
Origin Mid 18th century: from Dutch wafel; compare with wafer and goffer. |