wad (1), wadde

[Sw. vadd =wadding; O. Sw. wad =clothing, cloth, stuff; Icel. vadhr stuff, only in the comp. vadhmal =wadmal (q. v.); Dan. vat =wadding; Ger.watte =wadding, wad; watten = to dre cloth, to wad; wat =cloth.] [(WEED (2), s.] *1. A bundle, as of hay. "When it [lupines) is cut downe, make it into wads or bottles [manipula], and so burie them at the roots of trees."-P. Holland: Pliny , bk. xvii., ch. ix. 2. A soft ma of some fibrous material, such as hay, tow, cotton-wool, or other yielding substance, used for various purposes, such as stopping up an opening, stuffing an interior, or the like. 3. Specifically, a small ma of soft or flexible material, such as tow, paper, old rope-yarn, ., used to hold the charge in position at the rear of the chamber of a gun or to prevent windage. Wads for ordnance are of various kinds. For small-arms the wad is usually a disk of felt, punched by a cir cular wad-cutter. 4. A roll of paper money; a lunch or light meal. ( Slang .) wad-hook, subst. A spiral tool for withdrawing wads; a worm.