wafer, wafre, waffre, wafur

[O. Fr. waufre, gauffre, goffre, Fr. gaufre, from O. Dut. waeffel a wafer; Dut, wafel; Low Ger. wafeln = wafers; Ger.waffel wafer; Dan. vaffel; Sw.vaffta. Prob. named from a supposed resemblance to a honeycomb; cf. Ger. wabe a honeycomb, a cake of wax.] A thin cake or leaf of paste, generally disc shaped; applied specifically to (1) A small, thin, sweet cake, made of flour, cream, white wine, and lump sugar, and flavored with cin nam on. (2) A thin adhesive disc of dried paste used for sealing letters, fastening documents together, and the like; made of flour, mixed with water, gum, and some non-poisonous coloring matter. Transparent wafers are made by di olving fine glue or isingla with such quantity of water that the solution when cold shall be of proper consistency. (3) A term applied by Protestants to the sacramental bread used by Roman Catholics in the Eucharist; a thin circular portion of unleavened bread, generally stamped with the Christian monogram, the cro , or other sacred symbol. wafer-cake, s. A thin cake, a wafer. "For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer - cakes." Shakesp.: Henry V., ii. 3. wafer-irons, s . pl . A pincer-shaped instrument. the legs of which terminate in flat blades about twelve inches long, by nine in breadth, used for making wafers. The blades are heated in a coke fire, the paste is then put between them, and by pre ure formed into a thin sheet of paste, from which discs of the desired size are cut out with a punch. *wafer-woman, s. A woman who sold wafers. Such women were often employed in love affairs and intrigues. ""Twas no set meeting, Certainly, for there was no wafer - woman with her These three days." Beaum. & Flet.: Woman- hater , ii. 1. The American Dictionary and Cyclopedia wafer