(Britain, law, archaic) Often in the form waif and stray, waifs and strays: an article of movable property found of which the owner is not known, such as goods washed up on a beach or thrown away by an absconding thief; such items belong to the Crown, which may grant the right of ownership to them to a lord of a manor.

(transitive) To cast aside or reject, and thus make a waif.

(nautical, chiefly whaling, historical) A small flag used as a signal.

Something (such as clouds or smoke) carried aloft by the wind.

Something deposited, laid, or hazarded on the event of a contest or an unsettled question; a bet; a stake; a pledge. / That on which bets are laid; the subject of a bet.

(transitive) To bet something; to put it up as collateral. / (intransitive, figuratively) To suppose; to dare say.

Agent noun of wage; one who wages.

(intransitive) To cry out, as in sorrow or anguish. / (intransitive) To weep, lament persistently or bitterly. / (intransitive) To make a noise like mourning or crying.

A prolonged cry, usually high-pitched, especially as of grief or anguish. / Any similar sound as of lamentation; a howl.

(obsolete) Synonym of wale (“to choose; to select”)