English Dictionary

waif

/weɪf/

noun

(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.

She found a waif wandering the streets.

意味（1）

(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.

意味（2）

Something found, especially if without an owner; something which comes along, as it were, by chance.

意味（3）

A person (especially a child) who is homeless and without means of support; also, a person excluded from society; an outcast.

Tenderly Kala nursed her little waif, wondering silently why it did not gain strength and agility as did the little apes of other mothers. It was nearly a year from the time the little fellow came into her possession before he would walk alone, and as for climbing—my, but how stupid he was!

意味（4）

(by extension) A very thin person.

意味（5）

(by extension, botany) A plant introduced in a place outside its native range but is not persistently naturalized.