A woman serving in the navy.

ETYM From Wave; not the same word as Old Eng. wawe, waghe, a wave, which is akin to Eng. wag to move.
(Homonym: waive).
1. (Physics) A progressive, undulating disturbance created without displacement of the medium itself; SYN. undulation.
2. One of a series of ridges that moves across the surface of a liquid (especially across a large body of water); SYN. moving ridge.
3. A movement like that of an ocean wave.
4. An undulating curve.
5. Something that rises rapidly and dies away.
6. The act of signaling by a movement of the hand; SYN. waving, wafture.
7. A hairdo that creates undulations in the hair.

1. Any disturbance or change that has an oscillatory, periodic nature, for example, a light or sound wave. See also waveform.
2. In electronics, the time-amplitude profile of an electrical signal.
In physics, a disturbance traveling through a medium (or space). There are two types: in a longitudinal wave (such as a sound wave) the disturbance is parallel to the wave’s direction of travel; in a transverse wave (such as an electromagnetic wave) it is perpendicular. The medium (for example the Earth, for seismic waves) is not permanently displaced by the passage of a wave.

In the oceans, a ridge or swell formed by wind or other causes. The power of a wave is determined by the strength of the wind and the distance of open water over which the wind blows (the fetch). Waves are the main agents of coastal erosion and deposition: sweeping away or building up beaches, creating spits and berms, and wearing down cliffs by their hydraulic action and by the corrasion of the sand and shingle that they carry. A tsunami (misleadingly called a “tidal wave”) is formed after a submarine earthquake.
As a wave approaches the shore it is forced to break as a result of friction with the sea bed. When it breaks on a beach, water and sediment are carried up the beach as swash; the water then drains back as backwash.
A constructive wave causes a net deposition of material on the shore because its swash is stronger than its backwash. Such waves tend be low and have crests that spill over gradually as they break. The backwash of a destructive wave is stronger than its swash, and therefore causes a net removal of material from the shore. Destructive waves are usually tall and have peaked crests that plunge downward as they break, trapping air as they do so.
If waves strike a beach at an angle the beach material will be gradually moved along the shore (longshore drift), causing a deposition of material in some areas and erosion in others.
Atmospheric instability caused by the greenhouse effect appears to be increasing the severity of Atlantic storms and the heights of the ocean waves. An increase of 20% in the heights of Atlantic waves has been recorded since the 1960s.

(Homonym: waive).
1. To move one's hand back and forth, as a signal.
2. To flap or move in an undulating fashion.
3. To set waves in (said of of hair).