waded; wading
1
: to step in or through a medium (such as water) offering more resistance than air
2
: to move or proceed with difficulty or labor
wade through the crowd
wade through all the evidence
3
: to set to work or attack with determination or vigor
—used with in or into
wade into a task
: to pass or cross by wading
: an act of wading
a wade in the brook
Synonyms
Examples of wade in a Sentence
Verb
We waded into the ocean.
I jumped off the boat and waded back to shore.
Police waded into the crowd.
We waded through the crowded bus station.
It took several weeks to wade through all the evidence.
We waded our way through the crowd.
Recent Examples on the Web
Rachel Scott, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2024
Many of the institutional considerations that have made judges reticent to wade into drug debates don’t apply to the other branches.
—David Pozen, TIME, 25 Apr. 2024
Idaho Transgender Law: The court temporarily allowed Idaho to enforce a ban on gender-affirming treatment for minors, effectively suggesting that some justices appear comfortable wading into another front in the culture wars.
—Adam Liptak, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2024
Combat journalists wade through the battlefield so the world can finally see, with horror and relief, how the United States has fallen.
—Alan Zilberman, Washington Post, 17 Apr. 2024
Video from Orsk showed one man wading through flood water reaching his neck.
—Reuters, NBC News, 9 Apr. 2024
Richardson is part of an exclusive group of transfers on offense expected to boost the competition inside Heritage Hall as the Trojans wade into the next phase of development under Lincoln Riley.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024
With anti-immigrant rhetoric on the rise and a contentious election ahead, some donors see the Girl Scouts as wading too readily into politically controversial waters.
—CBS News, 27 Mar. 2024
Opportunities for a big trout abound, and the river can be both floated and waded effectively.
—Tim Romano, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2024
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024
The photographer had the couple wade into the water out to a sandbar.
—Erin Clack, Peoplemag, 8 Feb. 2024
Stephanie wades into the muck as the body count rises and witnesses disappear, having to play dirty in order to nab her suspect(s).
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 9 Aug. 2023
Andrew: There are all kinds of little nuances to the way the One Power and Aes Sedai work, doled out in bits and pieces over like seven books, that the show wades right into and needs to resolve pretty early by even introducing the concepts of stilling and shielding at this point in the story.
—Andrew Cunningham & Lee Hutchinson, Ars Technica, 29 Sep. 2023
On his Instagram Story, another snap shows Brooks hanging on to her boyfriend’s back as the couple wades in the water together.
—Natalia Senanayake, Peoplemag, 29 Nov. 2023
Stanford study wades into reading wars with high marks for teaching that includes phonics.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 4 Dec. 2023
Scarpetta, who has been identifying killers across 27 books, wades into the supernatural in Unnatural Death.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, Peoplemag, 28 Nov. 2023
When he’s finished in the goat sheds, Dr. Getachew wades into sewage ponds and drainage ditches with a dipper, looking for larval stephensi, which are easier to spot.
—Stephanie Nolen Tiksa Negeri, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
Verb
McConnell as Reagan Republican Trump, who has waded in to a number of legislative debates in recent weeks, did not directly weigh in on how members ought to vote on the Ukraine aid package.
—Rachel Scott, ABC News, 25 Apr. 2024
Many of the institutional considerations that have made judges reticent to wade into drug debates don’t apply to the other branches.
—David Pozen, TIME, 25 Apr. 2024
Idaho Transgender Law: The court temporarily allowed Idaho to enforce a ban on gender-affirming treatment for minors, effectively suggesting that some justices appear comfortable wading into another front in the culture wars.
—Adam Liptak, New York Times, 22 Apr. 2024
Combat journalists wade through the battlefield so the world can finally see, with horror and relief, how the United States has fallen.
—Alan Zilberman, Washington Post, 17 Apr. 2024
Video from Orsk showed one man wading through flood water reaching his neck.
—Reuters, NBC News, 9 Apr. 2024
Richardson is part of an exclusive group of transfers on offense expected to boost the competition inside Heritage Hall as the Trojans wade into the next phase of development under Lincoln Riley.
—Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2024
With anti-immigrant rhetoric on the rise and a contentious election ahead, some donors see the Girl Scouts as wading too readily into politically controversial waters.
—CBS News, 27 Mar. 2024
Opportunities for a big trout abound, and the river can be both floated and waded effectively.
—Tim Romano, Field & Stream, 20 Mar. 2024
Noun
Chauncey is the least of his problems, though, when what’s been structured around those moments feels like a paint-by-numbers exercise and not a true wade into terrifying waters.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024
The photographer had the couple wade into the water out to a sandbar.
—Erin Clack, Peoplemag, 8 Feb. 2024
Stephanie wades into the muck as the body count rises and witnesses disappear, having to play dirty in order to nab her suspect(s).
—Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 9 Aug. 2023
Andrew: There are all kinds of little nuances to the way the One Power and Aes Sedai work, doled out in bits and pieces over like seven books, that the show wades right into and needs to resolve pretty early by even introducing the concepts of stilling and shielding at this point in the story.
—Andrew Cunningham & Lee Hutchinson, Ars Technica, 29 Sep. 2023
On his Instagram Story, another snap shows Brooks hanging on to her boyfriend’s back as the couple wades in the water together.
—Natalia Senanayake, Peoplemag, 29 Nov. 2023
Stanford study wades into reading wars with high marks for teaching that includes phonics.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 4 Dec. 2023
Scarpetta, who has been identifying killers across 27 books, wades into the supernatural in Unnatural Death.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, Peoplemag, 28 Nov. 2023
When he’s finished in the goat sheds, Dr. Getachew wades into sewage ponds and drainage ditches with a dipper, looking for larval stephensi, which are easier to spot.
—Stephanie Nolen Tiksa Negeri, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wade.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near wade
Cite this Entry
“Wade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wade. Accessed 28 Apr. 2024.
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