waffle
part of speech
noun (a waffle, waffles; waffle — uncountable for talk); verb (waffle, waffles, waffled, waffling)
meaning for a pupil
1) A waffle is a crisp flat cake made of batter, cooked in a hot iron that gives it a grid of little squares. tree →
2) (UK, informal) Waffle is long talk or writing that says very little. tree →
3) (UK, informal) To waffle is to talk or write too much without saying anything useful. tree →
4) (US, informal) To waffle is to keep changing your mind and not decide. tree →
sense in the lessons
Used for breakfast food (with syrup, berries, ice cream), and by teachers about essays: «Don't waffle — get to the point».
examples
- We had waffles with maple syrup for breakfast. tree →
- Belgian waffles are thick and soft inside. tree →
- My teacher said my essay was full of waffle. tree →
- Stop waffling and answer the question! tree →
- He waffled on for ages about his holiday. tree →
- The mayor waffled about whether to close the park. tree →
- The waffle iron leaves a pattern of squares. tree →
note
Two meanings in one spelling: food, and empty talk. The UK sense «waffle on» means talking too long; the US sense means being unsure. Food plural: «waffles». The talk sense is uncountable: «a lot of waffle», not «waffles».
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «waffle» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.