wads 1 of 2

noun

plural of wad
1
as in loads
a considerable amount a starlet who usually gets a big wad of publicity for her nonstop antics

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in chunks
a small uneven mass a wad of gum stuck to the desk

Synonyms & Similar Words

wads

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of wad
as in rounds
to form into a round compact mass she wadded up the paper and threw it in the wastebasket took the paper off the straw and wadded it up

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of wads
Noun
Nestled deep among the wads of shredded paper and other bric-a-brac, the occupants made not a squeak, concealed to anyone who looked through the carrier’s door. — Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 21 Sep. 2026 Photos apparently taken by the men themselves show wads of cash on the seat of a car, in a plastic bag and in stacks on the floor of a location in New York. — Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 1 July 2026 The alpha heroes of 1980s romances—ranch owners, corporate raiders, anyone played by Michael Douglas—tended to be emotionally constipated anti-feminists intent on dominating the opposite sex by using testosterone and wads of cash. — Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 10 June 2026 And Lamanna’s coauthor Jingmai O’Connor, vertebrate paleontologist and associate curator of fossil reptiles at Chicago’s Field Museum, also pointed out wads of bone found in the Changma Basin resemble pellets that owls regurgitate after feeding on prey. — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 4 June 2026 Not as punishment, but to better know our playing grounds and appreciate the big and small things—like freeing wads of vegetation from an undercarriage—that turn a field into a stage. — CBS News, 1 May 2026 Cubans have long been accustomed to shopping with wads of cash stuffed into bags after compounding bouts of soaring inflation. — Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 8 Apr. 2026 Our pants had been ripped from brush and windfalls, and wads of insulation were hanging out of mine. — Elwyn "bud" Myers, Outdoor Life, 11 Mar. 2026 Use those wads of wrapping paper leftover from a birthday, baby shower, or holiday bash to stuff the bottom and sides of the box and prevent shifting during shipping. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 25 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wads
  1. loads
  2. chunks
  3. rounds
  4. tons
  5. clumps
  6. rolls
  7. piles
  8. globs
Noun
  • The deck replacement is necessary because traffic loads on the span have become increasingly heavy, and salt air has eroded bridge materials.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • According to Formlabs, this improves strength, toughness, heat resistance, and resistance to gradual deformation under sustained loads, while producing a harder, less tacky surface.
    — Michael Lydick, PC Magazine, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of loads
Noun
  • Phillip Gong Gong, my grandfather, teased her, chewing the gristly meat and semi-raw cabbage chunks.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Court papers filed in that lawsuit show that the loan was set up as a revolving line of credit that allowed Boston Finance Group to borrow chunks of money from CSNT over time.
    — Cristian Benavides, CBS News, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of chunks
Verb
  • Brewers third baseman David Hamilton rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the ninth inning.
    — Greg Rosenstein, NBC news, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Wildlife advocates are coordinating care, mapping turtles’ origins through genetics and attempting releases, while a federal funding bill rounds its way through committees.
    — Stuart Miller, Los Angeles Times, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of rounds
Noun
  • At that rate, removing one billion tons a year would consume almost 8 percent of all the electricity produced worldwide.
    — Alec Luhn, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
  • For context, burning fossil fuels produced about 38 billion tons in 2025.
    — Scott K. Johnson, ArsTechnica, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of tons
Noun
  • The calves struggled against a current thick with floating clumps of river plants.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The formula pairs glycerin and flexible polymers to coat and define every lash without weighing them down, while the dual-length brush prevents clumps and lengthens from root to tip.
    — Madison San Miguel, Allure, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of clumps
Verb
  • Customers can do the treatment fully clothed as the water rolls under them, powered by a series of hydro-jets.
    — Samantha Conti, Footwear News, 8 Oct. 2026
  • While brittle Christina rolls her eyes at being stuck with an analog guy to cover Big Tech, Jeff’s editor Andy (Gbenga Akinnagbe) is a far more chill ally.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of rolls
Noun
  • The Rest and Relax Inn in Pensacola, Florida, was surrounded by piles of debris after it was stripped of roofing materials during a heavy hit from the hurricane last night.
    — Erika Angulo, NBC news, 11 Oct. 2026
  • Pictures show divers working among piles of ancient pottery, with ceramic plates and bowls scattered across the sandy seabed.
    — Andrea Margolis, FOXNews.com, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of piles
Noun
  • But globs of liquid mercury worked just fine to show the melting shards coming together, even though its toxicity meant the special effects crew had to wear protective gear over the two-day shoot.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Bathroom sink drains can become clogged from hair, globs of toothpaste, and soapy residue.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, The Spruce, 30 May 2026
Definition of globs

Browse Nearby Words

wadis
wads
wafer
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wads.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wads. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of jilt

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All