waffle

noun

1. (countable)A flat pastry pressed with a grid pattern, often eaten hot with butter and/or honey or syrup.

   “The brunch was waffles with strawberries and whipped cream.”

   “This takeaway counter serves up some of Hong Kong's best eggettes, the egg-shaped waffles beloved by local children and adults alike.”

2. (British, countable)In full potato waffle: a savoury flat potato cake with the same kind of grid pattern.
3. (also, attributive)A concrete slab used in flooring with a gridlike structure of ribs running at right angles to each other on its underside.

   “Both joists and slab are cast in place to form a monolithic unit, integral with the supporting beams and columns. The joists form a characteristic waffle pattern on the underside. Structural design of joist construction: one-way or waffle flat slab […]”

   “The most widely used type of waffle construction is the waffle flat slab, in which solid portions around column supports are […] These beams may be produced as projections below the waffle, as shown […]”

   “In one-way (pan joist) and two-way (waffle) joist construction, a similar layout is usually adopted.”

4. (attributive)A type of fabric woven with a honeycomb texture.
5. (colloquial, uncountable)(Often lengthy) speech or writing that is evasive or vague, or pretentious.

   “This interesting point seems to get lost a little within a lot of self-important waffle.”

6. (British, dialectal)The high-pitched sound made by a young dog; also, a muffled bark.

verb

1. (slang, transitive)To smash (something).

   “The cab was waffled in between the two, Marsh never having a prayer or even a full comprehension of what happened to him. He was crushed flat, never even hearing the deafening screech of metal.”

   “These were not the Cowboys who were waffled, 45–14, here at mid-season. They came prepared to play a championship football game, with an ultra-conservative game plan suited to the horrendous turf conditions, and came close to pulling it off …”

   “Then I waffled him and knocked him down. Why I cut myself open with the razor, I'm not completely sure. I was like the idiot in a bar who gets all worked up and smashes a bottle over his head [...]”

   “Bednarik, however, says the play became legendary only because of the circumstances. "I did it [...] to the top honcho. He just happened to be there and the pass was thrown to him. I waffled him cleanly." [...] "He just cold-cocked Frank," said linebacker Bob Pellegrini, whose injury sent Bednarik into the game to play defense.”

2. (intransitive)To speak or write evasively or vaguely.

   “Again the answer was "waffled," for this did not say that no air units had been alerted. Only that none had been "identified." Moreover, the reply concerned air "unit[s]" as opposed to "air craft".”

3. (intransitive)Of a bird: to move in a side-to-side motion while descending before landing.

   “The geese waffled as they approached the water.”

4. (colloquial, intransitive)Of an aircraft or motor vehicle: to travel in a slow and unhurried manner.
5. (Scotland, colloquial, intransitive)To be indecisive about something; to dither, to vacillate, to waver.

   “I waffled between going to the deposition and going to the doctor's. Wishing Barbara was there, I decided to call the doctor afterward.”

   “But as Germany struggles to overcome its post-World War II reluctance to lead on security matters in Europe and set aside its instinct to accommodate rather than confront Russia, Europe’s most pivotal country has waffled in the first crucial test for the new government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.”

   “A source close to Altman says the board had agreed in principle to resign and to allow Altman and Brockman to return, but has since waffled — missing a key 5PM PT deadline by which many OpenAI staffers were set to resign.”

6. (ambitransitive)Often followed by on: to speak or write (something) at length without any clear aim or point; to ramble.

   “Unless you have a great line in gags or repartee don't waffle on aimlessly to your audience, or make in-jokes among yourselves, the band or the compere/DJ.”

   “Before getting down to the nitty gritty of beekeeping, most contributors to BBJ like to waffle on for a bit about the weather, the state of their garden or something equally inconsequential.”

   “She waffled on for ages. Usually I'd say something smart or make it obvious that I wasn't interested and couldn't be bothered listening.”

   “The whole thing ended suddenly when the hotel manager arrived. He waffled on for a bit; this settled everyone down.”

7. (transitive)To hold horizontally and rotate (one's hand) back and forth in a gesture of ambivalence or vacillation.

   ““[…] You get anything useful on the background checks?” / He waffled his hand. “Nothing like what you brought back, but still some interesting notes.[…]””

8. (British, dialectal, intransitive)Of a dog: to bark with a high pitch like a puppy, or in muffled manner.