waft

verb

1. (ergative)To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.

   “A breeze came in through the open window and wafted her sensuous perfume into my eager nostrils.”

   “I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and beautiful, whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus. There the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously.”

   “Through the open window of the church the fragrant incense was wafted and with it the fragrant names of her who was conceived without stain of original sin […]”

   “The experiment was abandoned when one fine day spontaneous combustion of the pulverised coal in the container occurred, and a black cloud of the very finely divided fuel rose into the air by the force of the explosion, and was slowly wafted by the prevailing breeze over the town, upon which it descended with the resemblance of black snow, but with the dissimilarity that it did not melt.”

   “The enticing, homey scent of apple pie wafted into the hallway as she beckoned them into her lair.”

2. (intransitive)To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.

   “Unhappy Aureng-Zebe is in disgrace; / And your Morat, proclaimed the successor, / Is called, to awe the city with his power. / Those trumpets his triumphant entry tell, / And now the shouts waft near the citadel.”

   “They gather one by one, trickling into the shady courtyard, the familiar hum of Mass. Ave. wafting in from behind brick buildings and iron gates.”

3. To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.

   “[…] but ſoft: who wafts vs yonder.”

noun

1. A light breeze.

   “It lay before him white and ghaistly, with mist blowing in wafts across it and a slow swaying of the tides.”

2. Something (such as an odor or perfume) that is carried through the air.

   “Meanwhile, the wafts from his old home pleaded, whispered, conjured, and finally claimed him imperiously.”

   “Patrol Magazine says of this Oxford, Miss., band: "Guitars are responsible for every noise in Colour Revolt's mix—not a single note of piano, waft of synthesizer, or evidence of electronic tampering are to be found.[…]"”

3. A flag used to indicate wind direction or, with a knot tied in the center, as a signal; a waif, a wheft.
4. (slang)A loose noncommittal shot, usually played to a ball pitched short of length and well wide of the off stump.