wave around

wave around

1. To move up and down, back and forth freely or haphazardly. The flag waved around wildly in the wind. The tower started waving around unsteadily, but thankfully it didn't collapse.
2. To move or swing something up and down, back and forth in the air. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "wave" and "around." Please don't wave that stick around—you might break something! The protester stood aloft the barricade and began waving around the banner of the resistance.
3. To signal for someone or a vehicle to move around someone or something. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "wave" and "around." The cop waved everyone around the paramedics as they treated the injured man. We need someone to stand in front of the roadworks and wave around the cars in traffic.
4. To display, promote, or show off someone or something, especially in a superficial, self-serving, or self-important manner. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "wave" and "around." The only recognition our team ever gets is when the boss waves us around at the investors' meeting each year. I don't want to spend all that time and money just to get some degree that I can wave around but doesn't lead to a lucrative career. The federal agent came in and started waving her badge around, demanding to be shown our financial accounts.
See also: around, wave
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

wave something around

to raise something up and move it around so that everyone can see it. When Ruth found the money, she waved it around so everyone could see it. She kept waving around the dollar she found in the street.
See also: around, wave
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • find way around
  • bomb around
  • go around and around
  • get (someone) around the table
  • get around the table
  • around (one's) ears
  • gaze around
  • dart around
  • gaze around at (someone or something)
  • fish around
References in periodicals archive
The Directorate-General of Meteorology and Air Navigation (DGMAN), which monitors weather conditions in Oman, predicted that the heat wave around the country and adjoining areas would continue.
No respite from heat in Oman as humidity saps energy
Talented soprano Renee Fleming lends her voice to renditions of Strauss, Dvorak and Smetana as flags wave around the hall and the evening builds to an emotional crescendo with Arne's Rule, Britannia!, Parry's Jerusalem, Elgar's Pomp And Circumstance March No 1 In D Major ('Land Of Hope And Glory') and The National Anthem.
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Children, and especially little girls, will adore the special appearance of a white pony on stage and be rushing home to wave around their own pink ribbons.
La Fille is a feast of fun; REVIEW: La Fille mal Gardee BIRMINGHAM HIPPODROME
"Sales were on the crest of a wave around Christmas, and Tony McCoy winning BBC Sports Personality did great things."
Aintree to prepare safety plan after Saturday tragedy
Mirka Velinovska from Nova Makedonija says that the opposition has no credibility to wave around the broom in the Parliament.
Desperate housewives clean poorly
Male fiddler crabs have a large specialised claw that they use to fight and wave around to attract mates.
Crabs spy on competitors to detect female mates
HUMAN CHAIN: Climate change protestors forming a human wave around the Houses of Parliament in central London as tens of thousands of people joined in demonstrations calling for action on climate change ahead of crunch UN talks in Copenhagen
'Huge challenge' ahead on climate
"In the last round of the cup it was the first time in my two years with the club that I saw a Mexican Wave around The Hawthorns.
WAVE'S NO FUN FOR ME SAYS MOWBRAY
But take away the impulse to wave around plastic male genitalia in a castration gag, and you have some superb performers, such as the athlete in black on the slack rope and the two impressive oriental contortionists who might well have come to this circus direct from Cirque du Soleil.
Freak show veers from erotic to tacky; Circus of Horrors The Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton Richard Edmonds
The developers are exploring using an array of horns to ease the flow of oil during the extraction process by focusing acoustic energy to produce a shock wave around the bore well.
Device May `Massage' More Oil from Underwater Wells
This was a highly spirited crowd, many of whom had made hand-painted signs to wave around proclaiming such sentiments as "Get Guns Out of Our Schools" and "Keep Drugs From Our Children."
Hurricane Ernest And The Constitution
They also leave the shock wave around each planet at approximately the same range of angles.
Why three planets radio the sun
The 19-year-old had only recently been released from custody when he embarked on his crime wave around Wrexham, Mold Crown Court heard.
Prison for teen who broke into 15 homes
The sonic metamaterial uses cubes and octagons to create holes that can then bend the wave around the structure.
New metamaterial could be used to create high-definition ultrasound images
If I'd had the foresight to have brought a couple of candles with me to wave around in the night sky during Goodnight Girl, it would definitely have been the best night of my life.
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