The resty sieve wagged ne'er the more. --Dryden.
2. To be in action or motion; to move; to get along; to
progress; to stir. [Colloq.]
``Thus we may see,'' quoth he, ``how the world
wags.'' --Shak.
3. To go; to depart; to pack oft. [R.]
I will provoke him to 't, or let him wag. --Shak.
2. [Perhaps shortened from wag-halter a rogue.] A man full of
sport and humor; a ludicrous fellow; a humorist; a wit; a
joker.
We wink at wags when they offend. --Dryden.
A counselor never pleaded without a piece of pack
thread in his hand, which he used to twist about a
finger all the while he was speaking; the wags used
to call it the thread of his discourse. --Addison.
No discerner durst wag his tongue in censure. --Shak.
Every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and
wag his head. --Jer. xviii.
16.
Note: Wag expresses specifically the motion of the head and
body used in buffoonery, mirth, derision, sport, and
mockery.