wa|fer

wa|fer «WAY fuhr», noun, verb.

–n.

1. a very thin cake or biscuit, sometimes flavored or sweetened.

2. the thin, round piece of unleavened bread used in celebrating Holy Communion or the Eucharist in certain churches, especially the Roman Catholic Church: »

a consecrated wafer bearing the outline of a cross on its upper surface.

SYNONYM(S): Host.

3. a thin piece of candy, chocolate, or medicine.

4. a piece of wax, gelatin, sticky paper, or dried paste, used as a seal or fastening.

5. a disk of thin paper, adhesive at the edges, or of some soluble substance, such as was formerly often used alone or as one of a pair to enclose a dose of a powder or other medicine for swallowing.

6. a disk of silicon or ceramic material imprinted or engraved with one or more microcircuits.

–v.t.

to seal or attach with a wafer or wafers: »

to wafer a letter, to wafer a note to a window.

╂[< Anglo-French wafre < Germanic (compare earlier Flemish wāfer). Compare etym. under goffer (Cf. ↑goffer), waffle¹. (Cf. ↑waffle)]

–wa´fer|like´, adjective.