Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913 + 1828) W (?), the
twenty-third letter of the English alphabet, is usually a
consonant, but sometimes it is a vowel, forming the second
element of certain diphthongs, as in few, how. It takes its
written form and its name from the repetition of a V, this being
the original form of the Roman capital letter which we call U.
Etymologically it is most related to v and u. See V, and U. Some
of the uneducated classes in England, especially in London,
confuse w and v, substituting the one for the other, as weal for
veal, and veal for weal; wine for vine, and vine for wine, etc.
See Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 266-268. Waag (?), n. (Zoöl.) The
grivet. Waa*hoo" (?), n. (Bot.) The burning bush; -- said to be
called after a quack medicine made from it. Wab"ble (?), v. i.
[Cf. Prov. G. wabbeln to wabble, and E. whap. Cf. Quaver.] To
move staggeringly or unsteadily from one side to the other; to
vacillate; to move the manner of a rotating disk when the axis
of rotation is incli