wand

plural wands

1. A hand-held narrow rod, usually used for pointing or instructing, or as a traditional emblem of authority.

   Then all of a sudden a number of armed men arranged in companies, and marshalled by officers who held ivory wands in their hands, came running swiftly towards us, having, so far as I could make out, emerged from the face of the precipice like ants from their burrows.

   1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC

   Synonyms: staff, rod, stick, twig

   1. A stick or rod used by a magician (a magic wand), conjurer or diviner (divining rod).

      Love is that blessed wand which wins the waters from the hardness of the heart.

      1859, George Meredith, chapter 13, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC

      Synonyms: staff, rod, stick, twig

2. broadlyAn instrument shaped like a wand.

   curling wand

   1 more example

   Shop vac serves as blower to force vermiculite in fiber drum up through vacuum-cleaner wand and hose into wall opening

   1975, Popular Science, volume 207, number 4, page 135

3. A stick, branch, or stalk, especially of willow.

   The skillful shepherd peeled me certain wands.

   c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]

   1 more example

   In addition to the distinction of a white frock, every woman and girl carried in her right hand a peeled willow-wand, and in her left a bunch of white flowers.

   1891, Thomas Hardy, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, volume 1, London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., page 17

4. A card of a particular suit of the minor arcana in tarot, the wands.
5. UKfigurativelyinformalball gamesA player's foot used especially skillfully in football.

   Shortly afterwards, Thomas lined up a corner and with his wand of a right foot, landed it on the head of Campbell to get Everton's second.

   2019 February 15, Chris Sweeney, Mad Dog Gravesen, eBook Partnership, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   Without question, he is the best left-footed player I've ever played with. Along with his wand of a left foot he also has great pace and can be as hard as nails.

   2013 October 17, Lee McCulloch, Simp-Lee the Best: My Autobiography, Black & White Publishing, →ISBN

   Cresswell also had a wand of a left foot, which was a threat from open play and set-pieces – though his quality in the latter category wasn't used as often in 2015/16 due to Payet's presence.

   2021 May 10, Danny Lewis, Boleyn's Farewell, eBook Partnership, →ISBN

present singular third person wands · participle present wanding · participle past wanded · past wanded

1. transitiveTo scan (e.g. a passenger at an airport) with a handheld metal detector.
2. transitiveTo use a handheld vibrator (the sex toy) on (a person or body part).

plural Wands

1. A surname.