wave in

verb

To try, in public, to attract people into a business establishment.

“Bonnie Powers is the walking, talking hotdog who waves customers in off the street and greets the children with a smile. http://valdostadailytimes.com/archive/x1155920621/Slap-Daddy-s-serves-it-fresh-and-hot”

OriginMiddle English waven ← Old English wafian ← Proto-Germanic *wabōną →
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbwave in (third-person singular simple present waves in, present participle waving in, simple past and past participle waved in)

present singular third person waves in · participle present waving in · participle past waved in · past waved in

  1. transitiveTo try, in public, to attract people into a business establishment.

    Bonnie Powers is the walking, talking hotdog who waves customers in off the street and greets the children with a smile. http://valdostadailytimes.com/archive/x1155920621/Slap-Daddy-s-serves-it-fresh-and-hot

    2 more examples

    While the gentleman in blue waves customers in and out at the rate of one every three and one-third minutes, bank teller Gooding peers up through his oversized periscope and discourses on the hazards of his job. http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1955/10/21/money-by-mirror-pthe-smiling-face/

    By your definition, it's not only the proprietor of the Eden Club who qualifies as a pimp, it's the receptionist at every massage parlor, the security guard in the parking lot outside who waves customers in, etc. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304140439/http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/printthread.php?t=1076&pp=15&page=60

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*webʰ-“to move to and from, wander”
  2. Proto-Germanic*wabōną
  3. Old Englishwafian“to wave, fluctuate, waver in mind, wonder”
  4. Middle Englishwaven
  5. Englishwave in

English wave + in. From Middle English waven, from Old English wafian (“to wave, fluctuate, waver in mind, wonder”), from Proto-Germanic *wabōną, *wabjaną (“to wander, sway”), from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to move to and from, wander”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

wave in. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wave%20in

MLA

“wave in.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wave%20in. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “wave in,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/wave%20in.

Source: wave in on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.