ware

Definition of ware

24 senses · 4 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

(in-compounds, uncountable, usually)Goods or a type of goods offered for sale or use.

“Astbury was the more successful and made frequent journeys to London, where he sold his ware and obtained further orders.”
“On Sunday, a Mr. Stephen Muturi Kamau, aged 20 years, was shot dead at Dandora while he was selling his ware. This is a well known hawker. He has been hawking his ware in Dandora.”
“What in the world am I going to do with tarnished silver ware? The deeper I dig, I pull out more silver with carved handles.”
“Artisans sell their ware in the historic district at the lower level of the Soldier's Barracks.”

See all 24 definitions

noun

(in-compounds, uncountable, usually)Goods or a type of goods offered for sale or use.

“Astbury was the more successful and made frequent journeys to London, where he sold his ware and obtained further orders.”
“On Sunday, a Mr. Stephen Muturi Kamau, aged 20 years, was shot dead at Dandora while he was selling his ware. This is a well known hawker. He has been hawking his ware in Dandora.”
“What in the world am I going to do with tarnished silver ware? The deeper I dig, I pull out more silver with carved handles.”
“Artisans sell their ware in the historic district at the lower level of the Soldier's Barracks.”
(in-plural, uncountable, usually)See wares.
(uncountable, usually)Pottery or metal goods.

“damascene ware, tole ware”
(countable, usually)A style or genre of artifact.
(Ireland, uncountable, usually)Crockery.
(UK, dialectal, obsolete)Seaweed; drift seaweed; seawrack.

“On many of the farms in East Lothian, from 100 to 120 Imperial acres are annually manured with sea-ware; and when I mention that 30 double-cart loads are spread on 1 acre, you may conceive the labour incurred in carting from 3000 to 3600 loads during a short season; for it is only in winter that the ware is cast ashore by storms,[…]”
“The said farm, having been possessed […] in the deed of 12th July 1794, with the privilege of taking ware from the sea-shore for the use of the farm, and having been let by them to a tenant in 1804, with "liberty of the droven sea-ware, along with the other tenants of the Elie barony, for manuring the farm," […]”
“Each ware-strand, or beach where drift-weed comes to land, is set apart for a certain number of tenants on the estate to which it belongs, and each 'brook of ware' as it comes ashore is divided among these tenants, usually in proportion to their rents.”
(Northern-England, Scotland)Spring, springtime.

adj

(poetic)Aware.

“And in like wise as she said so they departed, that neither the king nor none of his council were ware of their departing.”
“But here thou canst not handle aught, neither make the folk ware of thee, not though thou shout thy throat hoarse. For thou and I walk here impalpable and invisible, as it were two dreams walking.”
(obsolete)Wary; cautious.

“He is ware inough; he is wilye, and circumſpect for ſtirring vp any ſedition.”
“Of whom be thou ware also.”
“Be he quite wary, as wood is ware of fire, as thigh of bramble or of thistle, he, who may be thinking to mislead these beeves or to mispossess this cattle.”

verb

(dialectal, obsolete)To be ware or mindful of something.

“1450, Palladius on Husbondrieː Ware the horn and heels lest they fling a flap to thee.”
“c. 1450, Who Ðat Liste Lokeː Ware avoutrer untrue; Such love was never good ne may be true.”
“c. 1470, The Macro Playsː ‘Ware that!’ quoth Ser Wyly.”
“Ware cleaners.”
(obsolete)To protect or guard (especially oneself); to be on guard, be wary.

“Ware thee.”
(alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of wear (“to veer or bring (a sailing vessel) onto the other tack by bringing the wind around the stern”)

“The Ship wares bravely, steddy, steddy; she is before it. […] The Ship wares round, so right the Helm; hard up.”
“... to ware to the eastward.”
Old eye dialect spelling of were.

“Againſt this ther ware many objections made by the creditors, viz., that quoad the 9000 lƀ. a year contained in his contract of marriage, they ware præferable, being præferable and prior creditors, and ſo he was ſucceſſor titulo lucrativo poſt contractum debitum; and as to the 6000 lƀ. per annum added, 1^(o.) before that letter they had a jus quæſitum by the ſignitor; 2^(do.) They had rights præferable.”
“c. 1815, Mary Woody, A true account of Nayomy Wise A larg concors ware standing round”
(form-of, obsolete, past)simple past of wear

name

(countable, uncountable)A placename:
(countable, uncountable)A placename:
(countable, uncountable)A placename:
(countable, uncountable)A placename:
(countable, uncountable)A placename:
(countable, uncountable)A placename:
(countable, uncountable)A placename:
(countable, uncountable)A placename:
(abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable)A placename:
(countable)A surname.

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English ware, from Old English waru, from Proto-West Germanic *waru, from Proto-Germanic *warō (“attention”) as in beware, in the sense of “an object of care, a valuable”, from…

See full etymology

From Middle English ware, from Old English waru, from Proto-West Germanic *waru, from Proto-Germanic *warō (“attention”) as in beware, in the sense of “an object of care, a valuable”, from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to watch, keep guard”), whence also ward. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Were (“an item for exchange, barter, or sale; ware”), Dutch waar (“goods offered for sale or use; ware”), German Ware (“ware”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk vare (“ware”), Faroese vøra (“ware”), Icelandic and Swedish vara (“ware”).

Anagrams of ware

6 plays · some not in Scrabble

Best play wear 7 points

Words you can make from ware

15 playable · top: WEAR (7 pts)

Best play wear 7 points

3-letter words

7 words

2-letter words

7 words

Hooks

5 extensions · 2 front · 3 back

A single letter you can add to ware to make another valid word.