wade

Etymology 1

From Middle English waden, from Old English wadan, from Proto-Germanic *wadaną, from Proto-Indo-European *weh₂dʰ- (“to go”). Cognates include German waten (“wade”) and Latin vādō (“go, walk; rush”) (whence English evade, invade, pervade).

verb

1. (intransitive) to walk through water or something that impedes progress.
2. (intransitive) to progress with difficulty
   to wade through a dull book
   The king's admirable conduct has waded through all these difficulties. 1701, Charles Davenant, A Discourse on Grants and Resumptions and Essays on the Balance of Power
3. (transitive) to walk through (water or similar impediment); to pass through by wading
   wading swamps and rivers
4. (intransitive) To enter recklessly.
   to wade into a fight or a debate

noun

1. An act of wading.
   We had to be careful during our dangerous wade across the river.
2. (colloquial) A ford; a place to cross a river.

Etymology 2

noun

1. Obsolete form of woad.