Wave.

The ninth wave. A notion prevails that the waves keep increasing in re gular series till the maximum arrives, and then the series begins again. No doubt when two waves coalesce they form a large one, but this does not occur at fixed intervals. The most common theory is that the tenth wave is the largest, but Tennyson says the ninth.

“And then the two

Dropt to the cove, and watchʹd the great sea fall,

Wave after wave, each mightier than the last,

Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep

And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged

Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame.”

Tennyson: The Holy Grail.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

Wave.

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