wad
n. countablen. a thick pile or bundle of something soft or flat, like paper or money. You often use it to describe a large amount of cash folded together.
n. a bundle or roll of paper, money, or soft material. Often refers to a significant quantity of banknotes compressed into a single stack.
He pulled a thick wad of cash from his pocket.
The mechanic used a wad of paper towels to clean the oil spill off the garage floor.
The detective discovered a wad of incriminating documents hidden behind the loose brick in the basement wall, suggesting the suspect had intended to destroy them.
Probably short for Middle English wadmal (“woolen cloth”), from Old Norse váðmál (“woolen stuff”), from váð (“cloth”) + mál (“measure”). See wadmal. Cognate with Swedish vadd (“wadding, cotton wool”), German Wat, Watte (“wad, padding, cotton wool”), Dutch lijnwaad, gewaad, watten (“cotton wool”), West Frisian waad, Old English wǣd (“garment, clothing”) (English: weed). More at weed, meal.
Commonly paired with 'of' to specify the material, such as 'a wad of gum' or 'a wad of bills'.