wavelet

noun

1. A small wave; a ripple.

   “1851, “Speaker’s Meaning dimly descried” (Fragment) in Poems, London: William Pickering, p. 110, I know not whether I see your meaning: if I do, it lies Upon the wordy wavelets of your voice, Dim as an evening shadow in a brook, When the least moon has silver on’t no larger Than the pure white of Hebe’s nail.”

   “1856, Herman Melville, “The Piazza” in The Piazza Tales, New York: Dix & Edwards, pp. 6-7, […] long ground-swells roll the slanting grain, and little wavelets of grass ripple over upon the low piazza, as their beach, and the blown down of dandelions is wafted like the spray […]”

   “The water danced and sparkled, multitudes of birds were on the wing, now dipping in the wavelets, now rising and shaking off the glittering drops.”

   “They sat on the beach and watched the hissing wavelets.”

   “A little, rubbishy wavelet, full of candy wrappers and orange peel and seaweed, folded over my foot.”

2. A fast-decaying oscillation.