English Dictionary
There are currently 4342 EnglishDictionary in this directory beginning with the letter W.
W
Wad (n.) A soft mass, especially of some loose, fibrous substance, used for various purposes, as for stopping an aperture, padding a garment, etc.
Wad (v. t.) To insert or crowd a wad into; as, to wad a gun; also, to stuff or line with some soft substance, or wadding, like cotton; as, to wad a cloak.
Wadd (n.) An earthy oxide of manganese, or mixture of different oxides and water, with some oxide of iron, and often silica, alumina, lime, or baryta; black ocher. There are several varieties.
Wadding (n.) Any soft stuff of loose texture, used for stuffing or padding garments; esp., sheets of carded cotton prepared for the purpose.
Waddle (v. i.) To walk with short steps, swaying the body from one side to the other, like a duck or very fat person; to move clumsily and totteringly along; to toddle; to stumble; as, a child waddles when he begins to walk; a goose waddles.
Wade (v. i.) Hence, to move with difficulty or labor; to proceed /lowly among objects or circumstances that constantly /inder or embarrass; as, to wade through a dull book.
Wade (v. i.) To walk in a substance that yields to the feet; to move, sinking at each step, as in water, mud, sand, etc.
Wader (n.) Any long-legged bird that wades in the water in search of food, especially any species of limicoline or grallatorial birds; -- called also wading bird. See Illust. g, under Aves.
Wadmol (n.) A coarse, hairy, woolen cloth, formerly used for garments by the poor, and for various other purposes.
Wady (n.) A ravine through which a brook flows; the channel of a water course, which is dry except in the rainy season.
Wafer (n.) A thin cake or piece of bread (commonly unleavened, circular, and stamped with a crucifix or with the sacred monogram) used in the Eucharist, as in the Roman Catholic Church.
Wafer (n.) An adhesive disk of dried paste, made of flour, gelatin, isinglass, or the like, and coloring matter, -- used in sealing letters and other documents.
Waft (v. t.) To cause to move or go in a wavy manner, or by the impulse of waves, as of water or air; to bear along on a buoyant medium; as, a balloon was wafted over the channel.
Wag (v. t.) To move one way and the other with quick turns; to shake to and fro; to move vibratingly; to cause to vibrate, as a part of the body; as, to wag the head.
Wagati (n.) A small East Indian wild cat (Felis wagati), regarded by some as a variety of the leopard cat.
Wage (v. t.) That for which one labors; meed; reward; stipulated payment for service performed; hire; pay; compensation; -- at present generally used in the plural. See Wages.
Wage (v. t.) That which is staked or ventured; that for which one incurs risk or danger; prize; gage.
Wage (v. t.) To pledge; to hazard on the event of a contest; to stake; to bet, to lay; to wager; as, to wage a dollar.
Wagenboom (n.) A south African proteaceous tree (Protea grandiflora); also, its tough wood, used for making wagon wheels.
Wager (v. t.) A contract by which two parties or more agree that a certain sum of money, or other thing, shall be paid or delivered to one of them, on the happening or not happening of an uncertain event.
Wager (v. t.) Something deposited, laid, or hazarded on the event of a contest or an unsettled question; a bet; a stake; a pledge.
Wager (v. t.) To hazard on the issue of a contest, or on some question that is to be decided, or on some casualty; to lay; to stake; to bet.
Wages (n.) A compensation given to a hired person for services; price paid for labor; recompense; hire. See Wage, n., 2.
Waggel (n.) The young of the great black-backed gull (Larus marinus), formerly considered a distinct species.
Waggery (n.) The manner or action of a wag; mischievous merriment; sportive trick or gayety; good-humored sarcasm; pleasantry; jocularity; as, the waggery of a schoolboy.
Wagnerite (n.) A fluophosphate of magnesia, occurring in yellowish crystals, and also in massive forms.
Wagon (n.) A wheeled carriage; a vehicle on four wheels, and usually drawn by horses; especially, one used for carrying freight or merchandise.
Wagon (v. i.) To wagon goods as a business; as, the man wagons between Philadelphia and its suburbs.
Wagon-headed (a.) Having a top, or head, shaped like the top of a covered wagon, or resembling in section or outline an inverted U, thus /; as, a wagonheaded ceiling.
Wagonette (n.) A kind of pleasure wagon, uncovered and with seats extended along the sides, designed to carry six or eight persons besides the driver.
Wagtail (n.) Any one of many species of Old World singing birds belonging to Motacilla and several allied genera of the family Motacillidae. They have the habit of constantly jerking their long tails up and down, whence the name.
Wahabee (n.) A follower of Abdel Wahab (b. 1691; d. 1787), a reformer of Mohammedanism. His doctrines prevail particularly among the Bedouins, and the sect, though checked in its influence, extends to most parts of Arabia, and also into India.
Waif (n.) Goods found of which the owner is not known; originally, such goods as a pursued thief threw away to prevent being apprehended, which belonged to the king unless the owner made pursuit of the felon, took him, and brought him to justice.
Waif (n.) Hence, anything found, or without an owner; that which comes along, as it were, by chance.
Waist (n.) A garment, or part of a garment, which covers the body from the neck or shoulders to the waist line.
Waist (n.) Hence, the middle part of other bodies; especially (Naut.), that part of a vessel's deck, bulwarks, etc., which is between the quarter-deck and the forecastle; the middle part of the ship.
Waist (n.) That part of the human body which is immediately below the ribs or thorax; the small part of the body between the thorax and hips.
Waistband (n.) The band which encompasses the waist; esp., one on the upper part of breeches, trousers, pantaloons, skirts, or the like.
Waistcloth (n.) A cloth or wrapper worn about the waist; by extension, such a garment worn about the hips and passing between the thighs.
Waistcloth (n.) A covering of canvas or tarpaulin for the hammocks, stowed on the nettings, between the quarterdeck and the forecastle.
Waistcoat (n.) A short, sleeveless coat or garment for men, worn under the coat, extending no lower than the hips, and covering the waist; a vest.
Waistcoateer (n.) One wearing a waistcoat; esp., a woman wearing one uncovered, or thought fit for such a habit; hence, a loose woman; strumpet.
Waistcoating (n.) A fabric designed for waistcoats; esp., one in which there is a pattern, differently colored yarns being used.
Waister (n.) A seaman, usually a green hand or a broken-down man, stationed in the waist of a vessel of war.
Wait (v. i.) Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen.
Wait (v. i.) To stay or rest in expectation; to stop or remain stationary till the arrival of some person or event; to rest in patience; to stay; not to depart.
Wait (v. t.) To stay for; to rest or remain stationary in expectation of; to await; as, to wait orders.
Waive (v. t.) To throw away; to relinquish voluntarily, as a right which one may enforce if he chooses.
Wake (n.) The sitting up of persons with a dead body, often attended with a degree of festivity, chiefly among the Irish.
Wake (n.) The track left by a vessel in the water; by extension, any track; as, the wake of an army.
Wake (v. i.) To be excited or roused from sleep; to awake; to be awakened; to cease to sleep; -- often with up.
Wake (v. i.) To be exited or roused up; to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; to be active.
Wake-robin (n.) Any plant of the genus Arum, especially, in England, the cuckoopint (Arum maculatum).
Waldenses (n. pl.) A sect of dissenters from the ecclesiastical system of the Roman Catholic Church, who in the 13th century were driven by persecution to the valleys of Piedmont, where the sect survives. They profess substantially Protestant principles.
Waldheimia (n.) A genus of brachiopods of which many species are found in the fossil state. A few still exist in the deep sea.
Wale (n.) Certain sets or strakes of the outside planking of a vessel; as, the main wales, or the strakes of planking under the port sills of the gun deck; channel wales, or those along the spar deck, etc.
Wale (v. t.) To choose; to select; specifically (Mining), to pick out the refuse of (coal) by hand, in order to clean it.
Walk (n.) The act of walking, or moving on the feet with a slow pace; advance without running or leaping.
Walk (v. i.) To be stirring; to be abroad; to go restlessly about; -- said of things or persons expected to remain quiet, as a sleeping person, or the spirit of a dead person; to go about as a somnambulist or a specter.
Walk (v. i.) To move along on foot; to advance by steps; to go on at a moderate pace; specifically, of two-legged creatures, to proceed at a slower or faster rate, but without running, or lifting one foot entirely before the other touches the ground.
Walk (v. i.) To move or go on the feet for exercise or amusement; to take one's exercise; to ramble.
Walk-over (n.) In racing, the going over a course by a horse which has no competitor for the prize; hence, colloquially, a one-sided contest; an uncontested, or an easy, victory.
Wall (n.) A defense; a rampart; a means of protection; in the plural, fortifications, in general; works for defense.
Wall-eye (n.) An American fresh-water food fish (Stizostedion vitreum) having large and prominent eyes; -- called also glasseye, pike perch, yellow pike, and wall-eyed perch.
Wall-eye (n.) An eye in which the iris is of a very light gray or whitish color; -- said usually of horses.
Wall-sided (a.) Having sides nearly perpendicular; -- said of certain vessels to distinguish them from those having flaring sides, or sides tumbling home (see under Tumble, v. i.).
Wallaba (n.) A leguminous tree (Eperua falcata) of Demerara, with pinnate leaves and clusters of red flowers. The reddish brown wood is used for palings and shingles.
Wallaroo (n.) Any one of several species of kangaroos of the genus Macropus, especially M. robustus, sometimes called the great wallaroo.
Wallerian degeneration () A form of degeneration occurring in nerve fibers as a result of their division; -- so called from Dr. Waller, who published an account of it in 1850.
Wallet (n.) A bag or sack for carrying about the person, as a bag for carrying the necessaries for a journey; a knapsack; a beggar's receptacle for charity; a peddler's pack.
Wallflower (n.) A lady at a ball, who, either from choice, or because not asked to dance, remains a spectator.
Wallflower (n.) A perennial, cruciferous plant (Cheiranthus Cheiri), with sweet-scented flowers varying in color from yellow to orange and deep red. In Europe it very common on old walls.
Walloons (n. pl.) A Romanic people inhabiting that part of Belgium which comprises the provinces of Hainaut, Namur, Liege, and Luxembourg, and about one third of Brabant; also, the language spoken by this people. Used also adjectively.
Wallow (n.) To roll one's self about, as in mire; to tumble and roll about; to move lazily or heavily in any medium; to flounder; as, swine wallow in the mire.
Walnut (n.) The fruit or nut of any tree of the genus Juglans; also, the tree, and its timber. The seven or eight known species are all natives of the north temperate zone.
Waltz (n.) A dance performed by two persons in circular figures with a whirling motion; also, a piece of music composed in triple measure for this kind of dance.
Wampee (n.) A tree (Cookia punctata) of the Orange family, growing in China and the East Indies; also, its fruit, which is about the size of a large grape, and has a hard rind and a peculiar flavor.
Wampum (n.) Beads made of shells, used by the North American Indians as money, and also wrought into belts, etc., as an ornament.
Wander (v. i.) To be delirious; not to be under the guidance of reason; to rave; as, the mind wanders.
Wander (v. i.) To go away; to depart; to stray off; to deviate; to go astray; as, a writer wanders from his subject.
Wander (v. i.) To ramble here and there without any certain course or with no definite object in view; to range about; to stroll; to rove; as, to wander over the fields.
Wanderoo (n.) A large monkey (Macacus silenus) native of Malabar. It is black, or nearly so, but has a long white or gray beard encircling the face. Called also maha, silenus, neelbhunder, lion-tailed baboon, and great wanderoo.
Wane (v. i.) To be diminished; to decrease; -- contrasted with wax, and especially applied to the illuminated part of the moon.
Waney (n.) A sharp or uneven edge on a board that is cut from a log not perfectly squared, or that is made in the process of squaring. See Wany, a.
Wanghee (n.) The Chinese name of one or two species of bamboo, or jointed cane, of the genus Phyllostachys. The slender stems are much used for walking sticks.
Wanion (n.) A word of uncertain signification, used only in the phrase with a wanion, apparently equivalent to with a vengeance, with a plague, or with misfortune.
Wanness (n.) The quality or state of being wan; a sallow, dead, pale color; paleness; pallor; as, the wanness of the cheeks after a fever.
Want (v. i.) Specifically, absence or lack of necessaries; destitution; poverty; penury; indigence; need.
Want (v. i.) That which is needed or desired; a thing of which the loss is felt; what is not possessed, and is necessary for use or pleasure.
Want (v. i.) The state of not having; the condition of being without anything; absence or scarcity of what is needed or desired; deficiency; lack; as, a want of power or knowledge for any purpose; want of food and clothing.
Want (v. i.) To be absent; to be deficient or lacking; to fail; not to be sufficient; to fall or come short; to lack; -- often used impersonally with of; as, it wants ten minutes of four.
Want (v. t.) To be without; to be destitute of, or deficient in; not to have; to lack; as, to want knowledge; to want judgment; to want learning; to want food and clothing.
Want (v. t.) To have occasion for, as useful, proper, or requisite; to require; to need; as, in winter we want a fire; in summer we want cooling breezes.
Wanting (a.) Absent; lacking; missing; also, deficient; destitute; needy; as, one of the twelve is wanting; I shall not be wanting in exertion.
Wanton (v. i.) To rove and ramble without restraint, rule, or limit; to revel; to play loosely; to frolic.
Wanton (v. t.) Specifically: Deviating from the rules of chastity; lewd; lustful; lascivious; libidinous; lecherous.
Wanton (v. t.) Untrained; undisciplined; unrestrained; hence, loose; free; luxuriant; roving; sportive.
Wantonly (adv.) In a wanton manner; without regularity or restraint; loosely; sportively; gayly; playfully; recklessly; lasciviously.
Wantonness (n.) The quality or state of being wanton; negligence of restraint; sportiveness; recklessness; lasciviousness.
Wanty (n.) A surcingle, or strap of leather, used for binding a load upon the back of a beast; also, a leather tie; a short wagon rope.
Wany (a.) Waning or diminished in some parts; not of uniform size throughout; -- said especially of sawed boards or timber when tapering or uneven, from being cut too near the outside of the log.
Wapatoo (n.) The edible tuber of a species of arrowhead (Sagittaria variabilis); -- so called by the Indians of Oregon.
Wapentake (n.) In some northern counties of England, a division, or district, answering to the hundred in other counties. Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and Nottinghamshire are divided into wapentakes, instead of hundreds.
Wapinschaw (n.) An exhibition of arms. according to the rank of the individual, by all persons bearing arms; -- formerly made at certain seasons in each district.
Wapiti (n.) The American elk (Cervus Canadensis). It is closely related to the European red deer, which it somewhat exceeds in size.
Wapper (v. t. & i.) To cause to shake; to tremble; to move tremulously, as from weakness; to totter.
War (n.) A condition of belligerency to be maintained by physical force. In this sense, levying war against the sovereign authority is treason.
War (n.) a state of opposition or contest; an act of opposition; an inimical contest, act, or action; enmity; hostility.
War (v. i.) To make war; to invade or attack a state or nation with force of arms; to carry on hostilities; to be in a state by violence.
Warble (n.) A small tumor produced by the larvae of the gadfly in the backs of horses, cattle, etc. Called also warblet, warbeetle, warnles.
Warble (n.) A small, hard tumor which is produced on the back of a horse by the heat or pressure of the saddle in traveling.
Warble (v. t.) To sing in a trilling, quavering, or vibratory manner; to modulate with turns or variations; to trill; as, certain birds are remarkable for warbling their songs.
Warbler (n.) Any one of numerous species of small, often bright colored, American singing birds of the family or subfamily Mniotiltidae, or Sylvicolinae. They are allied to the Old World warblers, but most of them are not particularly musical.
Warburg's tincture () A preparation containing quinine and many other ingredients, often used in the treatment of malarial affections. It was invented by Dr. Warburg of London.
Ward (a.) The act of guarding; watch; guard; guardianship; specifically, a guarding during the day. See the Note under Watch, n., 1.
Ward (n.) A notch or slit in a key corresponding to a ridge in the lock which it fits; a ward notch.
Ward (n.) A projecting ridge of metal in the interior of a lock, to prevent the use of any key which has not a corresponding notch for passing it.
Ward (n.) One who, or that which, guards; garrison; defender; protector; means of guarding; defense; protection.
Ward (n.) The state of being under guard or guardianship; confinement under guard; the condition of a child under a guardian; custody.
Ward (n.) To fend off; to repel; to turn aside, as anything mischievous that approaches; -- usually followed by off.
Ward (n.) To keep in safety; to watch; to guard; formerly, in a specific sense, to guard during the day time.
Ward-corn (n.) The duty of keeping watch and ward (see the Note under Watch, n., 1) with a horn to be blown upon any occasion of surprise.
Warder (n.) A truncheon or staff carried by a king or a commander in chief, and used in signaling his will.
Wardian (a.) Designating, or pertaining to, a kind of glass inclosure for keeping ferns, mosses, etc., or for transporting growing plants from a distance; as, a Wardian case of plants; -- so named from the inventor, Nathaniel B. Ward, an Englishman.
Wardmote (n.) Anciently, a meeting of the inhabitants of a ward; also, a court formerly held in each ward of London for trying defaults in matters relating to the watch, police, and the like.
Wardrobe (v. t.) A room or apartment where clothes are kept, or wearing apparel is stored; a portable closet for hanging up clothes.
Wardroom (n.) A room occupied as a messroom by the commissioned officers of a war vessel. See Gunroom.
Wardroom (n.) A room used by the citizens of a city ward, for meetings, political caucuses, elections, etc.
Wardship (n.) The office of a ward or keeper; care and protection of a ward; guardianship; right of guardianship.
Ware (a.) Articles of merchandise; the sum of articles of a particular kind or class; style or class of manufactures; especially, in the plural, goods; commodities; merchandise.
Warega fly () A Brazilian fly whose larvae live in the skin of man and animals, producing painful sores.
Warehouse (v. t.) To place in the warehouse of the government or customhouse stores, to be kept until duties are paid.
Warehouseman (n.) One who keeps a warehouse; the owner or keeper of a dock warehouse or wharf store.
Wariangle (n.) The red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio); -- called also wurger, worrier, and throttler.
Wariness (n.) The quality or state of being wary; care to foresee and guard against evil; cautiousness.
Warm (a.) To communicate a moderate degree of heat to; to render warm; to supply or furnish heat to; as, a stove warms an apartment.
Warm (superl.) Fig.: Not cool, indifferent, lukewarm, or the like, in spirit or temper; zealous; ardent; fervent; excited; sprightly; irritable; excitable.
Warm (superl.) Having yellow or red for a basis, or in their composition; -- said of colors, and opposed to cold which is of blue and its compounds.
Warm (superl.) In children's games, being near the object sought for; hence, being close to the discovery of some person, thing, or fact concealed.
Warm (superl.) Subject to heat; having prevalence of heat, or little or no cold weather; as, the warm climate of Egypt.
Warmouth (n.) An American freshwater bream, or sunfish (Chaenobryttus gulosus); -- called also red-eyed bream.
Warmth (n.) A state of lively and excited interest; zeal; ardor; fervor; passion; enthusiasm; earnestness; as, the warmth of love or piety; he replied with much warmth.
Warmth (n.) The glowing effect which arises from the use of warm colors; hence, any similar appearance or effect in a painting, or work of color.
Warmth (n.) The quality or state of being warm; gentle heat; as, the warmth of the sun; the warmth of the blood; vital warmth.
Warn (v. t.) To give notice to, of approaching or probable danger or evil; to caution against anything that may prove injurious.
Warn (v. t.) To make ware or aware; to give previous information to; to give notice to; to notify; to admonish; hence, to notify or summon by authority; as, to warn a town meeting; to warn a tenant to quit a house.
Warning (n.) Caution against danger, or against faults or evil practices which incur danger; admonition; monition.
Warp (v. i.) To fly with a bending or waving motion; to turn and wave, like a flock of birds or insects.
Warp (v. i.) To turn, twist, or be twisted out of shape; esp., to be twisted or bent out of a flat plane; as, a board warps in seasoning or shrinking.
Warp (v. t.) To let the tide or other water in upon (lowlying land), for the purpose of fertilization, by a deposit of warp, or slimy substance.
Warp (v. t.) To tow or move, as a vessel, with a line, or warp, attached to a buoy, anchor, or other fixed object.
Warp (v. t.) To turn or twist out of shape; esp., to twist or bend out of a flat plane by contraction or otherwise.
Warp (v.) A rope used in hauling or moving a vessel, usually with one end attached to an anchor, a post, or other fixed object; a towing line; a warping hawser.
Warp (v.) A slimy substance deposited on land by tides, etc., by which a rich alluvial soil is formed.
Warrandice (n.) The obligation by which a person, conveying a subject or a right, is bound to uphold that subject or right against every claim, challenge, or burden arising from circumstances prior to the conveyance; warranty.
Warrant (n.) A precept issued by a magistrate authorizing an officer to make an arrest, a seizure, or a search, or do other acts incident to the administration of justice.
Warrant (n.) An official certificate of appointment issued to an officer of lower rank than a commissioned officer. See Warrant officer, below.
Warrant (n.) To assure, as a thing sold, to the purchaser; that is, to engage that the thing is what it appears, or is represented, to be, which implies a covenant to make good any defect or loss incurred by it.
Warrant (n.) To make secure; to give assurance against harm; to guarantee safety to; to give authority or power to do, or forbear to do, anything by which the person authorized is secured, or saved harmless, from any loss or damage by his action.
Warrant (n.) To secure to, as a purchaser of goods, the title to the same; to indemnify against loss.
Warrant (n.) To secure to, as a purchaser, the quality or quantity of the goods sold, as represented. See Warranty, n., 2.
Warrant (n.) To support by authority or proof; to justify; to maintain; to sanction; as, reason warrants it.
Warrantable (a.) Authorized by commission, precept, or right; justifiable; defensible; as, the seizure of a thief is always warrantable by law and justice; falsehood is never warrantable.
Warranter (n.) One who assures, or covenants to assure; one who contracts to secure another in a right, or to make good any defect of title or quality; one who gives a warranty; a guarantor; as, the warranter of a horse.
Warren (n.) A place privileged, by prescription or grant the king, for keeping certain animals (as hares, conies, partridges, pheasants, etc.) called beasts and fowls of warren.
Warren (n.) A privilege which one has in his lands, by royal grant or prescription, of hunting and taking wild beasts and birds of warren, to the exclusion of any other person not entering by his permission.
Warrin (n.) An Australian lorikeet (Trichoglossus multicolor) remarkable for the variety and brilliancy of its colors; -- called also blue-bellied lorikeet, and blue-bellied parrot.
Wart (n.) A small, usually hard, tumor on the skin formed by enlargement of its vascular papillae, and thickening of the epidermis which covers them.
Wart (n.) An excrescence or protuberance more or less resembling a true wart; specifically (Bot.), a glandular excrescence or hardened protuberance on plants.
Wartwort (n.) A name given to several plants because they were thought to be a cure for warts, as a kind of spurge (Euphorbia Helioscopia), and the nipplewort (Lampsana communis).
Warwickite (n.) A dark brown or black mineral, occurring in prismatic crystals imbedded in limestone near Warwick, New York. It consists of the borate and titanate of magnesia and iron.
Wary (a.) Cautious of danger; carefully watching and guarding against deception, artifices, and dangers; timorously or suspiciously prudent; circumspect; scrupulous; careful.
Was (v.) The first and third persons singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, preterit (imperfect) tense; as, I was; he was.
Wase (n.) A bundle of straw, or other material, to relieve the pressure of burdens carried upon the head.
Wash (n.) A mixture of dunder, molasses, water, and scummings, used in the West Indies for distillation.
Wash (n.) A piece of ground washed by the action of a sea or river, or sometimes covered and sometimes left dry; the shallowest part of a river, or arm of the sea; also, a bog; a marsh; a fen; as, the washes in Lincolnshire.
Wash (n.) Substances collected and deposited by the action of water; as, the wash of a sewer, of a river, etc.
Wash (n.) The act of washing; an ablution; a cleansing, wetting, or dashing with water; hence, a quantity, as of clothes, washed at once.
Wash (n.) The backward current or disturbed water caused by the action of oars, or of a steamer's screw or paddles, etc.
Wash (n.) Waste liquid, the refuse of food, the collection from washed dishes, etc., from a kitchen, often used as food for pigs.
Wash (v. i.) To be wasted or worn away by the action of water, as by a running or overflowing stream, or by the dashing of the sea; -- said of road, a beach, etc.
Wash (v. i.) To clean anything by rubbing or dipping it in water; to perform the business of cleansing clothes, ore, etc., in water.
Wash (v. t.) To cover with water or any liquid; to wet; to fall on and moisten; hence, to overflow or dash against; as, waves wash the shore.
Wash (v. t.) To remove by washing to take away by, or as by, the action of water; to drag or draw off as by the tide; -- often with away, off, out, etc.; as, to wash dirt from the hands.
Wash (v. t.) To waste or abrade by the force of water in motion; as, heavy rains wash a road or an embankment.
Wash-off (a.) Capable of being washed off; not permanent or durable; -- said of colors not fixed by steaming or otherwise.
Washboard (n.) A board running round, and serving as a facing for, the walls of a room, next to the floor; a mopboard.
Washboard (n.) A broad, thin plank, fixed along the gunwale of boat to keep the sea from breaking inboard; also, a plank on the sill of a lower deck port, for the same purpose; -- called also wasteboard.
Washed (a.) Appearing as if overlaid with a thin layer of different color; -- said of the colors of certain birds and insects.
Washer (n.) A fitting, usually having a plug, applied to a cistern, tub, sink, or the like, and forming the outlet opening.
Washerwoman (n.) The pied wagtail; -- so called in allusion to its beating the water with its tail while tripping along the leaves of water plants.
Washingtonian (a.) Designating, or pertaining to, a temperance society and movement started in Baltimore in 1840 on the principle of total abstinence.
Washingtonian (a.) Pertaining to, or characteristic of, George Washington; as, a Washingtonian policy.
Washout (n.) The washing out or away of earth, etc., especially of a portion of the bed of a road or railroad by a fall of rain or a freshet; also, a place, especially in the bed of a road or railroad, where the earth has been washed away.
Washstand (n.) A piece of furniture holding the ewer or pitcher, basin, and other requisites for washing the person.
Washy (a.) Lacking substance or strength; weak; thin; dilute; feeble; as, washy tea; washy resolutions.
Wasium (n.) A rare element supposed by Bahr to have been extracted from wasite, but now identified with thorium.
Wasp (n.) Any one of numerous species of stinging hymenopterous insects, esp. any of the numerous species of the genus Vespa, which includes the true, or social, wasps, some of which are called yellow jackets.
Waspish (a.) Quick to resent a trifling affront; characterized by snappishness; irritable; irascible; petulant; snappish.
Wassail (n.) An ancient expression of good wishes on a festive occasion, especially in drinking to some one.
Wassail (n.) An occasion on which such good wishes are expressed in drinking; a drinking bout; a carouse.
Wassail (n.) The liquor used for a wassail; esp., a beverage formerly much used in England at Christmas and other festivals, made of ale (or wine) flavored with spices, sugar, toast, roasted apples, etc.; -- called also lamb's wool.
Wassailer (n.) One who drinks wassail; one who engages in festivity, especially in drinking; a reveler.
Wast () The second person singular of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style. See Was.
Waste (a.) Lying unused; unproductive; worthless; valueless; refuse; rejected; as, waste land; waste paper.
Waste (a.) To damage, impair, or injure, as an estate, voluntarily, or by suffering the buildings, fences, etc., to go to decay.
Waste (a.) To spend unnecessarily or carelessly; to employ prodigally; to expend without valuable result; to apply to useless purposes; to lavish vainly; to squander; to cause to be lost; to destroy by scattering or injury.
Waste (a.) To wear away by degrees; to impair gradually; to diminish by constant loss; to use up; to consume; to spend; to wear out.
Waste (v. i.) To be diminished; to lose bulk, substance, strength, value, or the like, gradually; to be consumed; to dwindle; to grow less.
Waste (v. i.) To procure or sustain a reduction of flesh; -- said of a jockey in preparation for a race, etc.
Waste (v.) Spoil, destruction, or injury, done to houses, woods, fences, lands, etc., by a tenant for life or for years, to the prejudice of the heir, or of him in reversion or remainder.
Waste (v.) That which is wasted or desolate; a devastated, uncultivated, or wild country; a deserted region; an unoccupied or unemployed space; a dreary void; a desert; a wilderness.
Wastebook (n.) A book in which rough entries of transactions are made, previous to their being carried into the journal.
Wasteful (a.) Expending, or tending to expend, property, or that which is valuable, in a needless or useless manner; lavish; prodigal; as, a wasteful person; a wasteful disposition.
Wasteful (a.) Full of waste; destructive to property; ruinous; as, wasteful practices or negligence; wasteful expenses.
Waster (v. t.) An imperfection in the wick of a candle, causing it to waste; -- called also a thief.
Waster (v. t.) One who, or that which, wastes; one who squanders; one who consumes or expends extravagantly; a spendthrift; a prodigal.
Wasteweir (n.) An overfall, or weir, for the escape, or overflow, of superfluous water from a canal, reservoir, pond, or the like.
Wasting (a.) Causing waste; also, undergoing waste; diminishing; as, a wasting disease; a wasting fortune.
Watch (n.) An allotted portion of time, usually four hour for standing watch, or being on deck ready for duty. Cf. Dogwatch.
Watch (n.) That part, usually one half, of the officers and crew, who together attend to the working of a vessel for an allotted time, usually four hours. The watches are designated as the port watch, and the starboard watch.
Watch (v. i.) A small timepiece, or chronometer, to be carried about the person, the machinery of which is moved by a spring.
Watch (v. i.) One who watches, or those who watch; a watchman, or a body of watchmen; a sentry; a guard.
Watch (v. i.) The act of watching; forbearance of sleep; vigil; wakeful, vigilant, or constantly observant attention; close observation; guard; preservative or preventive vigilance; formerly, a watching or guarding by night.
Watch (v. i.) The period of the night during which a person does duty as a sentinel, or guard; the time from the placing of a sentinel till his relief; hence, a division of the night.
Watch (v. i.) The post or office of a watchman; also, the place where a watchman is posted, or where a guard is kept.
Watch (v. i.) To be attentive or vigilant; to give heed; to be on the lookout; to keep guard; to act as sentinel.
Watch (v. i.) To remain awake with any one as nurse or attendant; to attend on the sick during the night; as, to watch with a man in a fever.
Watch (v. i.) To serve the purpose of a watchman by floating properly in its place; -- said of a buoy.
Watch (v. t.) To give heed to; to observe the actions or motions of, for any purpose; to keep in view; not to lose from sight and observation; as, to watch the progress of a bill in the legislature.
Watchdog (n.) A dog kept to watch and guard premises or property, and to give notice of the approach of intruders.
Watcher (n.) One who watches; one who sits up or continues; a diligent observer; specifically, one who attends upon the sick during the night.
Watchhouse (n.) A place where persons under temporary arrest by the police of a city are kept; a police station; a lockup.
Watchtower (n.) A tower in which a sentinel is placed to watch for enemies, the approach of danger, or the like.
Watchword (n.) A word given to sentinels, and to such as have occasion to visit the guards, used as a signal by which a friend is known from an enemy, or a person who has a right to pass the watch from one who has not; a countersign; a password.
Water (n.) A wavy, lustrous pattern or decoration such as is imparted to linen, silk, metals, etc. See Water, v. t., 3, Damask, v. t., and Damaskeen.
Water (n.) The fluid which descends from the clouds in rain, and which forms rivers, lakes, seas, etc.
Water (n.) The limpidity and luster of a precious stone, especially a diamond; as, a diamond of the first water, that is, perfectly pure and transparent. Hence, of the first water, that is, of the first excellence.
Water (n.) To add water to (anything), thereby extending the quantity or bulk while reducing the strength or quality; to extend; to dilute; to weaken.
Water (v. t.) An addition to the shares representing the capital of a stock company so that the aggregate par value of the shares is increased while their value for investment is diminished, or "diluted."
Water (v. t.) To supply with water for drink; to cause or allow to drink; as, to water cattle and horses.
Water (v. t.) To wet and calender, as cloth, so as to impart to it a lustrous appearance in wavy lines; to diversify with wavelike lines; as, to water silk. Cf. Water, n., 6.
Water (v. t.) To wet or supply with water; to moisten; to overflow with water; to irrigate; as, to water land; to water flowers.
Water adder () The common, harmless American water snake (Tropidonotus sipedon). See Illust. under Water Snake.
Water arum () An aroid herb (Calla palustris) having a white spathe. It is an inhabitant of the north temperate zone.
Water ballast () Water confined in specially constructed compartments in a vessel's hold, to serve as ballast.
Water barometer () A barometer in which the changes of atmospheric pressure are indicated by the motion of a column of water instead of mercury. It requires a column of water about thirty-three feet in height.
Water bath () A device for regulating the temperature of anything subjected to heat, by surrounding the vessel containing it with another vessel containing water which can be kept at a desired temperature; also, a vessel designed for this purpose.
Water bed () A kind of mattress made of, or covered with, waterproof fabric and filled with water. It is used in hospitals for bedridden patients.
Water buck () A large, heavy antelope (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) native of Central Africa. It frequents the banks of rivers and is a good swimmer. It has a white ring around the rump. Called also photomok, water antelope, and waterbok.
Water can () Any one of several species of Nuphar; the yellow frog lily; -- so called from the shape of the seed vessel. See Nuphar, and cf. Candock.
Water cart () A cart carrying water; esp., one carrying water for sale, or for sprinkling streets, gardens, etc.
Water celery () A very acrid herb (Ranunculus sceleratus) growing in ditches and wet places; -- called also cursed crowfoot.
Water cell () A cell containing water; specifically (Zool.), one of the cells or chambers in which water is stored up in the stomach of a camel.
Water chestnut () The fruit of Trapa natans and Trapa bicornis, Old World water plants bearing edible nutlike fruits armed with several hard and sharp points; also, the plant itself; -- called also water caltrop.
Water chevrotain () A large West African chevrotain (Hyaemoschus aquaticus). It has a larger body and shorter legs than the other allied species. Called also water deerlet.
Water chinquapin () The American lotus, and its edible seeds, which somewhat resemble chinquapins. Cf. Yoncopin.
Water clock () An instrument or machine serving to measure time by the fall, or flow, of a certain quantity of water; a clepsydra.
Water cock () A large gallinule (Gallicrex cristatus) native of Australia, India, and the East Indies. In the breeding season the male is black and has a fleshy red caruncle, or horn, on the top of its head. Called also kora.
Water color () A color ground with water and gum or other glutinous medium; a color the vehicle of which is water; -- so called in distinction from oil color.
Water course () A natural channel for water; also, a canal for the conveyance of water, especially in draining lands.
Water course () A running stream of water having a bed and banks; the easement one may have in the flowing of such a stream in its accustomed course. A water course may be sometimes dry.
Water crane () A goose-neck apparatus for supplying water from an elevated tank, as to the tender of a locomotive.
Water cress () A perennial cruciferous herb (Nasturtium officinale) growing usually in clear running or spring water. The leaves are pungent, and used for salad and as an antiscorbutic.
Water crowfoot () An aquatic kind of buttercup (Ranunculus aquatilis), used as food for cattle in parts of England.
Water deer () A small Chinese deer (Hydropotes inermis). Both sexes are destitute of antlers, but the male has large, descending canine tusks.
Water devil () The rapacious larva of a large water beetle (Hydrophilus piceus), and of other similar species. See Illust. of Water beetle.
Water dock () A tall, coarse dock growing in wet places. The American water dock is Rumex orbiculatus, the European is R. Hydrolapathum.
Water dog () A dog accustomed to the water, or trained to retrieve waterfowl. Retrievers, waters spaniels, and Newfoundland dogs are so trained.
Water dressing () The treatment of wounds or ulcers by the application of water; also, a dressing saturated with water only, for application to a wound or an ulcer.
Water dropwort () A European poisonous umbelliferous plant (Enanthe fistulosa) with large hollow stems and finely divided leaves.
Water engine () An engine to raise water; or an engine moved by water; also, an engine or machine for extinguishing fires; a fire engine.
Water feather-foil () The water violet (Hottonia palustris); also, the less showy American plant H. inflata.
Water flannel () A floating mass formed in pools by the entangled filaments of a European fresh-water alga (Cladophora crispata).
Water flea () Any one of numerous species of small aquatic Entomostraca belonging to the genera Cyclops, Daphnia, etc; -- so called because they swim with sudden leaps, or starts.
Water furrow () A deep furrow for conducting water from the ground, and keeping the surface soil dry.
Water gall () A watery appearance in the sky, accompanying the rainbow; a secondary or broken rainbow.
Water gang () A passage for water, such as was usually made in a sea wall, to drain water out of marshes.
Water gauge () An instrument for measuring or ascertaining the depth or quantity of water, or for indicating the height of its surface, as in the boiler of a steam engine. See Gauge.
Water gilding () The act, or the process, of gilding metallic surfaces by covering them with a thin coating of amalgam of gold, and then volatilizing the mercury by heat; -- called also wash gilding.
Water gruel () A liquid food composed of water and a small portion of meal, or other farinaceous substance, boiled and seasoned.
Water hammer () A concussion, or blow, made by water in striking, as against the sides of a pipe or vessel containing it.
Water hammer () A vessel partly filled with water, exhausted of air, and hermetically sealed. When reversed or shaken, the water being unimpeded by air, strikes the sides in solid mass with a sound like that of a hammer.
Water hare () A small American hare or rabbit (Lepus aquaticus) found on or near the southern coasts of the United States; -- called also water rabbit, and swamp hare.
Water hemlock () A poisonous umbelliferous plant (Cicuta virosa) of Europe; also, any one of several plants of that genus.
Water hyacinth () Either of several tropical aquatic plants of the genus Eichhornia, related to the pickerel weed.
Water joint () A joint in a stone pavement where the stones are left slightly higher than elsewhere, the rest of the surface being sunken or dished. The raised surface is intended to prevent the settling of water in the joints.
Water lemon () The edible fruit of two species of passion flower (Passiflora laurifolia, and P. maliformis); -- so called in the West Indies.
Water lettuce () A plant (Pistia stratiotes) which floats on tropical waters, and forms a rosette of spongy, wedge-shaped leaves.
Water lily () A blossom or plant of any species of the genus Nymphaea, distinguished for its large floating leaves and beautiful flowers. See Nymphaea.
Water line () Any one of certain lines of a vessel, model, or plan, parallel with the surface of the water at various heights from the keel.
Water lizard () Any aquatic lizard of the genus Varanus, as the monitor of the Nile. See Monitor, n., 3.
Water locust () A thorny leguminous tree (Gleditschia monosperma) which grows in the swamps of the Mississippi valley.
Water meadow () A meadow, or piece of low, flat land, capable of being kept in a state of fertility by being overflowed with water from some adjoining river or stream.
Water measure () A measure formerly used for articles brought by water, as coals, oysters, etc. The water-measure bushel was three gallons larger than the Winchester bushel.
Water meter () A contrivance for measuring a supply of water delivered or received for any purpose, as from a street main.
Water milfoil () Any plant of the genus Myriophyllum, aquatic herbs with whorled leaves, the submersed ones pinnately parted into capillary divisions.
Water mill () A mill whose machinery is moved by water; -- distinguished from a windmill, and a steam mill.
Water mint () A kind of mint (Mentha aquatica) growing in wet places, and sometimes having a perfume resembling bergamot.
Water moccasin () A venomous North American snake (Ancistrodon piscivorus) allied to the rattlesnake but destitute of a rattle. It lives in or about pools and ponds, and feeds largely of fishes. Called also water snake, water adder, water viper.
Water nymph () A goddess of any stream or other body of water, whether one of the Naiads, Nereids, or Oceanides.
Water parsnip () Any plant of the aquatic umbelliferous genus Sium, poisonous herbs with pinnate or dissected leaves and small white flowers.
Water pitcher () One of a family of plants having pitcher-shaped leaves. The sidesaddle flower (Sarracenia purpurea) is the type.
Water pore () One of certain minute pores in the leaves of some plants. They are without true guardian cells, but in other respects closely resemble ordinary stomata.
Water power () A fall of water which may be used to drive machinery; a site for a water mill; a water privilege.
Water privilege () The advantage of using water as a mechanical power; also, the place where water is, or may be, so used. See under Privilege.
Water radish () A coarse yellow-flowered plant (Nasturtium amphibium) related to the water cress and to the horse-radish.
Water rail () Any one of numerous species of rails of the genus Rallus, as the common European species (Rallus aquaticus). See Illust. of Rail.
Water rattler () The diamond rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus); -- so called from its preference for damp places near water.
Water sail () A small sail sometimes set under a studding sail or under a driver boom, and reaching nearly to the water.
Water sapphire () A deep blue variety of iolite, sometimes used as a gem; -- called also saphir d'eau.
Water shield () An aquatic American plant (Brasenia peltata) having floating oval leaves, and the covered with a clear jelly.
Water snail () Any aquatic pulmonate gastropod belonging to Planorbis, Limnaea, and allied genera; a pond snail.
Water snake () A common North American colubrine snake (Tropidonotus sipedon) which lives chiefly in the water.
Water snake () Any species of snakes of the family Homalopsidae, all of which are aquatic in their habits.
Water speedwell () A kind of speedwell (Veronica Anagallis) found in wet places in Europe and America.
Water spider () Any spider that habitually lives on or about the water, especially the large American species (Dolomedes lanceolatus) which runs rapidly on the surface of water; -- called also raft spider.
Water star grass () An aquatic plant (Schollera graminea) with grassy leaves, and yellow star-shaped blossoms.
Water supply () A supply of water; specifically, water collected, as in reservoirs, and conveyed, as by pipes, for use in a city, mill, or the like.
Water thrush () A North American bird of the genus Seiurus, belonging to the Warbler family, especially the common species (S. Noveboracensis).
Water tiger () A diving, or water, beetle, especially the larva of a water beetle. See Illust. b of Water beetle.
Water torch () The common cat-tail (Typha latifolia), the spike of which makes a good torch soaked in oil.
Water tower () A large metal pipe made to be extended vertically by sections, and used for discharging water upon burning buildings.
Water tree () A climbing shrub (Tetracera alnifolia, / potatoria) of Western Africa, which pours out a watery sap from the freshly cut stems.
Water tu tuyere () A tuyere kept cool by water circulating within a casing. It is used for hot blast.
Water tube () One of a system of tubular excretory organs having external openings, found in many invertebrates. They are believed to be analogous in function to the kidneys of vertebrates. See Illust. under Trematodea, and Sporocyst.
Water tupelo () A species of large tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) growing in swamps in the southern of the United States. See Ogeechee lime.
Water vine () Any plant of the genus Phytocrene, climbing shrubs of Asia and Africa, the stems of which are singularly porous, and when cut stream with a limpid potable juice.
Water willow () An American aquatic plant (Dianthera Americana) with long willowlike leaves, and spikes of small purplish flowers.
Water wing () One of two walls built on either side of the junction of a bridge with the bank of a river, to protect the abutment of the bridge and the bank from the action of the current.
Water-closet (n.) A privy; especially, a privy furnished with a contrivance for introducing a stream of water to cleanse it.
Water-logged (a.) Filled or saturated with water so as to be heavy, unmanageable, or loglike; -- said of a vessel, when, by receiving a great quantity of water into her hold, she has become so heavy as not to be manageable by the helm.
Water-white (n.) A vinelike plant (Vitis Caribaea) growing in parched districts in the West Indies, and containing a great amount of sap which is sometimes used for quenching thirst.
Waterfall (n.) A fall, or perpendicular descent, of the water of a river or stream, or a descent nearly perpendicular; a cascade; a cataract.
Waterfall (n.) An arrangement of a woman's back hair over a cushion or frame in some resemblance to a waterfall.
Waterfowl (n.) Any bird that frequents the water, or lives about rivers, lakes, etc., or on or near the sea; an aquatic fowl; -- used also collectively.
Waterlandian (n.) One of a body of Dutch Anabaptists who separated from the Mennonites in the sixteenth century; -- so called from a district in North Holland denominated Waterland.
Waterleaf (n.) Any plant of the American genus Hydrophyllum, herbs having white or pale blue bell-shaped flowers.
Waterman (n.) A man who plies for hire on rivers, lakes, or canals, or in harbors, in distinction from a seaman who is engaged on the high seas; a man who manages fresh-water craft; a boatman; a ferryman.
Watermark (n.) A mark indicating the height to which water has risen, or at which it has stood; the usual limit of high or low water.
Waterpot (n.) A vessel for holding or conveying water, or for sprinkling water on cloth, plants, etc.
Waterproof (a.) Proof against penetration or permeation by water; impervious to water; as, a waterproof garment; a waterproof roof.
Waterproof (n.) Cloth made waterproof, or any article made of such cloth, or of other waterproof material, as rubber; esp., an outer garment made of such material.
Watershed (n.) The line of division between two adjacent rivers or lakes with respect to the flow of water by natural channels into them; the natural boundary of a basin.
Watershed (n.) The whole region or extent of country which contributes to the supply of a river or lake.
Waterspout (n.) A remarkable meteorological phenomenon, of the nature of a tornado or whirlwind, usually observed over the sea, but sometimes over the land.
Watertath (n.) A kind of coarse grass growing in wet grounds, and supposed to be injurious to sheep.
Waterway (n.) Heavy plank or timber extending fore and aft the whole length of a vessel's deck at the line of junction with the sides, forming a channel to the scuppers, which are cut through it. In iron vessels the waterway is variously constructed.
Waterwork (n.) Painting executed in size or distemper, on canvas or walls, -- formerly, frequently taking the place of tapestry.
Waterwort (n.) Any plant of the natural order Elatineae, consisting of two genera (Elatine, and Bergia), mostly small annual herbs growing in the edges of ponds. Some have a peppery or acrid taste.
Watery (a.) Hence, abounding in thin, tasteless, or insipid fluid; tasteless; insipid; vapid; spiritless.
Watt (n.) A unit of power or activity equal to 107 C.G.S. units of power, or to work done at the rate of one joule a second. An English horse power is approximately equal to 746 watts.
Wattle (n.) A naked fleshy, and usually wrinkled and highly colored, process of the skin hanging from the chin or throat of a bird or reptile.
Wattle (n.) The astringent bark of several Australian trees of the genus Acacia, used in tanning; -- called also wattle bark.
Wattle (v. t.) To twist or interweave, one with another, as twigs; to form a network with; to plat; as, to wattle branches.
Wattmeter (n.) An instrument for measuring power in watts, -- much used in measuring the energy of an electric current.
Wave (v. i.) An advancing ridge or swell on the surface of a liquid, as of the sea, resulting from the oscillatory motion of the particles composing it when disturbed by any force their position of rest; an undulation.
Wave (v. i.) Fig.: A swelling or excitement of thought, feeling, or energy; a tide; as, waves of enthusiasm.
Wave (v. i.) The undulating line or streak of luster on cloth watered, or calendered, or on damask steel.
Wave (v. i.) To play loosely; to move like a wave, one way and the other; to float; to flutter; to undulate.
Wave (v. t.) To call attention to, or give a direction or command to, by a waving motion, as of the hand; to signify by waving; to beckon; to signal; to indicate.
Waved (a.) Having a wavelike appearance; marked with wavelike lines of color; as, waved, or watered, silk.
Waved (a.) Having undulations like waves; -- said of one of the lines in heraldry which serve as outlines to the ordinaries, etc.
Wavellite (n.) A hydrous phosphate of alumina, occurring usually in hemispherical radiated forms varying in color from white to yellow, green, or black.
Waver (v. i.) To be unsettled in opinion; to vacillate; to be undetermined; to fluctuate; as, to water in judgment.
Waver (v. i.) To play or move to and fro; to move one way and the other; hence, to totter; to reel; to swing; to flutter.
Wax (n.) A substance similar to beeswax, secreted by several species of scale insects, as the Chinese wax. See Wax insect, below.
Wax (n.) A substance, somewhat resembling wax, found in connection with certain deposits of rock salt and coal; -- called also mineral wax, and ozocerite.
Wax (n.) A waxlike composition used for uniting surfaces, for excluding air, and for other purposes; as, sealing wax, grafting wax, etching wax, etc.
Wax (v. i.) To pass from one state to another; to become; to grow; as, to wax strong; to wax warmer or colder; to wax feeble; to wax old; to wax worse and worse.
Waxberry (n.) The wax-covered fruit of the wax myrtle, or bayberry. See Bayberry, and Candleberry tree.
Waxwork (n.) An American climbing shrub (Celastrus scandens). It bears a profusion of yellow berrylike pods, which open in the autumn, and display the scarlet coverings of the seeds.
Waxwork (n.) Work made of wax; especially, a figure or figures formed or partly of wax, in imitation of real beings.
Waxy (a.) Resembling wax in appearance or consistency; viscid; adhesive; soft; hence, yielding; pliable; impressible.
Way (n.) That by, upon, or along, which one passes or processes; opportunity or room to pass; place of passing; passage; road, street, track, or path of any kind; as, they built a way to the mine.
Way (n.) The longitudinal guides, or guiding surfaces, on the bed of a planer, lathe, or the like, along which a table or carriage moves.
Way-wise (a.) Skillful in finding the way; well acquainted with the way or route; wise from having traveled.
Waybill (n.) A list of passengers in a public vehicle, or of the baggage or gods transported by a common carrier on a land route. When the goods are transported by water, the list is called a bill of lading.
Waybung (n.) An Australian insessorial bird (Corcorax melanorhamphus) noted for the curious actions of the male during the breeding season. It is black with a white patch on each wing.
Waylay (v. t.) To lie in wait for; to meet or encounter in the way; especially, to watch for the passing of, with a view to seize, rob, or slay; to beset in ambush.
Waywiser (n.) An instrument for measuring the distance which one has traveled on the road; an odometer, pedometer, or perambulator.
We (obj.) The plural nominative case of the pronoun of the first person; the word with which a person in speaking or writing denotes a number or company of which he is one, as the subject of an action expressed by a verb.
Weak (v. i.) Deficient in strength of body; feeble; infirm; sickly; debilitated; enfeebled; exhausted.
Weak (v. i.) Feeble of mind; wanting discernment; lacking vigor; spiritless; as, a weak king or magistrate.
Weak (v. i.) Lacking ability for an appropriate function or office; as, weak eyes; a weak stomach; a weak magistrate; a weak regiment, or army.
Weak (v. i.) Lacking in elements of political strength; not wielding or having authority or energy; deficient in the resources that are essential to a ruler or nation; as, a weak monarch; a weak government or state.
Weak (v. i.) Not able to resist external force or onset; easily subdued or overcome; as, a weak barrier; as, a weak fortress.
Weak (v. i.) Not able to sustain a great weight, pressure, or strain; as, a weak timber; a weak rope.
Weak (v. i.) Not able to withstand temptation, urgency, persuasion, etc.; easily impressed, moved, or overcome; accessible; vulnerable; as, weak resolutions; weak virtue.
Weak (v. i.) Not firmly united or adhesive; easily broken or separated into pieces; not compact; as, a weak ship.
Weak (v. i.) Not having full confidence or conviction; not decided or confirmed; vacillating; wavering.
Weak (v. i.) Not having power to convince; not supported by force of reason or truth; unsustained; as, a weak argument or case.
Weak (v. i.) Not possessing or manifesting intellectual, logical, moral, or political strength, vigor, etc.
Weak (v. i.) Pertaining to, or designating, a noun in Anglo-Saxon, etc., the stem of which ends in -n. See Strong, 19 (b).
Weak (v. i.) Resulting from, or indicating, lack of judgment, discernment, or firmness; unwise; hence, foolish.
Weak-minded (a.) Having a weak mind, either naturally or by reason of disease; feebleminded; foolish; idiotic.
Weaken (v. i.) To become weak or weaker; to lose strength, spirit, or determination; to become less positive or resolute; as, the patient weakened; the witness weakened on cross-examination.
Weaken (v. t.) To make weak; to lessen the strength of; to deprive of strength; to debilitate; to enfeeble; to enervate; as, to weaken the body or the mind; to weaken the hands of a magistrate; to weaken the force of an objection or an argument.
Weaken (v. t.) To reduce in quality, strength, or spirit; as, to weaken tea; to weaken any solution or decoction.
Weakfish (n.) Any fish of the genus Cynoscion; a squeteague; -- so called from its tender mouth. See Squeteague.
Weakly (superl.) Not strong of constitution; infirm; feeble; as, a weakly woman; a man of a weakly constitution.
Weakness (n.) The quality or state of being weak; want of strength or firmness; lack of vigor; want of resolution or of moral strength; feebleness.
Weal (adv.) A sound, healthy, or prosperous state of a person or thing; prosperity; happiness; welfare.
Weald (n.) A wood or forest; a wooded land or region; also, an open country; -- often used in place names.
Wealden (a.) Of or pertaining to the lowest division of the Cretaceous formation in England and on the Continent, which overlies the Oolitic series.
Wealth (n.) Large possessions; a comparative abundance of things which are objects of human desire; esp., abundance of worldly estate; affluence; opulence; riches.
Wealthy (superl.) Having wealth; having large possessions, or larger than most men, as lands, goods, money, or securities; opulent; affluent; rich.
Wean (a.) Hence, to detach or alienate the affections of, from any object of desire; to reconcile to the want or loss of anything.
Wean (a.) To accustom and reconcile, as a child or other young animal, to a want or deprivation of mother's milk; to take from the breast or udder; to cause to cease to depend on the mother nourishment.
Weapon (n.) An instrument of offensive of defensive combat; something to fight with; anything used, or designed to be used, in destroying, defeating, or injuring an enemy, as a gun, a sword, etc.
Weapon (n.) Fig.: The means or instrument with which one contends against another; as, argument was his only weapon.
Wear (n.) A dam in a river to stop and raise the water, for the purpose of conducting it to a mill, forming a fish pond, or the like.
Wear (n.) A fence of stakes, brushwood, or the like, set in a stream, tideway, or inlet of the sea, for taking fish.
Wear (n.) A long notch with a horizontal edge, as in the top of a vertical plate or plank, through which water flows, -- used in measuring the quantity of flowing water.
Wear (n.) The act of wearing, or the state of being worn; consumption by use; diminution by friction; as, the wear of a garment.
Wear (v. i.) To be wasted, consumed, or diminished, by being used; to suffer injury, loss, or extinction by use or time; to decay, or be spent, gradually.
Wear (v. t.) To carry or bear upon the person; to bear upon one's self, as an article of clothing, decoration, warfare, bondage, etc.; to have appendant to one's body; to have on; as, to wear a coat; to wear a shackle.
Wear (v. t.) To have or exhibit an appearance of, as an aspect or manner; to bear; as, she wears a smile on her countenance.
Wear (v. t.) To impair, waste, or diminish, by continual attrition, scraping, percussion, on the like; to consume gradually; to cause to lower or disappear; to spend.
Wear (v. t.) To use up by carrying or having upon one's self; hence, to consume by use; to waste; to use up; as, to wear clothes rapidly.
Wearer (n.) One who wears or carries as appendant to the body; as, the wearer of a cloak, a sword, a crown, a shackle, etc.
Weariness (n.) The quality or state of being weary or tried; lassitude; exhaustion of strength; fatigue.
Wearing (n.) The act of one who wears; the manner in which a thing wears; use; conduct; consumption.
Wearisome (a.) Causing weariness; tiresome; tedious; weariful; as, a wearisome march; a wearisome day's work; a wearisome book.
Weary (superl.) Having one's patience, relish, or contentment exhausted; tired; sick; -- with of before the cause; as, weary of marching, or of confinement; weary of study.
Weary (superl.) Having the strength exhausted by toil or exertion; worn out in respect to strength, endurance, etc.; tired; fatigued.
Weary (v. t.) To reduce or exhaust the physical strength or endurance of; to tire; to fatigue; as, to weary one's self with labor or traveling.
Weather (a.) Being toward the wind, or windward -- opposed to lee; as, weather bow, weather braces, weather gauge, weather lifts, weather quarter, weather shrouds, etc.
Weather (v. i.) To undergo or endure the action of the atmosphere; to suffer meteorological influences; sometimes, to wear away, or alter, under atmospheric influences; to suffer waste by weather.
Weather (v. t.) Hence, to sustain the trying effect of; to bear up against and overcome; to sustain; to endure; to resist; as, to weather the storm.
Weather-beaten (a.) Beaten or harassed by the weather; worn by exposure to the weather, especially to severe weather.
Weather-board (v. t.) To nail boards upon so as to lap one over another, in order to exclude rain, snow, etc.
Weather-bound (a.) Kept in port or at anchor by storms; delayed by bad weather; as, a weather-bound vessel.
Weatherboard (n.) A board extending from the ridge to the eaves along the slope of the gable, and forming a close junction between the shingling of a roof and the side of the building beneath.
Weatherboarding (n.) The covering or siding of a building, formed of boards lapping over one another, to exclude rain, snow, etc.
Weathercock (n.) A vane, or weather vane; -- so called because originally often in the figure of a cock, turning on the top of a spire with the wind, and showing its direction.
Weathercock (n.) Hence, any thing or person that turns easily and frequently; one who veers with every change of current opinion; a fickle, inconstant person.
Weathered (a.) Having the surface altered in color, texture, or composition, or the edges rounded off by exposure to the elements.
Weatherglass (n.) An instrument to indicate the state of the atmosphere, especially changes of atmospheric pressure, and hence changes of weather, as a barometer or baroscope.
Weathering (n.) The action of the elements on a rock in altering its color, texture, or composition, or in rounding off its edges.
Weave (v. t.) To unite, as threads of any kind, in such a manner as to form a texture; to entwine or interlace into a fabric; as, to weave wool, silk, etc.; hence, to unite by close connection or intermixture; to unite intimately.
Weaving (n.) An incessant motion of a horse's head, neck, and body, from side to side, fancied to resemble the motion of a hand weaver in throwing the shuttle.
Weaving (n.) The act of one who, or that which, weaves; the act or art of forming cloth in a loom by the union or intertexture of threads.
Web (n.) A disk or solid construction serving, instead of spokes, for connecting the rim and hub, in some kinds of car wheels, sheaves, etc.
Web (n.) A plate or thin portion, continuous or perforated, connecting stiffening ribs or flanges, or other parts of an object.
Web (n.) The membrane which unites the fingers or toes, either at their bases, as in man, or for a greater part of their length, as in many water birds and amphibians.
Web (n.) The series of barbs implanted on each side of the shaft of a feather, whether stiff and united together by barbules, as in ordinary feathers, or soft and separate, as in downy feathers. See Feather.
Web (n.) The texture of very fine thread spun by a spider for catching insects at its prey; a cobweb.
Web (n.) The thin vertical plate or portion connecting the upper and lower flanges of an lower flanges of an iron girder, rolled beam, or railroad rail.
Webform (n.) Any one of various species of moths whose gregarious larvae eat the leaves of trees, and construct a large web to which they retreat when not feeding.
Wed (n.) Fig.: To unite as if by the affections or the bond of marriage; to attach firmly or indissolubly.
Wedge (n.) A solid of five sides, having a rectangular base, two rectangular or trapezoidal sides meeting in an edge, and two triangular ends.
Wedge (n.) The person whose name stands lowest on the list of the classical tripos; -- so called after a person (Wedgewood) who occupied this position on the first list of 1828.
Wedge (v. t.) To cut, as clay, into wedgelike masses, and work by dashing together, in order to expel air bubbles, etc.
Wedge (v. t.) To fasten with a wedge, or with wedges; as, to wedge a scythe on the snath; to wedge a rail or a piece of timber in its place.
Wedge (v. t.) To press closely; to fix, or make fast, in the manner of a wedge that is driven into something.
Wedge-shaped (a.) Broad and truncate at the summit, and tapering down to the base; as, a wedge-shaped leaf.
Wedge-shell (n.) Any one of numerous species of small marine bivalves belonging to Donax and allied genera in which the shell is wedge-shaped.
Wedge-tailed (a.) Having a tail which has the middle pair of feathers longest, the rest successively and decidedly shorter, and all more or less attenuate; -- said of certain birds. See Illust. of Wood hoopoe, under Wood.
Wedgebill (n.) An Australian crested insessorial bird (Sphenostoma cristatum) having a wedge-shaped bill. Its color is dull brown, like the earth of the plains where it lives.
Weed (n.) An article of dress worn in token of grief; a mourning garment or badge; as, he wore a weed on his hat; especially, in the plural, mourning garb, as of a woman; as, a widow's weeds.
Weed (n.) Any plant growing in cultivated ground to the injury of the crop or desired vegetation, or to the disfigurement of the place; an unsightly, useless, or injurious plant.
Weed (v. t.) To free from noxious plants; to clear of weeds; as, to weed corn or onions; to weed a garden.
Weekly (a.) Coming, happening, or done once a week; hebdomadary; as, a weekly payment; a weekly gazette.
Weep (v. i.) Formerly, to express sorrow, grief, or anguish, by outcry, or by other manifest signs; in modern use, to show grief or other passions by shedding tears; to shed tears; to cry.
Weep (v. i.) To hang the branches, as if in sorrow; to be pendent; to droop; -- said of a plant or its branches.
Weep (v. t.) To shed, or pour forth, as tears; to shed drop by drop, as if tears; as, to weep tears of joy.
Weft (n.) The woof of cloth; the threads that cross the warp from selvage to selvage; the thread carried by the shuttle in weaving.
Weigelia (n.) A hardy garden shrub (Diervilla Japonica) belonging to the Honeysuckle family, with white or red flowers. It was introduced from China.
Weigh (v. t.) To examine by the balance; to ascertain the weight of, that is, the force with which a thing tends to the center of the earth; to determine the heaviness, or quantity of matter of; as, to weigh sugar; to weigh gold.
Weigh (v. t.) To examine or test as if by the balance; to ponder in the mind; to consider or examine for the purpose of forming an opinion or coming to a conclusion; to estimate deliberately and maturely; to balance.
Weighbeam (n.) A kind of large steelyard for weighing merchandise; -- also called weighmaster's beam.
Weighmaster (n.) One whose business it is to weigh ore, hay, merchandise, etc.; one licensed as a public weigher.
Weight (v. t.) A definite mass of iron, lead, brass, or other metal, to be used for ascertaining the weight of other bodies; as, an ounce weight.
Weight (v. t.) A scale, or graduated standard, of heaviness; a mode of estimating weight; as, avoirdupois weight; troy weight; apothecaries' weight.
Weight (v. t.) Importance; power; influence; efficacy; consequence; moment; impressiveness; as, a consideration of vast weight.
Weight (v. t.) The quality of being heavy; that property of bodies by which they tend toward the center of the earth; the effect of gravitative force, especially when expressed in certain units or standards, as pounds, grams, etc.
Weight (v. t.) To assign a weight to; to express by a number the probable accuracy of, as an observation. See Weight of observations, under Weight.
Weight (v. t.) To load with a weight or weights; to load down; to make heavy; to attach weights to; as, to weight a horse or a jockey at a race; to weight a whip handle.
Weighty (superl.) Adapted to turn the balance in the mind, or to convince; important; forcible; serious; momentous.
Weird (a.) Of or pertaining to witchcraft; caused by, or suggesting, magical influence; supernatural; unearthly; wild; as, a weird appearance, look, sound, etc.
Weka (n.) A New Zealand rail (Ocydromus australis) which has wings so short as to be incapable of flight.
Wekau (n.) A small New Zealand owl (Sceloglaux albifacies). It has short wings and long legs, and lives chiefly on the ground.
Welcome (n.) Kind reception of a guest or newcomer; as, we entered the house and found a ready welcome.
Welcome (n.) Received with gladness; admitted willingly to the house, entertainment, or company; as, a welcome visitor.
Welcome (v. t.) To salute with kindness, as a newcomer; to receive and entertain hospitably and cheerfully; as, to welcome a visitor; to welcome a new idea.
Welcomeness (n.) The quality or state of being welcome; gratefulness; agreeableness; kind reception.
Weld (n.) An herb (Reseda luteola) related to mignonette, growing in Europe, and to some extent in America; dyer's broom; dyer's rocket; dyer's weed; wild woad. It is used by dyers to give a yellow color.
Weld (v. t.) To press or beat into intimate and permanent union, as two pieces of iron when heated almost to fusion.
Weldon's process () A process for the recovery or regeneration of manganese dioxide in the manufacture of chlorine, by means of milk of lime and the oxygen of the air; -- so called after the inventor.
Welfare (n.) Well-doing or well-being in any respect; the enjoyment of health and the common blessings of life; exemption from any evil or calamity; prosperity; happiness.
Well (a.) Being in health; sound in body; not ailing, diseased, or sick; healthy; as, a well man; the patient is perfectly well.
Well (a.) Good in condition or circumstances; desirable, either in a natural or moral sense; fortunate; convenient; advantageous; happy; as, it is well for the country that the crops did not fail; it is well that the mistake was discovered.
Well (v. i.) A compartment in the middle of the hold of a fishing vessel, made tight at the sides, but having holes perforated in the bottom to let in water for the preservation of fish alive while they are transported to market.
Well (v. i.) A pit or hole sunk into the earth to such a depth as to reach a supply of water, generally of a cylindrical form, and often walled with stone or bricks to prevent the earth from caving in.
Well (v. i.) A vertical passage in the stern into which an auxiliary screw propeller may be drawn up out of water.
Well (v. i.) An inclosure in the middle of a vessel's hold, around the pumps, from the bottom to the lower deck, to preserve the pumps from damage and facilitate their inspection.
Well (v. i.) An opening through the floors of a building, as for a staircase or an elevator; a wellhole.
Well (v. t.) In such manner as is desirable; so as one could wish; satisfactorily; favorably; advantageously; conveniently.
Well (v. t.) Suitably to one's condition, to the occasion, or to a proposed end or use; suitably; abundantly; fully; adequately; thoroughly.
Well-being (n.) The state or condition of being well; welfare; happiness; prosperity; as, virtue is essential to the well-being of men or of society.
Well-informed (a.) Correctly informed; provided with information; well furnished with authentic knowledge; intelligent.
Welldrain (v. t.) To drain, as land; by means of wells, or pits, which receive the water, and from which it is discharged by machinery.
Wellhole (n.) A cavity which receives a counterbalancing weight in certain mechanical contrivances, and is adapted also for other purposes.
Wellingtonia (n.) A name given to the "big trees" (Sequoia gigantea) of California, and still used in England. See Sequoia.
Welsher (n.) One who cheats at a horse race; one who bets, without a chance of being able to pay; one who receives money to back certain horses and absconds with it.
Welt (n.) A small cord covered with cloth and sewed on a seam or border to strengthen it; an edge of cloth folded on itself, usually over a cord, and sewed down.
Welt (n.) In carpentry, a strip of wood fastened over a flush seam or joint, or an angle, to strengthen it.
Welt (n.) In shoemaking, a narrow strip of leather around a shoe, between the upper leather and sole.
Welt (n.) In steam boilers and sheet-iron work, a strip riveted upon the edges of plates that form a butt joint.
Welt (n.) That which, being sewed or otherwise fastened to an edge or border, serves to guard, strengthen, or adorn it
Welt (v. t.) To furnish with a welt; to sew or fasten a welt on; as, to welt a boot or a shoe; to welt a sleeve.
Welter (a.) Of, pertaining to, or designating, the most heavily weighted race in a meeting; as, a welter race; the welter stakes.
Welter (n.) A rising or falling, as of waves; as, the welter of the billows; the welter of a tempest.
Welter (v. i.) To roll, as the body of an animal; to tumble about, especially in anything foul or defiling; to wallow.
Wend (v. t.) To direct; to betake; -- used chiefly in the phrase to wend one's way. Also used reflexively.
Wends (n. pl.) A Slavic tribe which once occupied the northern and eastern parts of Germany, of which a small remnant exists.
Wenlock group () The middle subdivision of the Upper Silurian in Great Britain; -- so named from the typical locality in Shropshire.
Went () imp. & p. p. of Wend; -- now obsolete except as the imperfect of go, with which it has no etymological connection. See Go.
Wentletrap (n.) Any one of numerous species of elegant, usually white, marine shells of the genus Scalaria, especially Scalaria pretiosa, which was formerly highly valued; -- called also staircase shell. See Scalaria.
Were () The imperfect indicative plural, and imperfect subjunctive singular and plural, of the verb be. See Be.
Weregild (n.) The price of a man's head; a compensation paid of a man killed, partly to the king for the loss of a subject, partly to the lord of a vassal, and partly to the next of kin. It was paid by the murderer.
Werewolf (n.) A person transformed into a wolf in form and appetite, either temporarily or permanently, whether by supernatural influences, by witchcraft, or voluntarily; a lycanthrope. Belief in werewolves, formerly general, is not now extinct.
Weroole (n.) An Australian lorikeet (Ptilosclera versicolor) noted for the variety of its colors; -- called also varied lorikeet.
Wert () The second person singular, indicative and subjunctive moods, imperfect tense, of the verb be. It is formed from were, with the ending -t, after the analogy of wast. Now used only in solemn or poetic style.
Wesleyanism (n.) The system of doctrines and church polity inculcated by John Wesley (b. 1703; d. 1791), the founder of the religious sect called Methodist; Methodism. See Methodist, n., 2.
West (n.) A country, or region of country, which, with regard to some other country or region, is situated in the direction toward the west.
West (n.) Formerly, that part of the United States west of the Alleghany mountains; now, commonly, the whole region west of the Mississippi river; esp., that part which is north of the Indian Territory, New Mexico, etc. Usually with the definite article.
West (n.) The Westen hemisphere, or the New World so called, it having been discovered by sailing westward from Europe; the Occident.
Western (a.) Moving toward the west; as, a ship makes a western course; coming from the west; as, a western breeze.
Western (a.) Of or pertaining to the west; situated in the west, or in the region nearly in the direction of west; being in that quarter where the sun sets; as, the western shore of France; the western ocean.
Westing (n.) The distance, reckoned toward the west, between the two meridians passing through the extremities of a course, or portion of a ship's path; the departure of a course which lies to the west of north.
Westness (n.) A watery or moist state of the atmosphere; a state of being rainy, foggy, or misty; as, the wetness of weather or the season.
Westness (n.) The quality or state of being wet; moisture; humidity; as, the wetness of land; the wetness of a cloth.
Wet (superl.) Containing, or consisting of, water or other liquid; moist; soaked with a liquid; having water or other liquid upon the surface; as, wet land; a wet cloth; a wet table.
Wet (superl.) Employing, or done by means of, water or some other liquid; as, the wet extraction of copper, in distinction from dry extraction in which dry heat or fusion is employed.
Wet (v. t.) To fill or moisten with water or other liquid; to sprinkle; to cause to have water or other fluid adherent to the surface; to dip or soak in a liquid; as, to wet a sponge; to wet the hands; to wet cloth.
Whack (v. t.) To strike; to beat; to give a heavy or resounding blow to; to thrash; to make with whacks.
Whale (n.) Any aquatic mammal of the order Cetacea, especially any one of the large species, some of which become nearly one hundred feet long. Whales are hunted chiefly for their oil and baleen, or whalebone.
Whalebone (n.) A firm, elastic substance resembling horn, taken from the upper jaw of the right whale; baleen. It is used as a stiffening in stays, fans, screens, and for various other purposes. See Baleen.
Whaler (n.) One who whales, or beats; a big, strong fellow; hence, anything of great or unusual size.
Whaling (a.) Pertaining to, or employed in, the pursuit of whales; as, a whaling voyage; a whaling vessel.
Wharf (v. t.) To guard or secure by a firm wall of timber or stone constructed like a wharf; to furnish with a wharf or wharfs.
Wharfage (n.) The fee or duty paid for the privilege of using a wharf for loading or unloading goods; pierage, collectively; quayage.
Wharfing (n.) A mode of facing sea walls and embankments with planks driven as piles and secured by ties.
What (pron., a., & adv.) As an exclamatory word: -- (a) Used absolutely or independently; -- often with a question following.
What (pron., a., & adv.) As an interrogative pronoun, used in asking questions regarding either persons or things; as, what is this? what did you say? what poem is this? what child is lost?
What (pron., a., & adv.) Sometimes prefixed to adjectives in an adverbial sense, as nearly equivalent to how; as, what happy boys!
What (pron., a., & adv.) Used adjectively, equivalent to the . . . which; the sort or kind of . . . which; rarely, the . . . on, or at, which.
What (pron., a., & adv.) Used adjectively, meaning how remarkable, or how great; as, what folly! what eloquence! what courage!
What (pron., a., & adv.) Used adverbially in a sense corresponding to the adjectival use; as, he picked what good fruit he saw.
What (pron., a., & adv.) Used adverbially, in part; partly; somewhat; -- with a following preposition, especially, with, and commonly with repetition.
What (pron., a., & adv.) Used substantively with the antecedent suppressed, equivalent to that which, or those [persons] who, or those [things] which; -- called a compound relative.
Whatever (pron.) Anything soever which; the thing or things of any kind; being this or that; of one nature or another; one thing or another; anything that may be; all that; the whole that; all particulars that; -- used both substantively and adjectively.
Whatnot (n.) A kind of stand, or piece of furniture, having shelves for books, ornaments, etc.; an etagere.
Wheal (n.) A more or less elongated mark raised by a stroke; also, a similar mark made by any cause; a weal; a wale.
Wheal (n.) Specifically (Med.), a flat, burning or itching eminence on the skin, such as is produced by a mosquito bite, or in urticaria.
Wheat (n.) A cereal grass (Triticum vulgare) and its grain, which furnishes a white flour for bread, and, next to rice, is the grain most largely used by the human race.
Wheatworm (n.) A small nematode worm (Anguillula tritici) which attacks the grains of wheat in the ear. It is found in wheat affected with smut, each of the diseased grains containing a large number of the minute young of the worm.
Wheel (n.) A circular frame having handles on the periphery, and an axle which is so connected with the tiller as to form a means of controlling the rudder for the purpose of steering.
Wheel (n.) A firework which, while burning, is caused to revolve on an axis by the reaction of the escaping gases.
Wheel (v. i.) To change direction, as if revolving upon an axis or pivot; to turn; as, the troops wheeled to the right.
Wheel (v. i.) To turn on an axis, or as on an axis; to revolve; to more about; to rotate; to gyrate.
Wheel (v. t.) To put into a rotatory motion; to cause to turn or revolve; to cause to gyrate; to make or perform in a circle.
Wheel-shaped (a.) Expanding into a flat, circular border at top, with scarcely any tube; as, a wheel-shaped corolla.
Wheelbarrow (n.) A light vehicle for conveying small loads. It has two handles and one wheel, and is rolled by a single person.
Wheeler (n.) A steam vessel propelled by a paddle wheel or by paddle wheels; -- used chiefly in the terms side-wheeler and stern-wheeler.
Wheeling (n.) Condition of a road or roads, which admits of passing on wheels; as, it is good wheeling, or bad wheeling.
Wheelwright (n.) A man whose occupation is to make or repair wheels and wheeled vehicles, as carts, wagons, and the like.
Wheeze (n.) An ordinary whisper exaggerated so as to produce the hoarse sound known as the "stage whisper." It is a forcible whisper with some admixture of tone.
Wheeze (v. i.) To breathe hard, and with an audible piping or whistling sound, as persons affected with asthma.
Whelk (n.) Any one numerous species of large marine gastropods belonging to Buccinum and allied genera; especially, Buccinum undatum, common on the coasts both of Europe and North America, and much used as food in Europe.
Whelm (v. t.) Fig.: To cover completely, as if with water; to immerse; to overcome; as, to whelm one in sorrows.
Whelm (v. t.) To cover with water or other fluid; to cover by immersion in something that envelops on all sides; to overwhelm; to ingulf.
Whelp (n.) One of the longitudinal ribs or ridges on the barrel of a capstan or a windless; -- usually in the plural; as, the whelps of a windlass.
When (adv.) At what time; at, during, or after the time that; at or just after, the moment that; -- used relatively.
Whence (adv.) From what or which place, source, material, cause, etc.; the place, source, etc., from which; -- used relatively.
Whence (adv.) From what place; hence, from what or which source, origin, antecedent, premise, or the like; how; -- used interrogatively.
Where (adv.) At or in what place; hence, in what situation, position, or circumstances; -- used interrogatively.
Where (adv.) At or in which place; at the place in which; hence, in the case or instance in which; -- used relatively.
Where (adv.) To what or which place; hence, to what goal, result, or issue; whither; -- used interrogatively and relatively; as, where are you going?
Whereabouts (adv.) About where; near what or which place; -- used interrogatively and relatively; as, whereabouts did you meet him?
Whereas (conj.) Considering that; it being the case that; since; -- used to introduce a preamble which is the basis of declarations, affirmations, commands, requests, or like, that follow.
Wherry (n.) A liquor made from the pulp of crab apples after the verjuice is expressed; -- sometimes called crab wherry.
Wherry (n.) A long, narrow, light boat, sharp at both ends, for fast rowing or sailing; esp., a racing boat rowed by one person with sculls.
Wherry (n.) A passenger barge or lighter plying on rivers; also, a kind of light, half-decked vessel used in fishing.
Whet (v. t.) To make sharp, keen, or eager; to excite; to stimulate; as, to whet the appetite or the courage.
Whet (v. t.) To rub or on with some substance, as a piece of stone, for the purpose of sharpening; to sharpen by attrition; as, to whet a knife.
Whetstone (n.) A piece of stone, natural or artificial, used for whetting, or sharpening, edge tools.
Whey (n.) The serum, or watery part, of milk, separated from the more thick or coagulable part, esp. in the process of making cheese.
Which (pron.) A compound relative or indefinite pronoun, standing for any one which, whichever, that which, those which, the . . . which, and the like; as, take which you will.
Whichsoever (pron. & a.) Whether one or another; whether one or the other; which; that one (of two or more) which; as, whichever road you take, it will lead you to town.
Whiff (n.) A sudden expulsion of air from the mouth; a quick puff or slight gust, as of air or smoke.
Whiffle (v. i.) To change from one opinion or course to another; to use evasions; to prevaricate; to be fickle.
Whiffler (n.) An officer who went before procession to clear the way by blowing a horn, or otherwise; hence, any person who marched at the head of a procession; a harbinger.
Whiffler (n.) One who whiffles, or frequently changes his opinion or course; one who uses shifts and evasions in argument; hence, a trifler.
Whig (n.) Acidulated whey, sometimes mixed with buttermilk and sweet herbs, used as a cooling beverage.
Whig (n.) One of the political party in the United States from about 1829 to 1856, opposed in politics to the Democratic party.
Whiggish (a.) Of or pertaining to Whigs; partaking of, or characterized by, the principles of Whigs.
While (conj.) During the time that; as long as; whilst; at the same time that; as, while I write, you sleep.
While (n.) Space of time, or continued duration, esp. when short; a time; as, one while we thought him innocent.
While (v. t.) To cause to pass away pleasantly or without irksomeness or disgust; to spend or pass; -- usually followed by away.
Whim (n.) A large capstan or vertical drum turned by horse power or steam power, for raising ore or water, etc., from mines, or for other purposes; -- called also whim gin, and whimsey.
Whim (n.) A sudden turn or start of the mind; a temporary eccentricity; a freak; a fancy; a capricious notion; a humor; a caprice.
Whimbrel (n.) Any one of several species of small curlews, especially the European species (Numenius phaeopus), called also Jack curlew, half curlew, stone curlew, and tang whaup. See Illustration in Appendix.
Whimper (v. i.) To cry with a low, whining, broken voice; to whine; to complain; as, a child whimpers.
Whimsical (a.) Full of, or characterized by, whims; actuated by a whim; having peculiar notions; queer; strange; freakish.
Whinberry (n.) The English bilberry; -- so called because it grows on moors among the whins, or furze.
Whinchat (n.) A small warbler (Pratincola rubetra) common in Europe; -- called also whinchacker, whincheck, whin-clocharet.
Whine (n.) A plaintive tone; the nasal, childish tone of mean complaint; mean or affected complaint.
Whine (v. i.) To utter a plaintive cry, as some animals; to moan with a childish noise; to complain, or to tell of sorrow, distress, or the like, in a plaintive, nasal tone; hence, to complain or to beg in a mean, unmanly way; to moan basely.
Whine (v. t.) To utter or express plaintively, or in a mean, unmanly way; as, to whine out an excuse.
Whip (v. i.) To move nimbly; to start or turn suddenly and do something; to whisk; as, he whipped around the corner.
Whip (v. t.) A call made upon members of a Parliament party to be in their places at a given time, as when a vote is to be taken.
Whip (v. t.) A person (as a member of Parliament) appointed to enforce party discipline, and secure the attendance of the members of a Parliament party at any important session, especially when their votes are needed.
Whip (v. t.) An instrument or driving horses or other animals, or for correction, consisting usually of a lash attached to a handle, or of a handle and lash so combined as to form a flexible rod.
Whip (v. t.) To apply that which hurts keenly to; to lash, as with sarcasm, abuse, or the like; to apply cutting language to.
Whip (v. t.) To drive with lashes or strokes of a whip; to cause to rotate by lashing with a cord; as, to whip a top.
Whip (v. t.) To fish (a body of water) with a rod and artificial fly, the motion being that employed in using a whip.
Whip (v. t.) To overlay (a cord, rope, or the like) with other cords going round and round it; to overcast, as the edge of a seam; to wrap; -- often with about, around, or over.
Whip (v. t.) To punish with a whip, scourge, or rod; to flog; to beat; as, to whip a vagrant; to whip one with thirty nine lashes; to whip a perverse boy.
Whip (v. t.) To secure the end of (a rope, or the like) from untwisting by overcasting it with small stuff.
Whip (v. t.) To sew lightly; specifically, to form (a fabric) into gathers by loosely overcasting the rolled edge and drawing up the thread; as, to whip a ruffle.
Whip (v. t.) To strike with a lash, a cord, a rod, or anything slender and lithe; to lash; to beat; as, to whip a horse, or a carpet.
Whip (v. t.) To take or move by a sudden motion; to jerk; to snatch; -- with into, out, up, off, and the like.
Whip-poor-will (n.) An American bird (Antrostomus vociferus) allied to the nighthawk and goatsucker; -- so called in imitation of the peculiar notes which it utters in the evening.
Whip-shaped (a.) Shaped like the lash of a whip; long, slender, round, and tapering; as, a whip-shaped root or stem.
Whip-tom-kelly (n.) A vireo (Vireo altiloquus) native of the West Indies and Florida; -- called also black-whiskered vireo.
Whipgraft (v. t.) To graft by cutting the scion and stock in a certain manner. See Whip grafting, under Grafting.
Whiplash (n.) The lash of a whip, -- usually made of thongs of leather, or of cords, braided or twisted.
Whipparee (n.) A large sting ray (Dasybatis, / Trygon, Sayi) native of the Southern United States. It is destitute of large spines on the body and tail.
Whipparee (n.) A large sting ray (Rhinoptera bonasus, or R. quadriloba) of the Atlantic coast of the United States. Its snout appears to be four-lobed when viewed in front, whence it is also called cow-nosed ray.
Whipperin (n.) A huntsman who keeps the hounds from wandering, and whips them in, if necessary, to the of chase.
Whipperin (n.) Hence, one who enforces the discipline of a party, and urges the attendance and support of the members on all necessary occasions.
Whippletree (n.) The pivoted or swinging bar to which the traces, or tugs, of a harness are fastened, and by which a carriage, a plow, or other implement or vehicle, is drawn; a whiffletree; a swingletree; a singletree. See Singletree.
Whipsaw (n.) A saw for dividing timber lengthwise, usually set in a frame, and worked by two persons; also, a fret saw.
Whipworm (n.) A nematode worm (Trichocephalus dispar) often found parasitic in the human intestine. Its body is thickened posteriorly, but is very long and threadlike anteriorly.
Whir (n.) A buzzing or whizzing sound produced by rapid or whirling motion; as, the whir of a partridge; the whir of a spinning wheel.
Whir (v. i.) To whirl round, or revolve, with a whizzing noise; to fly or more quickly with a buzzing or whizzing sound; to whiz.
Whirl (v. i.) To be turned round rapidly; to move round with velocity; to revolve or rotate with great speed; to gyrate.
Whirl (v. t.) A revolving hook used in twisting, as the hooked spindle of a rope machine, to which the threads to be twisted are attached.
Whirl (v. t.) A turning with rapidity or velocity; rapid rotation or circumvolution; quick gyration; rapid or confusing motion; as, the whirl of a top; the whirl of a wheel.
Whirlbat (n.) Anything moved with a whirl, as preparatory for a blow, or to augment the force of it; -- applied by poets to the cestus of ancient boxers.
Whirligig (n.) A mediaeval instrument for punishing petty offenders, being a kind of wooden cage turning on a pivot, in which the offender was whirled round with great velocity.
Whirligig (n.) Anything which whirls around, or in which persons or things are whirled about, as a frame with seats or wooden horses.
Whirlwind (n.) A violent windstorm of limited extent, as the tornado, characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with an upward current in the center; a vortex of air. It usually has a rapid progressive motion.
Whisk (n.) A small bunch of grass, straw, twigs, hair, or the like, used for a brush; hence, a brush or small besom, as of broom corn.
Whisk (n.) A small culinary instrument made of wire, or the like, for whisking or beating eggs, cream, etc.
Whisk (n.) The act of whisking; a rapid, sweeping motion, as of something light; a sudden motion or quick puff.
Whisk (n.) To sweep, brush, or agitate, with a light, rapid motion; as, to whisk dust from a table; to whisk the white of eggs into a froth.
Whisker (n.) Iron rods extending on either side of the bowsprit, to spread, or guy out, the stays, etc.
Whisker (n.) One of the long, projecting hairs growing at the sides of the mouth of a cat, or other animal.
Whisker (n.) That part of the beard which grows upon the sides of the face, or upon the chin, or upon both; as, side whiskers; chin whiskers.
Whisper (n.) To speak with suspicion, or timorous caution; to converse in whispers, as in secret plotting.
Whisper (v. i.) To speak softly, or under the breath, so as to be heard only by one near at hand; to utter words without sonant breath; to talk without that vibration in the larynx which gives sonorous, or vocal, sound. See Whisper, n.
Whisper (v. t.) To utter in a low and nonvocal tone; to say under the breath; hence, to mention privately and confidentially, or in a whisper.
Whisperer (n.) A tattler; one who tells secrets; a conveyer of intelligence secretly; hence; a backbiter; one who slanders secretly.
Whistle (v. i.) To make a kind of musical sound, or series of sounds, by forcing the breath through a small orifice formed by contracting the lips; also, to emit a similar sound, or series of notes, from the mouth or beak, as birds.
Whistle (v. i.) To make a shrill sound with a wind or steam instrument, somewhat like that made with the lips; to blow a sharp, shrill tone.
Whistle (v. i.) To sound shrill, or like a pipe; to make a sharp, shrill sound; as, a bullet whistles through the air.
Whistlefish (n.) A gossat, or rockling; -- called also whistler, three-bearded rockling, sea loach, and sorghe.
Whit (n.) The smallest part or particle imaginable; a bit; a jot; an iota; -- generally used in an adverbial phrase in a negative sentence.
White (n.) Any one of numerous species of butterflies belonging to Pieris, and allied genera in which the color is usually white. See Cabbage butterfly, under Cabbage.
White (n.) Something having the color of snow; something white, or nearly so; as, the white of the eye.
White (n.) Specifically, the central part of the butt in archery, which was formerly painted white; the center of a mark at which a missile is shot.
White (n.) The color of pure snow; one of the natural colors of bodies, yet not strictly a color, but a composition of all colors; the opposite of black; whiteness. See the Note under Color, n., 1.
White (superl.) Characterized by freedom from that which disturbs, and the like; fortunate; happy; favorable.
White (superl.) Destitute of color, as in the cheeks, or of the tinge of blood color; pale; pallid; as, white with fear.
White (superl.) Having the color of purity; free from spot or blemish, or from guilt or pollution; innocent; pure.
White (superl.) Reflecting to the eye all the rays of the spectrum combined; not tinted with any of the proper colors or their mixtures; having the color of pure snow; snowy; -- the opposite of black or dark; as, white paper; a white skin.
White friar () A mendicant monk of the Carmelite order, so called from the white cloaks worn by the order. See Carmelite.
White-face (n.) A white mark in the forehead of a horse, descending almost to the nose; -- called also white-blaze.
Whitebait (n.) A small translucent fish (Salanx Chinensis) abundant at certain seasons on the coasts of China and Japan, and used in the same manner as the European whitebait.
Whitebait (n.) The young of several species of herrings, especially of the common herring, esteemed a great delicacy by epicures in England.
Whitebeam (n.) The common beam tree of England (Pyrus Aria); -- so called from the white, woolly under surface of the leaves.
Whiteboy (a.) One of an association of poor Roman catholics which arose in Ireland about 1760, ostensibly to resist the collection of tithes, the members of which were so called from the white shirts they wore in their nocturnal raids.
Whiten (v. i.) To grow white; to turn or become white or whiter; as, the hair whitens with age; the sea whitens with foam; the trees in spring whiten with blossoms.
Whiten (v. t.) To make white; to bleach; to blanch; to whitewash; as, to whiten a wall; to whiten cloth.
Whiteness (n.) The quality or state of being white; white color, or freedom from darkness or obscurity on the surface.
Whitesmith (n.) A worker in iron who finishes or polishes the work, in distinction from one who forges it.
Whitewash (n.) A composition of line and water, or of whiting size, and water, or the like, used for whitening walls, ceilings, etc.; milk of lime.
Whitewash (n.) Any wash or liquid composition for whitening something, as a wash for making the skin fair.
Whitewash (v. t.) To make white; to give a fair external appearance to; to clear from imputations or disgrace; hence, to clear (a bankrupt) from obligation to pay debts.
Whiteweed (n.) A perennial composite herb (Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum) with conspicuous white rays and a yellow disk, a common weed in grass lands and pastures; -- called also oxeye daisy.
Whitewood (n.) The soft and easily-worked wood of the tulip tree (Liriodendron). It is much used in cabinetwork, carriage building, etc.
Whither (adv.) To what point, degree, end, conclusion, or design; whereunto; whereto; -- used in a sense not physical.
Whithersoever (adv.) To whatever place; to what place soever; wheresoever; as, I will go whithersoever you lead.
Whiting (n.) A common European food fish (Melangus vulgaris) of the Codfish family; -- called also fittin.
Whiting (n.) A North American fish (Merlucius vulgaris) allied to the preceding; -- called also silver hake.
Whiting (n.) Chalk prepared in an impalpable powder by pulverizing and repeated washing, used as a pigment, as an ingredient in putty, for cleaning silver, etc.
Whitleather (n.) Leather dressed or tawed with alum, salt, etc., remarkable for its pliability and toughness; white leather.
Whitlow (a.) An inflammatory disease of the feet. It occurs round the hoof, where an acrid matter is collected.
Whitsun (a.) Of, pertaining to, or observed at, Whitsuntide; as, Whitsun week; Whitsun Tuesday; Whitsun pastorals.
Whitsuntide (n.) The week commencing with Whitsunday, esp. the first three days -- Whitsunday, Whitsun Monday, and Whitsun Tuesday; the time of Pentecost.
Whitten tree () Either of two shrubs (Viburnum Lantana, and V. Opulus), so called on account of their whitish branches.
Whittle (n.) A grayish, coarse double blanket worn by countrywomen, in the west of England, over the shoulders, like a cloak or shawl.
Whittle (v. i.) To cut or shape a piece of wood with am small knife; to cut up a piece of wood with a knife.
Whittle (v. t.) To edge; to sharpen; to render eager or excited; esp., to excite with liquor; to inebriate.
Whittle (v. t.) To pare or cut off the surface of with a small knife; to cut or shape, as a piece of wood held in the hand, with a clasp knife or pocketknife.
Whitworth gun () A form of rifled cannon and small arms invented by Sir Joseph Whitworth, of Manchester, England.
Whiz (v. i.) To make a humming or hissing sound, like an arrow or ball flying through the air; to fly or move swiftly with a sharp hissing or whistling sound.
Whoever (pron.) Whatever person; any person who; be or she who; any one who; as, he shall be punished, whoever he may be.
Whole (a.) Complete; entire; not defective or imperfect; not broken or fractured; unimpaired; uninjured; integral; as, a whole orange; the egg is whole; the vessel is whole.
Whole (a.) Containing the total amount, number, etc.; comprising all the parts; free from deficiency; all; total; entire; as, the whole earth; the whole solar system; the whole army; the whole nation.
Whole (n.) The entire thing; the entire assemblage of parts; totality; all of a thing, without defect or exception; a thing complete in itself.
Wholeness (n.) The quality or state of being whole, entire, or sound; entireness; totality; completeness.
Wholesale (a.) Pertaining to, or engaged in, trade by the piece or large quantity; selling to retailers or jobbers rather than to consumers; as, a wholesale merchant; the wholesale price.
Wholesome (superl.) Contributing to the health of the mind; favorable to morals, religion, or prosperity; conducive to good; salutary; sound; as, wholesome advice; wholesome doctrines; wholesome truths; wholesome laws.
Whoop (n.) A shout of pursuit or of war; a very of eagerness, enthusiasm, enjoyment, vengeance, terror, or the like; an halloo; a hoot, or cry, as of an owl.
Whoop (v. i.) To utter a whoop, or loud cry, as eagerness, enthusiasm, or enjoyment; to cry out; to shout; to halloo; to utter a war whoop; to hoot, as an owl.
Whop (v. i.) To throw one's self quickly, or by an abrupt motion; to turn suddenly; as, she whapped down on the floor; the fish whapped over.
Whopper (n.) Something uncommonly large of the kind; something astonishing; -- applied especially to a bold lie.
Whore (n.) A woman who practices unlawful sexual commerce with men, especially one who prostitutes her body for hire; a prostitute; a harlot.
Whoreson (n.) A bastard; colloquially, a low, scurvy fellow; -- used generally in contempt, or in coarse humor. Also used adjectively.
Whorish (a.) Resembling a whore in character or conduct; addicted to unlawful pleasures; incontinent; lewd; unchaste.
Whorl (n. & v.) A circle of two or more leaves, flowers, or other organs, about the same part or joint of a stem.
Whorled (a.) Furnished with whorls; arranged in the form of a whorl or whorls; verticillate; as, whorled leaves.
Whortleberry (n.) In England, the fruit of Vaccinium Myrtillus; also, the plant itself. See Bilberry, 1.
Whortleberry (n.) The fruit of several shrubby plants of the genus Gaylussacia; also, any one of these plants. See Huckleberry.
Whur (n.) A humming or whirring sound, like that of a body moving through the air with velocity; a whir.
Whur (v. i.) To make a rough, humming sound, like one who pronounces the letter r with too much force; to whir; to birr.
Why (adv.) For what cause, reason, or purpose; on what account; wherefore; -- used interrogatively. See the Note under What, pron., 1.
Why (adv.) The reason or cause for which; that on account of which; on what account; as, I know not why he left town so suddenly; -- used as a compound relative.
Why-not (n.) A violent and peremptory procedure without any assigned reason; a sudden conclusive happening.
Wich (n.) A narrow port or passage in the rink or course, flanked by the stones of previous players.
Wich (n.) A street; a village; a castle; a dwelling; a place of work, or exercise of authority; -- now obsolete except in composition; as, bailiwick, Warwick, Greenwick.
Wichitas (n. pl.) A tribe of Indians native of the region between the Arkansas and Red rivers. They are related to the Pawnees. See Pawnees.
Wicked (a.) Evil in principle or practice; deviating from morality; contrary to the moral or divine law; addicted to vice or sin; sinful; immoral; profligate; -- said of persons and things; as, a wicked king; a wicked woman; a wicked deed; wicked designs.
Wickedly (adv.) In a wicked manner; in a manner, or with motives and designs, contrary to the divine law or the law of morality; viciously; corruptly; immorally.
Wickedness (n.) The quality or state of being wicked; departure from the rules of the divine or the moral law; evil disposition or practices; immorality; depravity; sinfulness.
Wicket (n.) A small framework at which the ball is bowled. It consists of three rods, or stumps, set vertically in the ground, with one or two short rods, called bails, lying horizontally across the top.
Wicket (n.) A small gate by which the chamber of canal locks is emptied, or by which the amount of water passing to a water wheel is regulated.
Wicket (n.) A small gate or door, especially one forming part of, or placed near, a larger door or gate; a narrow opening or entrance cut in or beside a door or gate, or the door which is used to close such entrance or aperture. Piers Plowman.
Wicking (n.) the material of which wicks are made; esp., a loosely braided or twisted cord or tape of cotton.
Wide (adv.) To a distance; far; widely; to a great distance or extent; as, his fame was spread wide.
Wide (superl.) Having a great extent every way; extended; spacious; broad; vast; extensive; as, a wide plain; the wide ocean; a wide difference.
Wide (superl.) Having considerable distance or extent between the sides; spacious across; much extended in a direction at right angles to that of length; not narrow; broad; as, wide cloth; a wide table; a wide highway; a wide bed; a wide hall or entry.
Wide (superl.) Of a certain measure between the sides; measuring in a direction at right angles to that of length; as, a table three feet wide.
Wide (superl.) On one side or the other of the mark; too far side-wise from the mark, the wicket, the batsman, etc.
Widely (adv.) In a wide manner; to a wide degree or extent; far; extensively; as, the gospel was widely disseminated by the apostles.
Widen (v. t.) To make wide or wider; to extend in breadth; to increase the width of; as, to widen a field; to widen a breach; to widen a stocking.
Wideness (n.) Large extent in all directions; broadness; greatness; as, the wideness of the sea or ocean.
Wideness (n.) The quality or state of being wide; breadth; width; great extent from side to side; as, the wideness of a room.
Widespread (a.) Spread to a great distance; widely extended; extending far and wide; as, widespread wings; a widespread movement.
Widmanstatten figures () Certain figures appearing on etched meteoric iron; -- so called after A. B. Widmanstatten, of Vienna, who first described them in 1808. See the Note and Illust. under Meteorite.
Widow (n.) A woman who has lost her husband by death, and has not married again; one living bereaved of a husband.
Widow (v. t.) To deprive of one who is loved; to strip of anything beloved or highly esteemed; to make desolate or bare; to bereave.
Widow (v. t.) To reduce to the condition of a widow; to bereave of a husband; -- rarely used except in the past participle.
Widowhood (n.) The state of being a widow; the time during which a woman is widow; also, rarely, the state of being a widower.
Width (n.) The quality of being wide; extent from side to side; breadth; wideness; as, the width of cloth; the width of a door.
Wield (v. t.) To use with full command or power, as a thing not too heavy for the holder; to manage; to handle; hence, to use or employ; as, to wield a sword; to wield the scepter.
Wife (n.) A woman; an adult female; -- now used in literature only in certain compounds and phrases, as alewife, fishwife, goodwife, and the like.
Wife (n.) The lawful consort of a man; a woman who is united to a man in wedlock; a woman who has a husband; a married woman; -- correlative of husband.
Wigan (n.) A kind of canvaslike cotton fabric, used to stiffen and protect the lower part of trousers and of the skirts of women's dresses, etc.; -- so called from Wigan, the name of a town in Lancashire, England.
Wiggle (v. t.) To move to and fro with a quick, jerking motion; to bend rapidly, or with a wavering motion, from side to side; to wag; to squirm; to wriggle; as, the dog wiggles his tail; the tadpole wiggles in the water.
Wight (n.) A human being; a person, either male or female; -- now used chiefly in irony or burlesque, or in humorous language.
Wigwag (v. t.) To signal by means of a flag waved from side to side according to a code adopted for the purpose.
Wigwam (n.) An Indian cabin or hut, usually of a conical form, and made of a framework of poles covered with hides, bark, or mats; -- called also tepee.
Wike (n.) A temporary mark or boundary, as a bough of a tree set up in marking out or dividing anything, as tithes, swaths to be mowed in common ground, etc.; -- called also wicker.
Wild (n.) An uninhabited and uncultivated tract or region; a forest or desert; a wilderness; a waste; as, the wilds of America; the wilds of Africa.
Wild (superl.) Living in a state of nature; inhabiting natural haunts, as the forest or open field; not familiar with, or not easily approached by, man; not tamed or domesticated; as, a wild boar; a wild ox; a wild cat.
Wild (superl.) Not submitted to restraint, training, or regulation; turbulent; tempestuous; violent; ungoverned; licentious; inordinate; disorderly; irregular; fanciful; imaginary; visionary; crazy.
Wild (superl.) Savage; uncivilized; not refined by culture; ferocious; rude; as, wild natives of Africa or America.
Wild-cat (a.) Running without control; running along the line without a train; as, a wild-cat locomotive.
Wild-cat (a.) Unsound; worthless; irresponsible; unsafe; -- said to have been originally applied to the notes of an insolvent bank in Michigan upon which there was the figure of a panther.
Wildering (n.) A plant growing in a state of nature; especially, one which has run wild, or escaped from cultivation.
Wilderness (v. t.) A tract of land, or a region, uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings, whether a forest or a wide, barren plain; a wild; a waste; a desert; a pathless waste of any kind.
Wildfire (n.) A composition of inflammable materials, which, kindled, is very hard to quench; Greek fire.
Wilding (n.) A wild or uncultivated plant; especially, a wild apple tree or crab apple; also, the fruit of such a plant.
Wildly (adv.) In a wild manner; without cultivation; with disorder; rudely; distractedly; extravagantly.
Wildness (n.) The quality or state of being wild; an uncultivated or untamed state; disposition to rove or go unrestrained; rudeness; savageness; irregularity; distraction.
Wildwood (n.) A wild or unfrequented wood. Also used adjectively; as, wildwood flowers; wildwood echoes.
Wile (n.) A trick or stratagem practiced for insnaring or deception; a sly, insidious; artifice; a beguilement; an allurement.
Wile (v. t.) To draw or turn away, as by diversion; to while or while away; to cause to pass pleasantly.
Will (n.) To enjoin or command, as that which is determined by an act of volition; to direct; to order.
Will (n.) To give or direct the disposal of by testament; to bequeath; to devise; as, to will one's estate to a child; also, to order or direct by testament; as, he willed that his nephew should have his watch.
Will (v.) The choice or determination of one who has authority; a decree; a command; discretionary pleasure.
Will (v.) The choice which is made; a determination or preference which results from the act or exercise of the power of choice; a volition.
Will (v.) The power of choosing; the faculty or endowment of the soul by which it is capable of choosing; the faculty or power of the mind by which we decide to do or not to do; the power or faculty of preferring or selecting one of two or more objects.
Willemite (n.) A silicate of zinc, usually occurring massive and of a greenish yellow color, also in reddish crystals (troostite) containing manganese.
Willet (n.) A large North American snipe (Symphemia semipalmata); -- called also pill-willet, will-willet, semipalmated tattler, or snipe, duck snipe, and stone curlew.
Willful (a.) Governed by the will without yielding to reason; obstinate; perverse; inflexible; stubborn; refractory; as, a willful man or horse.
Willing (v. t.) Free to do or to grant; having the mind inclined; not opposed in mind; not choosing to refuse; disposed; not averse; desirous; consenting; complying; ready.
Willing (v. t.) Received of choice, or without reluctance; submitted to voluntarily; chosen; desired.
Willingness (n.) The quality or state of being willing; free choice or consent of the will; freedom from reluctance; readiness of the mind to do or forbear.
Willow (v. t.) To open and cleanse, as cotton, flax, or wool, by means of a willow. See Willow, n., 2.
Willow-herb (n.) A perennial herb (Epilobium spicatum) with narrow willowlike leaves and showy rose-purple flowers. The name is sometimes made to include other species of the same genus.
Wilt (v. i.) To begin to wither; to lose freshness and become flaccid, as a plant when exposed when exposed to drought, or to great heat in a dry day, or when separated from its root; to droop;. to wither.
Wilton carpet () A kind of carpet woven with loops like the Brussels, but differing from it in having the loops cut so as to form an elastic velvet pile; -- so called because made originally at Wilton, England.
Wily (superl.) Full of wiles, tricks, or stratagems; using craft or stratagem to accomplish a purpose; mischievously artful; subtle.
Wimple (n.) A covering of silk, linen, or other material, for the neck and chin, formerly worn by women as an outdoor protection, and still retained in the dress of nuns.
Wimple (v. i.) To lie in folds; also, to appear as if laid in folds or plaits; to ripple; to undulate.
Wimple (v. t.) To cause to appear as if laid in folds or plaits; to cause to ripple or undulate; as, the wind wimples the surface of water.
Win (a.) To allure to kindness; to bring to compliance; to gain or obtain, as by solicitation or courtship.
Win (a.) To gain by superiority in competition or contest; to obtain by victory over competitors or rivals; as, to win the prize in a gate; to win money; to win a battle, or to win a country.
Win (a.) To gain over to one's side or party; to obtain the favor, friendship, or support of; to render friendly or approving; as, to win an enemy; to win a jury.
Wince (n.) A reel used in dyeing, steeping, or washing cloth; a winch. It is placed over the division wall between two wince pits so as to allow the cloth to descend into either compartment. at will.
Winch (n.) An axle or drum turned by a crank with a handle, or by power, for raising weights, as from the hold of a ship, from mines, etc.; a windlass.
Wincopipe (n.) A little red flower, no doubt the pimpernel, which, when it opens in the morning, is supposed to bode a fair day. See Pimpernel.
Wind (n.) A direction from which the wind may blow; a point of the compass; especially, one of the cardinal points, which are often called the four winds.
Wind (n.) A disease of sheep, in which the intestines are distended with air, or rather affected with a violent inflammation. It occurs immediately after shearing.
Wind (n.) Air artificially put in motion by any force or action; as, the wind of a cannon ball; the wind of a bellows.
Wind (v. i.) To go to the one side or the other; to move this way and that; to double on one's course; as, a hare pursued turns and winds.
Wind (v. i.) To have a circular course or direction; to crook; to bend; to meander; as, to wind in and out among trees.
Wind (v. i.) To turn completely or repeatedly; to become coiled about anything; to assume a convolved or spiral form; as, vines wind round a pole.
Wind (v. t.) To blow; to sound by blowing; esp., to sound with prolonged and mutually involved notes.
Wind (v. t.) To drive hard, or force to violent exertion, as a horse, so as to render scant of wind; to put out of breath.
Wind (v. t.) To have complete control over; to turn and bend at one's pleasure; to vary or alter or will; to regulate; to govern.
Wind (v. t.) To turn completely, or with repeated turns; especially, to turn about something fixed; to cause to form convolutions about anything; to coil; to twine; to twist; to wreathe; as, to wind thread on a spool or into a ball.
Wind-rode (a.) Caused to ride or drive by the wind in opposition to the course of the tide; -- said of a vessel lying at anchor, with wind and tide opposed to each other.
Wind-sucking (n.) A vicious habit of a horse, consisting in the swallowing of air; -- usually associated with crib-biting, or cribbing. See Cribbing, 4.
Windage (n.) The difference between the diameter of the bore of a gun and that of the shot fired from it.
Windage (n.) The sudden compression of the air caused by a projectile in passing close to another body.
Winder (n.) An apparatus used for winding silk, cotton, etc., on spools, bobbins, reels, or the like.
Winder (n.) One in a flight of steps which are curved in plan, so that each tread is broader at one end than at the other; -- distinguished from flyer.
Windfall (n.) Anything blown down or off by the wind, as fruit from a tree, or the tree itself, or a portion of a forest prostrated by a violent wind, etc.
Windflower (n.) The anemone; -- so called because formerly supposed to open only when the wind was blowing. See Anemone.
Windgall (n.) A soft tumor or synovial swelling on the fetlock joint of a horse; -- so called from having formerly been supposed to contain air.
Windiness (n.) Tendency to generate wind or gas; tendency to produce flatulence; as, the windiness of vegetables.
Windiness (n.) The quality or state of being windy or tempestuous; as, the windiness of the weather or the season.
Winding (n.) A line- or ribbon-shaped material (as wire, string, or bandaging) wound around an object; as, the windings (conducting wires) wound around the armature of an electric motor or generator.
Winding (n.) A turn or turning; a bend; a curve; flexure; meander; as, the windings of a road or stream.
Windlass (n.) An apparatus resembling a winch or windlass, for bending the bow of an arblast, or crossbow.
Windmill (n.) A mill operated by the power of the wind, usually by the action of the wind upon oblique vanes or sails which radiate from a horizontal shaft.
Window (n.) An opening in the wall of a building for the admission of light and air, usually closed by casements or sashes containing some transparent material, as glass, and capable of being opened and shut at pleasure.
Window (n.) The shutter, casement, sash with its fittings, or other framework, which closes a window opening.
Windowpane (n.) A thin, spotted American turbot (Pleuronectes maculatus) remarkable for its translucency. It is not valued as a food fish. Called also spotted turbot, daylight, spotted sand flounder, and water flounder.
Windpipe (n.) The passage for the breath from the larynx to the lungs; the trachea; the weasand. See Illust. under Lung.
Windrow (n.) A row or line of hay raked together for the purpose of being rolled into cocks or heaps.
Windrow (n.) Sheaves of grain set up in a row, one against another, that the wind may blow between them.
Windrow (n.) The green border of a field, dug up in order to carry the earth on other land to mend it.
Windward (n.) The point or side from which the wind blows; as, to ply to the windward; -- opposed to leeward.
Wine (n.) A liquor or beverage prepared from the juice of any fruit or plant by a process similar to that for grape wine; as, currant wine; gooseberry wine; palm wine.
Wine (n.) The expressed juice of grapes, esp. when fermented; a beverage or liquor prepared from grapes by squeezing out their juice, and (usually) allowing it to ferment.
Wineberry (n.) A peculiar New Zealand shrub (Coriaria ruscifolia), in which the petals ripen and afford an abundant purple juice from which a kind of wine is made. The plant also grows in Chili.
Wineglassful () As much as a wineglass will hold; enough to fill a wineglass. It is usually reckoned at two fluid ounces, or four tablespoonfuls.
Wing (n.) Any membranaceous expansion, as that along the sides of certain stems, or of a fruit of the kind called samara.
Wing (n.) Anything which agitates the air as a wing does, or which is put in winglike motion by the action of the air, as a fan or vane for winnowing grain, the vane or sail of a windmill, etc.
Wing (n.) One of the broad, thin, anterior lobes of the foot of a pteropod, used as an organ in swimming.
Wing (n.) One of the two pairs of upper thoracic appendages of most hexapod insects. They are broad, fanlike organs formed of a double membrane and strengthened by chitinous veins or nervures.
Wing (n.) That part of the hold or orlop of a vessel which is nearest the sides. In a fleet, one of the extremities when the ships are drawn up in line, or when forming the two sides of a triangle.
Wing (v. t.) To cut off the wings of; to wound in the wing; to disable a wing of; as, to wing a bird.
Wing-footed (a.) Having the anterior lobes of the foot so modified as to form a pair of winglike swimming organs; -- said of the pteropod mollusks.
Wing-footed (a.) Having wings attached to the feet; as, wing-footed Mercury; hence, swift; moving with rapidity; fleet.
Wing-handed (a.) Having the anterior limbs or hands adapted for flight, as the bats and pterodactyls.
Wing-shell (n.) Any one of various species of marine bivalve shells belonging to the genus Avicula, in which the hinge border projects like a wing.
Winged (a.) Furnished with a leaflike appendage, as the fruit of the elm and the ash, or the stem in certain plants; alate.
Winger (n.) One of the casks stowed in the wings of a vessel's hold, being smaller than such as are stowed more amidships.
Wink (n.) The act of closing, or closing and opening, the eyelids quickly; hence, the time necessary for such an act; a moment.
Wink (v. i.) To avoid taking notice, as if by shutting the eyes; to connive at anything; to be tolerant; -- generally with at.
Winkle (n.) Any one of various marine spiral gastropods, esp., in the United States, either of two species of Fulgar (F. canaliculata, and F. carica).
Winnebagoes (n.) A tribe of North American Indians who originally occupied the region about Green Bay, Lake Michigan, but were driven back from the lake and nearly exterminated in 1640 by the IIlinnois.
Winnew (n.) To separate, and drive off, the chaff from by means of wind; to fan; as, to winnow grain.
Winnew (n.) To sift, as for the purpose of separating falsehood from truth; to separate, as had from good.
Winning (n.) The money, etc., gained by success in competition or contest, esp, in gambling; -- usually in the plural.
Winter (n.) The season of the year in which the sun shines most obliquely upon any region; the coldest season of the year.
Winter-ground (v. t.) To coved over in the season of winter, as for protection or shelter; as, to winter-ground the roods of a plant.
Winter's bark () The aromatic bark of tree (Drimys, / Drymis, Winteri) of the Magnolia family, which is found in Southern Chili. It was first used as a cure for scurvy by its discoverer, Captain John Winter, vice admiral to sir Francis Drake, in 1577.
Winterkill (v. t.) To kill by the cold, or exposure to the inclemency of winter; as, the wheat was winterkilled.
Wintry (a.) Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery.
Wipe (v. t.) To remove by rubbing; to rub off; to obliterate; -- usually followed by away, off or out. Also used figuratively.
Wipe (v. t.) To rub with something soft for cleaning; to clean or dry by rubbing; as, to wipe the hands or face with a towel.
Wiper (n.) A piece generally projecting from a rotating or swinging piece, as an axle or rock shaft, for the purpose of raising stampers, lifting rods, or the like, and leaving them to fall by their own weight; a kind of cam.
Wiper (n.) A rod, or an attachment for a rod, for holding a rag with which to wipe out the bore of the barrel.
Wire (n.) A thread or slender rod of metal; a metallic substance formed to an even thread by being passed between grooved rollers, or drawn through holes in a plate of steel.
Wire (v. t.) To bind with wire; to attach with wires; to apply wire to; as, to wire corks in bottling liquors.
Wire-puller (n.) One who pulls the wires, as of a puppet; hence, one who operates by secret means; an intriguer.
Wire-pulling (n.) The act of pulling the wires, as of a puppet; hence, secret influence or management, especially in politics; intrigue.
Wire-tailed (a.) Having some or all of the tail quills terminated in a long, slender, pointed shaft, without a web or barbules.
Wiredraw (v. t.) Hence, also, to draw or spin out to great length and tenuity; as, to wiredraw an argument.
Wiredraw (v. t.) To form (a piece of metal) into wire, by drawing it through a hole in a plate of steel.
Wiredraw (v. t.) To pass, or to draw off, (as steam) through narrow ports, or the like, thus reducing its pressure or force by friction.
Wireworm (n.) One of the larvae of various species of snapping beetles, or elaters; -- so called from their slenderness and the uncommon hardness of the integument. Wireworms are sometimes very destructive to the roots of plants. Called also wire grub.
Wis (v. t.) To think; to suppose; to imagine; -- used chiefly in the first person sing. present tense, I wis. See the Note under Ywis.
Wisdom (a.) The quality of being wise; knowledge, and the capacity to make due use of it; knowledge of the best ends and the best means; discernment and judgment; discretion; sagacity; skill; dexterity.
Wisdom (a.) The results of wise judgments; scientific or practical truth; acquired knowledge; erudition.
Wise (v.) Dictated or guided by wisdom; containing or exhibiting wisdom; well adapted to produce good effects; judicious; discreet; as, a wise saying; a wise scheme or plan; wise conduct or management; a wise determination.
Wise (v.) Hence, especially, making due use of knowledge; discerning and judging soundly concerning what is true or false, proper or improper; choosing the best ends and the best means for accomplishing them; sagacious.
Wiseacre (v.) One who makes undue pretensions to wisdom; a would-be-wise person; hence, in contempt, a simpleton; a dunce.
Wish (v. t.) To frame or express desires concerning; to invoke in favor of, or against, any one; to attribute, or cal down, in desire; to invoke; to imprecate.
Wishbone (n.) The forked bone in front of the breastbone in birds; -- called also merrythought, and wishing bone. See Merrythought, and Furculum.
Wishy-washy (a.) Thin and pale; weak; without strength or substance; -- originally said of liquids. Fig., weak-minded; spiritless.
Wistaria (n.) A genus of climbing leguminous plants bearing long, pendulous clusters of pale bluish flowers.
Wit (v.) A mental faculty, or power of the mind; -- used in this sense chiefly in the plural, and in certain phrases; as, to lose one's wits; at one's wits' end, and the like.
Wit (v.) A person of eminent sense or knowledge; a man of genius, fancy, or humor; one distinguished for bright or amusing sayings, for repartee, and the like.
Wit (v.) Felicitous association of objects not usually connected, so as to produce a pleasant surprise; also. the power of readily combining objects in such a manner.
Witch (n.) One who exercises more than common power of attraction; a charming or bewitching person; also, one given to mischief; -- said especially of a woman or child.
Witch-hazel (n.) An American shrub or small tree (Hamamelis Virginica), which blossoms late in autumn.
Witchcraft (n.) The practices or art of witches; sorcery; enchantments; intercourse with evil spirits.
Witenagemote (n.) A meeting of wise men; the national council, or legislature, of England in the days of the Anglo-Saxons, before the Norman Conquest.
With (prep.) To denote a close or direct relation of opposition or hostility; -- equivalent to against.
With (prep.) To denote a connection of friendship, support, alliance, assistance, countenance, etc.; hence, on the side of.
With (prep.) To denote association in respect of situation or environment; hence, among; in the company of.
With (prep.) To denote having as a possession or an appendage; as, the firmament with its stars; a bride with a large fortune.
With (prep.) To denote the accomplishment of cause, means, instrument, etc; -- sometimes equivalent to by.
With (prep.) With denotes or expresses some situation or relation of nearness, proximity, association, connection, or the like.
Withdraw (v. i.) To retire; to retreat; to quit a company or place; to go away; as, he withdrew from the company.
Withdraw (v. t.) To take back or away, as what has been bestowed or enjoyed; to draw back; to cause to move away or retire; as, to withdraw aid, favor, capital, or the like.
Withdrawing-room (n.) A room for retirement from another room, as from a dining room; a drawing-room.
Withe (n.) An iron attachment on one end of a mast or boom, with a ring, through which another mast or boom is rigged out and secured; a wythe.
Withe-rod (n.) A North American shrub (Viburnum nudum) whose tough osierlike shoots are sometimes used for binding sheaves.
Wither (v. t.) To cause to languish, perish, or pass away; to blight; as, a reputation withered by calumny.
Witherite (n.) Barium carbonate occurring in white or gray six-sided twin crystals, and also in columnar or granular masses.
Withers (prep.) The ridge between the shoulder bones of a horse, at the base of the neck. See Illust. of Horse.
Within (prep.) Hence, inside the limits, reach, or influence of; not going outside of; not beyond, overstepping, exceeding, or the like.
Within (prep.) In the limits or compass of; not further in length than; as, within five miles; not longer in time than; as, within an hour; not exceeding in quantity; as, expenses kept within one's income.
Without (prep.) Not with; otherwise than with; in absence of, separation from, or destitution of; not with use or employment of; independently of; exclusively of; with omission; as, without labor; without damage.
Withstand (prep.) To stand against; to oppose; to resist, either with physical or moral force; as, to withstand an attack of troops; to withstand eloquence or arguments.
Witily (adv.) In a witty manner; wisely; ingeniously; artfully; with it; with a delicate turn or phrase, or with an ingenious association of ideas.
Witless (a.) Destitute of wit or understanding; wanting thought; hence, indiscreet; not under the guidance of judgment.
Witness (v. i.) One who is cognizant; a person who beholds, or otherwise has personal knowledge of, anything; as, an eyewitness; an earwitness.
Witness (v. i.) One who sees the execution of an instrument, and subscribes it for the purpose of confirming its authenticity by his testimony; one who witnesses a will, a deed, a marriage, or the like.
Witness (v. i.) One who testifies in a cause, or gives evidence before a judicial tribunal; as, the witness in court agreed in all essential facts.
Witness (v. t.) To see the execution of, as an instrument, and subscribe it for the purpose of establishing its authenticity; as, to witness a bond or a deed.
Witticism (n.) A witty saying; a sentence or phrase which is affectedly witty; an attempt at wit; a conceit.
Wittol (n.) A man who knows his wife's infidelity and submits to it; a tame cuckold; -- so called because the cuckoo lays its eggs in the wittol's nest.
Witty (n.) Especially, possessing wit or humor; good at repartee; droll; facetious; sometimes, sarcastic; as, a witty remark, poem, and the like.
Wivern (n.) A fabulous two-legged, winged creature, like a cockatrice, but having the head of a dragon, and without spurs.
Woad (n.) A blue dyestuff, or coloring matter, consisting of the powdered and fermented leaves of the Isatis tinctoria. It is now superseded by indigo, but is somewhat used with indigo as a ferment in dyeing.
Woad (n.) An herbaceous cruciferous plant (Isatis tinctoria). It was formerly cultivated for the blue coloring matter derived from its leaves.
Woad-waxen (n.) A leguminous plant (Genista tinctoria) of Europe and Russian Asia, and adventitious in America; -- called also greenwood, greenweed, dyer's greenweed, and whin, wood-wash, wood-wax, and wood-waxen.
Woden (n.) A deity corresponding to Odin, the supreme deity of the Scandinavians. Wednesday is named for him. See Odin.
Woful (a.) Full of woe; sorrowful; distressed with grief or calamity; afflicted; wretched; unhappy; sad.
Wolf (a.) Fig.: Any very ravenous, rapacious, or destructive person or thing; especially, want; starvation; as, they toiled hard to keep the wolf from the door.
Wolf (a.) In bowed instruments, a harshness due to defective vibration in certain notes of the scale.
Wolf (a.) One of the destructive, and usually hairy, larvae of several species of beetles and grain moths; as, the bee wolf.
Wolf (a.) The harsh, howling sound of some of the chords on an organ or piano tuned by unequal temperament.
Wolffian (a.) Discovered, or first described, by Caspar Friedrich Wolff (1733-1794), the founder of modern embryology.
Wolfish (a.) Like a wolf; having the qualities or form of a wolf; as, a wolfish visage; wolfish designs.
Wolframite (n.) Tungstate of iron and manganese, generally of a brownish or grayish black color, submetallic luster, and high specific gravity. It occurs in cleavable masses, and also crystallized. Called also wolfram.
Wolfsbane (n.) A poisonous plant (Aconitum Lycoctonum), a kind of monkshood; also, by extension, any plant or species of the genus Aconitum. See Aconite.
Wollastonite (n.) A silicate of lime of a white to gray, red, or yellow color, occurring generally in cleavable masses, rarely in tabular crystals; tabular spar.
Woman (n.) An adult female person; a grown-up female person, as distinguished from a man or a child; sometimes, any female person.
Womanhood (n.) The state of being a woman; the distinguishing character or qualities of a woman, or of womankind.
Womanish (a.) Suitable to a woman, having the qualities of a woman; effeminate; not becoming a man; -- usually in a reproachful sense. See the Note under Effeminate.
Wombat (n.) Any one of three species of Australian burrowing marsupials of the genus Phascolomys, especially the common species (P. ursinus). They are nocturnal in their habits, and feed mostly on roots.
Wonder (n.) That emotion which is excited by novelty, or the presentation to the sight or mind of something new, unusual, strange, great, extraordinary, or not well understood; surprise; astonishment; admiration; amazement.
Wonder (v. i.) To be affected with surprise or admiration; to be struck with astonishment; to be amazed; to marvel.
Wonder (v. i.) To feel doubt and curiosity; to wait with uncertain expectation; to query in the mind; as, he wondered why they came.
Wondrous (a.) Wonderful; astonishing; admirable; marvelous; such as excite surprise and astonishment; strange.
Wood (n.) A large and thick collection of trees; a forest or grove; -- frequently used in the plural.
Wood (n.) The substance of trees and the like; the hard fibrous substance which composes the body of a tree and its branches, and which is covered by the bark; timber.
Wood (v. t.) To supply with wood, or get supplies of wood for; as, to wood a steamboat or a locomotive.
Wood-layer (n.) A young oak, or other timber plant, laid down in a hedge among the whitethorn or other plants used in hedges.
Wood's metal () A fusible alloy consisting of one or two parts of cadmium, two parts of tin, four of lead, with seven or eight part of bismuth. It melts at from 66? to 71? C. See Fusible metal, under Fusible.
Woodbine (v. t.) A climbing plant having flowers of great fragrance (Lonicera Periclymenum); the honeysuckle.
Woodchat (n.) A European shrike (Enneoctonus rufus). In the male the head and nape are rufous red; the back, wings, and tail are black, varied with white.
Woodchat (n.) Any one of several species of Asiatic singing birds belonging to the genera Ianthia and Larvivora. They are closely allied to the European robin. The males are usually bright blue above, and more or less red or rufous beneath.
Woodchuck (n.) A common large North American marmot (Arctomys monax). It is usually reddish brown, more or less grizzled with gray. It makes extensive burrows, and is often injurious to growing crops. Called also ground hog.
Woodcock (n.) Any one of several species of long-billed limicoline birds belonging to the genera Scolopax and Philohela. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits, and are highly esteemed as game birds.
Woodcraft (n.) Skill and practice in anything pertaining to the woods, especially in shooting, and other sports in the woods.
Wooden (a.) Made or consisting of wood; pertaining to, or resembling, wood; as, a wooden box; a wooden leg; a wooden wedding.
Woodland (n.) Land covered with wood or trees; forest; land on which trees are suffered to grow, either for fuel or timber.
Woodpecker (n.) Any one of numerous species of scansorial birds belonging to Picus and many allied genera of the family Picidae.
Woodroof (n.) A little European herb (Asperula odorata) having a pleasant taste. It is sometimes used for flavoring wine. See Illust. of Whorl.
Woodwardia (n.) A genus of ferns, one species of which (Woodwardia radicans) is a showy plant in California, the Azores, etc.
Woody (a.) Consisting of, or containing, wood or woody fiber; ligneous; as, the woody parts of plants.
Woof (n.) The threads that cross the warp in a woven fabric; the weft; the filling; the thread usually carried by the shuttle in weaving.
Wool (n.) A sort of pubescence, or a clothing of dense, curling hairs on the surface of certain plants.
Woold (v. t.) To wind, or wrap; especially, to wind a rope round, as a mast or yard made of two or more pieces, at the place where it has been fished or scarfed, in order to strengthen it.
Woolder (n.) One of the handles of the top, formed by a wooden pin passing through it. See 1st Top, 2.
Woolen (a.) Of or pertaining to wool or woolen cloths; as, woolen manufactures; a woolen mill; a woolen draper.
Woolgathering (a.) Indulging in a vagrant or idle exercise of the imagination; roaming upon a fruitless quest; idly fanciful.
Woolsack (n.) A sack or bag of wool; specifically, the seat of the lord chancellor of England in the House of Lords, being a large, square sack of wool resembling a divan in form.
Wootz (n.) A species of steel imported from the East Indies, valued for making edge tools; Indian steel. It has in combination a minute portion of alumina and silica.
Word (n.) Hence, the written or printed character, or combination of characters, expressing such a term; as, the words on a page.
Word (n.) Language considered as implying the faith or authority of the person who utters it; statement; affirmation; declaration; promise.
Wordle (n.) One of several pivoted pieces forming the throat of an adjustable die used in drawing wire, lead pipe, etc.
Work (n.) Exertion of strength or faculties; physical or intellectual effort directed to an end; industrial activity; toil; employment; sometimes, specifically, physically labor.
Work (n.) Specifically: (a) That which is produced by mental labor; a composition; a book; as, a work, or the works, of Addison. (b) Flowers, figures, or the like, wrought with the needle; embroidery.
Work (n.) Structures in civil, military, or naval engineering, as docks, bridges, embankments, trenches, fortifications, and the like; also, the structures and grounds of a manufacturing establishment; as, iron works; locomotive works; gas works.
Work (n.) That which is produced as the result of labor; anything accomplished by exertion or toil; product; performance; fabric; manufacture; in a more general sense, act, deed, service, effect, result, achievement, feat.
Work (n.) The matter on which one is at work; that upon which one spends labor; material for working upon; subject of exertion; the thing occupying one; business; duty; as, to take up one's work; to drop one's work.
Work (n.) To be in a state of severe exertion, or as if in such a state; to be tossed or agitated; to move heavily; to strain; to labor; as, a ship works in a heavy sea.
Work (n.) To carry on business; to be engaged or employed customarily; to perform the part of a laborer; to labor; to toil.
Work (n.) To exert one's self for a purpose; to put forth effort for the attainment of an object; to labor; to be engaged in the performance of a task, a duty, or the like.
Work (n.) To make one's way slowly and with difficulty; to move or penetrate laboriously; to proceed with effort; -- with a following preposition, as down, out, into, up, through, and the like; as, scheme works out by degrees; to work into the earth.
Work (v. t.) To form with a needle and thread or yarn; especially, to embroider; as, to work muslin.
Work (v. t.) To labor or operate upon; to give exertion and effort to; to prepare for use, or to utilize, by labor.
Work (v. t.) To produce by slow degrees, or as if laboriously; to bring gradually into any state by action or motion.
Work (v. t.) To produce or form by labor; to bring forth by exertion or toil; to accomplish; to originate; to effect; as, to work wood or iron into a form desired, or into a utensil; to work cotton or wool into cloth.
Work (v. t.) To set in motion or action; to direct the action of; to keep at work; to govern; to manage; as, to work a machine.
Workbag (n.) A bag for holding implements or materials for work; especially, a reticule, or bag for holding needlework, and the like.
Workday (n. & a.) A day on which work is performed, as distinguished from Sunday, festivals, etc., a working day.
Worker (n.) One of the neuter, or sterile, individuals of the social ants, bees, and white ants. The workers are generally females having the sexual organs imperfectly developed. See Ant, and White ant, under White.
Workhouse (n.) A house where the town poor are maintained at public expense, and provided with labor; a poorhouse.
Working-day (a.) Pertaining to, or characteristic of, working days, or workdays; everyday; hence, plodding; hard-working.
Workmanship (n.) That which is effected, made, or produced; manufacture, something made by manual labor.
Worktable (n.) A table for holding working materials and implements; esp., a small table with drawers and other conveniences for needlework, etc.
Workyday (n.) A week day or working day, as distinguished from Sunday or a holiday. Also used adjectively.
World (n.) Any planet or heavenly body, especially when considered as inhabited, and as the scene of interests analogous with human interests; as, a plurality of worlds.
World (n.) Individual experience of, or concern with, life; course of life; sum of the affairs which affect the individual; as, to begin the world with no property; to lose all, and begin the world anew.
World (n.) The customs, practices, and interests of men; general affairs of life; human society; public affairs and occupations; as, a knowledge of the world.
World (n.) The earth and its inhabitants, with their concerns; the sum of human affairs and interests.
World (n.) The earth and the surrounding heavens; the creation; the system of created things; existent creation; the universe.
Worldliness (n.) The quality of being worldly; a predominant passion for obtaining the good things of this life; covetousness; addictedness to gain and temporal enjoyments; worldly-mindedness.
Worldling () A person whose soul is set upon gaining temporal possessions; one devoted to this world and its enjoyments.
Worldly (a.) Pertaining to this world or life, in contradistinction from the life to come; secular; temporal; devoted to this life and its enjoyments; bent on gain; as, worldly pleasures, affections, honor, lusts, men.
Worldly-minded (a.) Devoted to worldly interests; mindful of the affairs of the present life, and forgetful of those of the future; loving and pursuing this world's goods, to the exclusion of piety and attention to spiritual concerns.
Worm (n.) A creeping or a crawling animal of any kind or size, as a serpent, caterpillar, snail, or the like.
Worm (n.) A short revolving screw, the threads of which drive, or are driven by, a worm wheel by gearing into its teeth or cogs. See Illust. of Worm gearing, below.
Worm (n.) A spiral instrument or screw, often like a double corkscrew, used for drawing balls from firearms.
Worm (n.) Any small creeping animal or reptile, either entirely without feet, or with very short ones, including a great variety of animals; as, an earthworm; the blindworm.
Worm (n.) The condensing tube of a still, often curved and wound to economize space. See Illust. of Still.
Worm (n.) To cut the worm, or lytta, from under the tongue of, as a dog, for the purpose of checking a disposition to gnaw. The operation was formerly supposed to guard against canine madness.
Worm (n.) To wind rope, yarn, or other material, spirally round, between the strands of, as a cable; to wind with spun yarn, as a small rope.
Worm (v. t.) To clean by means of a worm; to draw a wad or cartridge from, as a firearm. See Worm, n. 5 (b).
Worm (v. t.) To effect, remove, drive, draw, or the like, by slow and secret means; -- often followed by out.
Worm-shaped (a.) Shaped like a worm; /hick and almost cylindrical, but variously curved or bent; as, a worm-shaped root.
Wormseed (n.) Any one of several plants, as Artemisia santonica, and Chenopodium anthelminticum, whose seeds have the property of expelling worms from the stomach and intestines.
Worry (n.) A state of undue solicitude; a state of disturbance from care and anxiety; vexation; anxiety; fret; as, to be in a worry.
Worry (v. i.) To feel or express undue care and anxiety; to manifest disquietude or pain; to be fretful; to chafe; as, the child worries; the horse worries.
Worry (v. t.) To harass by pursuit and barking; to attack repeatedly; also, to tear or mangle with the teeth.
Worry (v. t.) To harass or beset with importunity, or with care an anxiety; to vex; to annoy; to torment; to tease; to fret; to trouble; to plague.
Worse (compar.) Bad, ill, evil, or corrupt, in a greater degree; more bad or evil; less good; specifically, in poorer health; more sick; -- used both in a physical and moral sense.
Worse (n.) That which is worse; something less good; as, think not the worse of him for his enterprise.
Worship (a.) Hence, a title of honor, used in addresses to certain magistrates and others of rank or station.
Worship (a.) The act of paying divine honors to the Supreme Being; religious reverence and homage; adoration, or acts of reverence, paid to God, or a being viewed as God.
Worship (v. t.) To honor with extravagant love and extreme submission, as a lover; to adore; to idolize.
Worship (v. t.) To pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration; to perform religious exercises in honor of; to adore; to venerate.
Worshipful (a.) Entitled to worship, reverence, or high respect; claiming respect; worthy of honor; -- often used as a term of respect, sometimes ironically.
Worst (a.) Bad, evil, or pernicious, in the highest degree, whether in a physical or moral sense. See Worse.
Worst (a.) To gain advantage over, in contest or competition; to get the better of; to defeat; to overthrow; to discomfit.
Worst (n.) That which is most bad or evil; the most severe, pernicious, calamitous, or wicked state or degree.
Worsted (n.) Fine and soft woolen yarn, untwisted or lightly twisted, used in knitting and embroidery.
Worsted (n.) Well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool which has been combed to lay the fibers parallel, used for carpets, cloth, hosiery, gloves, and the like.
Wort (n.) An infusion of malt which is unfermented, or is in the act of fermentation; the sweet infusion of malt, which ferments and forms beer; hence, any similar liquid in a state of incipient fermentation.
Worth (a.) That quality of a thing which renders it valuable or useful; sum of valuable qualities which render anything useful and sought; value; hence, often, value as expressed in a standard, as money; equivalent in exchange; price.
Worth (a.) Value in respect of moral or personal qualities; excellence; virtue; eminence; desert; merit; usefulness; as, a man or magistrate of great worth.
Worthily (adv.) In a worthy manner; excellently; deservedly; according to merit; justly; suitably; becomingly.
Worthiness (n.) The quality or state of being worthy; desert; merit; excellence; dignity; virtue; worth.
Worthless (a.) Destitute of worth; having no value, virtue, excellence, dignity, or the like; undeserving; valueless; useless; vile; mean; as, a worthless garment; a worthless ship; a worthless man or woman; a worthless magistrate.
Worthy (n.) A man of eminent worth or value; one distinguished for useful and estimable qualities; a person of conspicuous desert; -- much used in the plural; as, the worthies of the church; political worthies; military worthies.
Worthy (n.) Having worth or excellence; possessing merit; valuable; deserving; estimable; excellent; virtuous.
Would (v. t.) Commonly used as an auxiliary verb, either in the past tense or in the conditional or optative present. See 2d & 3d Will.
Woulfe bottle (n.) A kind of wash bottle with two or three necks; -- so called after the inventor, Peter Woulfe, an English chemist.
Wound (n.) A hurt or injury caused by violence; specifically, a breach of the skin and flesh of an animal, or in the substance of any creature or living thing; a cut, stab, rent, or the like.
Wound (n.) An injury to the person by which the skin is divided, or its continuity broken; a lesion of the body, involving some solution of continuity.
Wound (n.) Fig.: An injury, hurt, damage, detriment, or the like, to feeling, faculty, reputation, etc.
Wound (n.) To hurt by violence; to produce a breach, or separation of parts, in, as by a cut, stab, blow, or the like.
Wound (n.) To hurt the feelings of; to pain by disrespect, ingratitude, or the like; to cause injury to.
Woundwort (n.) Any one of certain plants whose soft, downy leaves have been used for dressing wounds, as the kidney vetch, and several species of the labiate genus Stachys.
Wrack (n.) Any marine vegetation cast up on the shore, especially plants of the genera Fucus, Laminaria, and Zostera, which are most abundant on northern shores.
Wraith (n.) An apparition of a person in his exact likeness, seen before death, or a little after; hence, an apparition; a specter; a vision; an unreal image.
Wraith (n.) Sometimes, improperly, a spirit thought to preside over the waters; -- called also water wraith.
Wrangler (n.) One of those who stand in the first rank of honors in the University of Cambridge, England. They are called, according to their rank, senior wrangler, second wrangler, third wrangler, etc. Cf. Optime.
Wranglership (n.) The honor or position of being a wrangler at the University of Cambridge, England.
Wrap (n.) A wrapper; -- often used in the plural for blankets, furs, shawls, etc., used in riding or traveling.
Wrap (v. t.) To conceal by enveloping or infolding; to hide; hence, to involve, as an effect or consequence; to be followed by.
Wrap (v. t.) To cover by winding or folding; to envelop completely; to involve; to infold; -- often with up.
Wrapper (n.) Specifically, a loose outer garment; an article of dress intended to be wrapped round the person; as, a morning wrapper; a gentleman's wrapper.
Wrasse (n.) Any one of numerous edible, marine, spiny-finned fishes of the genus Labrus, of which several species are found in the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic coast of Europe. Many of the species are bright-colored.
Wreak (v. t.) To execute in vengeance or passion; to inflict; to hurl or drive; as, to wreak vengeance on an enemy.
Wreath (n.) An appendage to the shield, placed above it, and supporting the crest (see Illust. of Crest). It generally represents a twist of two cords of silk, one tinctured like the principal metal, the other like the principal color in the arms.
Wreck (v. t.) Destruction or injury of anything, especially by violence; ruin; as, the wreck of a railroad train.
Wreck (v. t.) The destruction or injury of a vessel by being cast on shore, or on rocks, or by being disabled or sunk by the force of winds or waves; shipwreck.
Wreck (v. t.) The ruins of a ship stranded; a ship dashed against rocks or land, and broken, or otherwise rendered useless, by violence and fracture; as, they burned the wreck.
Wreck (v. t.) To destroy, disable, or seriously damage, as a vessel, by driving it against the shore or on rocks, by causing it to become unseaworthy, to founder, or the like; to shipwreck.
Wreck (v. t.) To involve in a wreck; hence, to cause to suffer ruin; to balk of success, and bring disaster on.
Wreck-master (n.) A person appointed by law to take charge of goods, etc., thrown on shore after a shipwreck.
Wren (n.) Any one of numerous species of small singing birds belonging to Troglodytes and numerous allied of the family Troglodytidae.
Wren (n.) Any one of numerous species of small singing birds more or less resembling the true wrens in size and habits.
Wrench (v. t.) The system made up of a force and a couple of forces in a plane perpendicular to that force. Any number of forces acting at any points upon a rigid body may be compounded so as to be equivalent to a wrench.
Wrest (v. t.) To turn from truth; to twist from its natural or proper use or meaning by violence; to pervert; to distort.
Wrest (v. t.) To turn; to twist; esp., to twist or extort by violence; to pull of force away by, or as if by, violent wringing or twisting.
Wrestle (n.) A struggle between two persons to see which will throw the other down; a bout at wrestling; a wrestling match; a struggle.
Wrestle (v. t.) To contend, by grappling with, and striving to trip or throw down, an opponent; as, they wrestled skillfully.
Wretch (v. t.) One sunk in vice or degradation; a base, despicable person; a vile knave; as, a profligate wretch.
Wretched (a.) Very miserable; sunk in, or accompanied by, deep affliction or distress, as from want, anxiety, or grief; calamitous; woeful; very afflicting.
Wretched (a.) Worthless; paltry; very poor or mean; miserable; as, a wretched poem; a wretched cabin.
Wriggle (v. i.) To move the body to and fro with short, writhing motions, like a worm; to squirm; to twist uneasily or quickly about.
Wriggle (v. t.) To move with short, quick contortions; to move by twisting and squirming; like a worm.
Wright (n.) One who is engaged in a mechanical or manufacturing business; an artificer; a workman; a manufacturer; a mechanic; esp., a worker in wood; -- now chiefly used in compounds, as in millwright, wheelwright, etc.
Wrightine (n.) A rare alkaloid found in the bark of an East Indian apocynaceous tree (Wrightia antidysenterica), and extracted as a bitter white crystalline substance. It was formerly used as a remedy for diarrh/a. Called also conessine, and neriine.
Wring (v. t.) To extract or obtain by twisting and compressing; to squeeze or press (out); hence, to extort; to draw forth by violence, or against resistance or repugnance; -- usually with out or form.
Wring (v. t.) To twist and compress; to turn and strain with violence; to writhe; to squeeze hard; to pinch; as, to wring clothes in washing.
Wringbolt (n.) A bolt used by shipwrights, to bend and secure the planks against the timbers till they are fastened by bolts, spikes, or treenails; -- not to be confounded with ringbolt.
Wringer (n.) A machine for pressing water out of anything, particularly from clothes after they have been washed.
Wrinkle (n.) A small ridge, prominence, or furrow formed by the shrinking or contraction of any smooth substance; a corrugation; a crease; a slight fold; as, wrinkle in the skin; a wrinkle in cloth.
Wrinkle (v. t.) To contract into furrows and prominences; to make a wrinkle or wrinkles in; to corrugate; as, wrinkle the skin or the brow.
Wrist (n.) The joint, or the region of the joint, between the hand and the arm; the carpus. See Carpus.
Wristlet (n.) An elastic band worn around the wrist, as for the purpose of securing the upper part of a glove.
Writ (n.) That which is written; writing; scripture; -- applied especially to the Scriptures, or the books of the Old and New testaments; as, sacred writ.
Write (v. i.) To be regularly employed or occupied in writing, copying, or accounting; to act as clerk or amanuensis; as, he writes in one of the public offices.
Write (v. i.) To form characters, letters, or figures, as representative of sounds or ideas; to express words and sentences by written signs.
Write (v. i.) To frame or combine ideas, and express them in written words; to play the author; to recite or relate in books; to compose.
Write (v. t.) To make known by writing; to record; to prove by one's own written testimony; -- often used reflexively.
Write (v. t.) To set down for reading; to express in legible or intelligible characters; to inscribe; as, to write a deed; to write a bill of divorcement; hence, specifically, to set down in an epistle; to communicate by letter.
Write (v. t.) To set down, as legible characters; to form the conveyance of meaning; to inscribe on any material by a suitable instrument; as, to write the characters called letters; to write figures.
Writer (n.) A clerk of a certain rank in the service of the late East India Company, who, after serving a certain number of years, became a factor.
Writer (n.) One who is engaged in literary composition as a profession; an author; as, a writer of novels.
Writhe (v. i.) To twist or contort the body; to be distorted; as, to writhe with agony. Also used figuratively.
Writing (n.) Any written composition; a pamphlet; a work; a literary production; a book; as, the writings of Addison.
Writing (n.) The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material, for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express, or of communicating them to others by visible signs.
Wrong (a.) Designed to be worn or placed inward; as, the wrong side of a garment or of a piece of cloth.
Wrong (a.) Deviation or departure from truth or fact; state of falsity; error; as, to be in the wrong.
Wrong (a.) Nonconformity or disobedience to lawful authority, divine or human; deviation from duty; -- the opposite of moral right.
Wrong (a.) Not according to truth; not conforming to fact or intent; not right; mistaken; erroneous; as, a wrong statement.
Wrong (a.) Not fit or suitable to an end or object; not appropriate for an intended use; not according to rule; unsuitable; improper; incorrect; as, to hold a book with the wrong end uppermost; to take the wrong way.
Wrong (a.) Whatever deviates from moral rectitude; usually, an act that involves evil consequences, as one which inflicts injury on a person; any injury done to, or received from; another; a trespass; a violation of right.
Wrong (v. t.) To impute evil to unjustly; as, if you suppose me capable of a base act, you wrong me.
Wrong (v. t.) To treat with injustice; to deprive of some right, or to withhold some act of justice from; to do undeserved harm to; to deal unjustly with; to injure.
Wrongful (a.) Full of wrong; injurious; unjust; unfair; as, a wrongful taking of property; wrongful dealing.
Wrongly (adv.) In a wrong manner; unjustly; erroneously; wrong; amiss; as, he judges wrongly of my motives.
Wrymouth (n.) Any one of several species of large, elongated, marine fishes of the genus Cryptacanthodes, especially C. maculatus of the American coast. A whitish variety is called ghostfish.
Wryneck (n.) A twisted or distorted neck; a deformity in which the neck is drawn to one side by a rigid contraction of one of the muscles of the neck; torticollis.
Wulfenite (n.) Native lead molybdate occurring in tetragonal crystals, usually tabular, and of a bright orange-yellow to red, gray, or brown color; -- also called yellow lead ore.
Wurbagool (n.) A fruit bat (Pteropus medius) native of India. It is similar to the flying fox, but smaller.
Wyla (n.) A helmeted Australian cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus); -- called also funeral cockatoo.
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