EASIER ENGLISH BASIC DICTIONARY 20 pot

3rd person plural past of be west west /west/ noun the direction in which the sun sets 쑗 The sun sets in the west and rises in the east.. NOTE: When what used to ask a direct question, t

weather 358 welcome

weather

weather /weðə/ noun conditions

out-side, e.g if it is raining, hot, cold or

sun-ny 쑗 What’s the weather going to be like

today? 쑗 If the weather gets any better,

then we can go out in the boat.

weave

weave /

twisting fibres over and under each

oth-er 쑗 The cloth is woven from the wool of

local sheep 쑗 The new weaving

ma-chines were installed last week 2 to

make something by a similar method,

but using things such as very thin pieces

of wood or the dried stems of plants 쑗

She learnt how to weave baskets (NOTE:

web

web /web/ noun 1 a net spun by spiders

쑗 The garden is full of spiders’ webs in

autumn 2 왍 the web the thousands of

websites and webpages within the

Inter-net, which users can visit

webpage

webpage /webped"/ noun a single file

of text and graphics, forming part of a

website

website

website /websat/ noun a collection of

pages on the Web which have been

pro-duced by one person or organisation and

are linked together

wedding

wedding /wedŋ/ noun a marriage

cer-emony, when two people are officially

made husband and wife 쑗 This Saturday

I’m going to John and Mary’s wedding.

wedge

wedge /wed"/ noun a solid piece of

something such as wood, metal or

rub-ber in the shape of a V 쑗 Put a wedge

under the door to hold it open.

Wednesday

Wednesday /wenzde/ noun the day

between Tuesday and Thursday, the

third day of the week 쑗 She came for tea

last Wednesday 쑗 Wednesdays are

al-ways busy days for us 쑗 Can we meet

next Wednesday afternoon? 쑗

Wednes-day the 24th would be a good date for a

meeting 쑗 The 15th is a Tuesday, so the

16th must be a Wednesday.

weed

weed /

do not want in a garden or crop

week

week /

usually from Monday to Sunday 쑗

There are 52 weeks in the year 쑗 The

firm gives us two weeks’ holiday at

Easter 쑗 It’s my aunt’s 80th birthday

next week 쑗 I go to the cinema at least once a week (NOTE: Do not confuse

with weak.)

weekend

weekend / end/ noun Saturday and Sunday, or the period from Friday

evening to Sunday evening 쑗 We’re go-ing to the coast for the weekend 쑗 Why don’t you come to spend next weekend with us in the country? 쑗 At weekends,

we try to spend time in the garden.

weekly

weekly /

happens or is published once a week 쑗

We have a weekly paper which tells us all the local news 쑗 The weekly rate for the job is £250 쑗 Are you paid weekly

or monthly?

weigh

weigh /we/ verb 1 to measure how

heavy something or someone is 쑗 Can you weigh this parcel for me? 쑗 They weighed his suitcase at the check-in desk 쑗 I weighed myself this morning.

2. to have a particular weight 쑗 This piece of meat weighs 100 grams 쑗 How much do you weigh? 쑗 She only weighs

40 kilos.

weight

weight /wet/ noun 1 how heavy

some-thing is 쑗 What’s the maximum weight

of parcel the post office will accept? 2.

how heavy a person is 쑗 His weight is

less than it was a year ago 3 something

which is heavy 쑗 If you lift heavy weights like paving stones, you may hurt your back (NOTE: Do not confuse with

wait.)

weird

weird /wəd/ adjective strange in a way that makes you feel nervous or fright-ened

welcome

welcome /welkəm/ verb 1 to greet

someone in a friendly way 쑗 The staff welcomed the new assistant to the office.

쑗 When we arrived at the hotel we were welcomed by a couple of barking guard

dogs 2 to be pleased to hear news 쑗 I warmly welcome the result of the elec-tion 쑗 I would welcome any sugges-tions as to how to stop the water seeping into the basement (NOTE: welcomes –

action of greeting someone 쑗 There was not much of a welcome from the staff when we arrived at the hotel 쐽 adjec-tive met or greeted with pleasure 쑗 They made me very welcome 앳 you’re

wel-welfare 359 what

for carrying the bags for me – you’re

welcome!

welfare

welfare /welfeə/ noun the act or

prac-tice of providing the things which

peo-ple need and which help them to be

healthy 쑗 The club looks after the

wel-fare of the old people in the town 쑗 The

government has taken measures to

re-form the welfare system.

well

well /wel/ adverb 1 in a way that is

satis-factory 쑗 He doesn’t speak Russian very

well 쑗 Our business is small, but it’s

doing well 쑗 Is the new computer

work-ing well? 2 very much 쑗 He got back

from the office late – well after eight

o’clock 쑗 You should go to the Tower of

London – it’s well worth a visit 쑗 There

were well over sixty people at the

meet-ing 쑗 She’s well over eighty 쐽

adjec-tive healthy 쑗 She’s looking well after

her holiday! 쑗 The secretary’s not very

well today – she’s had to stay off work.

쑗 It took him some weeks to get well

af-ter his flu 쐽 interjection used for

start-ing a sentence 쑗 Well, I’ll show you

round the house first 쑗 Well now, we’ve

done the washing up so we can sit and

watch TV 쐽 noun a very deep hole dug

in the ground with water or oil at the

bottom 앳 as well also 쑗 When my aunt

comes to stay she brings her two cats

and the dog as well 쑗 You can’t eat fish

and chips and a meat pie as well! 앳 as

newsa-gents sell groceries as well as

newspa-pers 쑗 She ate a slice of cheesecake as

well as two scoops of ice cream 앳 well

done used for praising someone for

their success 쑗 Well done, the England

team! 쑗 Well done to all of you who

passed the exam!

well-known

well-known /wel nəυn/ adjective

known by a lot of people

well-paid

well-paid /wel ped/ adjective earning

a good salary

Welsh

Welsh /welʃ/ adjective relating to Wales

쑗 We will be going climbing in the

Welsh mountains at Easter 쐽 noun 1 왍

Welsh are proud of their heritage 쑗 The

Welsh are magnificent singers 2 the

language spoken in Wales 쑗 Welsh is used in schools in many parts of Wales.

went

went /went/ past tense of go

were

were /

be 2nd person plural past of be 3rd person plural past of be

west

west /west/ noun the direction in which

the sun sets 쑗 The sun sets in the west and rises in the east 쑗 We live in a vil-lage to the west of the town 쑗 Their house has a garden that faces west or a west-facing garden 쐽 adjective in or to

the west 쑗 She lives on the west coast of the United States 쑗 The west part of the town is near the river 쐽 adverb towards

the west 쑗 Go west for about ten kilo-metres, and then you’ll come to the na-tional park 쑗 The river flows west into the ocean.

western

western /westən/ adjective from or in

the west 쑗 Great Britain is part of West-ern Europe 쑗 The Western part of Can-ada has wonderful scenery.

wet

wet /wet/ adjective 1 covered in water or

other liquid 쑗 She forgot her umbrella and got wet walking back from the shops 쑗 The chair’s all wet where he knocked over his beer 쑗 The baby is wet

– can you change her nappy? 2 raining

쑗 The summer months are the wettest part of the year 쑗 There’s nothing I like

better than a wet Sunday in London 3.

not yet dry 쑗 Watch out! – the paint’s still wet (NOTE: wetter – wettest)

whale

whale /wel/ noun a very large creature

that lives in the sea 쑗 You can take a boat into the mouth of the river to see the whales.

what

what /wɒt/ adjective asking a question 쑗

What kind of music do you like? 쑗 What type of food does he like best? 쐽

pro-noun 1 the thing which 쑗 Did you see what was in the box? 쑗 What we like to

do most on holiday is just to visit old

churches 2 asking a question 쑗 What’s the correct time? 쑗 What did he give you for your birthday? 쑗 What hap-pened to his car? (NOTE: When what

used to ask a direct question, the verb

is put before the subject: What’s the time? but not when it is used in a state-ment: They don’t know what the time is.) 쐽 adverb showing surprise 쑗 What

whatever 360 whether

a huge meal! 쑗 What beautiful weather!

쐽 interjection showing surprise 쑗 What!

did you hear what he said? 쑗 I won the

lottery! – What!

whatever

whatever /wɒtevə/ pronoun 1 it does

not matter what (form of ‘what’ used for

emphasis; in questions) 쑗 You can

have whatever you like for Christmas 쑗

She always does whatever she feels like

doing 쑗 I want that car whatever the

price 2 used instead of ‘what’ for

em-phasis in questions 쑗 ‘I’ve sold the car.’

‘Whatever for?’ 쑗 Whatever made him

do that? 쑗 Whatever does that red light

mean?

wheat

wheat /

grain is used to make flour (NOTE: no

plural)

wheel

wheel /

which a vehicle such as a bicycle, a car

or a train runs 쑗 The front wheel and the

back wheel of the motorbike were both

damaged in the accident 쑗 We got a flat

tyre so I had to get out to change the

wheel 2 any similar round object

which turns 쑗 a steering wheel 쑗 gear

wheels 쐽 verb to push something along

which has wheels 쑗 He wheeled his

mo-torbike into the garage 쑗 She was

wheeling her bike along the pavement.

쑗 The waiter wheeled in a sweet trolley.

wheelbarrow

wheelbarrow /

large container with one wheel at the

front and two handles, used by people

such as builders and gardeners for

push-ing heavy loads around

wheelchair

wheelchair /

wheels which people who cannot walk

use to move around 쑗 a special entrance

for wheelchair users

when

when /wen/ adverb at what time (asking

a question)쑗 When is the last train for

Paris? 쑗 When did you last go to the

dentist? 쑗 When are we going to get

paid? 쑗 Since when has he been

wear-ing glasses? 쑗 I asked her when her

friend was leaving (NOTE: After when

used to ask a direct question, the verb

is put before the subject: When does

the film start?; When is he coming? but

not when it is used in a statement: He

doesn’t know when the film starts.;

They can’t tell me when he is coming.)

쐽 conjunction 1 at the time that 쑗

When he was young, the family was liv-ing in London 쑗 When you go on holi-day, leave your key with the neighbours

so they can feed the cat 쑗 Do you re-member the day when we all went for a picnic in the park? 쑗 Let me know when

you’re ready to go 2 after 쑗 When the speaker had finished, he sat down 쑗

Wash up the plates when you’ve finished

your breakfast 3 even if 쑗 The sales-man said the car was worth £5,000 when he really knew it was worth only half that.

whenever

whenever /wenevə/ adverb at any time

that 쑗 Come for tea whenever you like.

쑗 We try to see my mother whenever we can or whenever possible.

where

where /weə/ adverb 1 (asking a

ques-tion) in what place, to what place 쑗

Where did I put my glasses? 쑗 Do you know where the restaurant is? 쑗 Where are the knives and forks? 쑗 Where are

you going for your holiday? 2 in a place

in which 쑗 Stay where you are and don’t move 쑗 They still live in the same house where they were living twenty years ago.

쑗 Here’s where the wire has been cut.

(NOTE: After where used to ask a direct

question, the verb is put before the subject: Where is the bottle? but not when it is used in a statement: He doesn’t know where the bottle is.) whereas

whereas /weərz/ conjunction if you

compare this with the fact that 쑗 He likes tea whereas she prefers coffee.

wherever

wherever /weərevə/ adverb 1 to or in

any place 쑗 You can sit wherever you want 쑗 Wherever we go on holiday, we never make hotel reservations 쑗 The police want to ask her questions,

wher-ever she may be 2 used instead of

‘where’ for emphasis 쑗 Wherever did you get that hat?

whether

whether /weðə/ conjunction 1 used to

mean ‘if’ for showing doubt, or for showing that you have not decided

something 쑗 Do you know whether they’re coming? 쑗 I can’t make up my mind whether to go on holiday now or

later 2 used for referring to either of

two things or people 쑗 All employees, whether managers or ordinary staff,

which 361 who

must take a medical test (NOTE: Do not

confuse with weather.)

which

which /wtʃ/ adjective, pronoun 1

(ask-ing a question) what person or th(ask-ing 쑗

Which dress are you wearing to the

wedding? 쑗 Which boy threw that

stone? 2 (only used with things, not

people) that 쑗 The French restaurant

which is next door to the office 쑗

They’ve eaten all the bread which you

bought yesterday.

while

while /wal/ conjunction 1 at the time

that 쑗 He tried to cut my hair while he

was watching TV 쑗 While we were on

holiday someone broke into our house.

쑗 Shall I clean the kitchen while you’re

having a bath? 2 showing difference 쑗

He likes meat, while his sister is a

vege-tarian 쑗 Everyone is watching TV,

while I’m in the kitchen making the

din-ner 3 although (formal) 쑗 While there

may still be delays, the service is much

better than it used to be 쐽 noun a short

time 쑗 It’s a while since I’ve seen him.

앳 in a while in a short time, soon 쑗 I’ll

be ready in a while.

whine

whine /wan/ verb 1 to make a loud high

noise 쑗 You can hear the engines of the

racing cars whining in the background.

쑗 The dogs whined when we locked

them up in the kitchen 2 to complain in

a loud high voice that annoys other

peo-ple 쑗 She’s always whining about how

little money she has (NOTE: Do not

con-fuse with wine Note also: whines –

whining – whined.)

whip

whip /wp/ noun a long, thin piece of

leather with a handle, used to hit

ani-mals to make them do what you want 쑗

The rider used her whip to make the

horse run faster 쐽 verb to hit someone

or an animal with a whip 쑗 He whipped

the horse to make it go faster (NOTE:

whips – whipping – whipped)

whirl

She put on her new skirt and whirled

around for every one to see 쑗 The

chil-dren’s paper windmills whirled in the

wind.

whiskey

whiskey /wski/ noun Irish or

Ameri-can whisky

whisky

whisky /wski/ noun an alcoholic drink,

made in Scotland from barley 쑗 The

company produces thousands of bottles

of whisky every year (NOTE: The plural

is whiskies.)

whisper

whisper /wspə/ verb to speak very qui-etly, so that only the person you are

talk-ing to can hear 쑗 He whispered instruc-tions to the other members of the gang.

쑗 She whispered to the nurse that she wanted something to drink 쐽noun a quiet voice, or words spoken very

quiet-ly 쑗 She spoke in a whisper.

whistle

whistle /ws(ə)l/ noun 1 a high sound

made by blowing through your lips

when they are almost closed 쑗 She gave

a whistle of surprise 쑗 We heard a whistle and saw a dog running across

the field 2 a simple instrument which

makes a high sound, played by blowing

쑗 He blew on his whistle to stop the match 쐽 verb 1 to blow through your

lips to make a high sound 쑗 They marched along, whistling an Irish song.

쑗 He whistled for a taxi 2 to make a

high sound using a small metal

instru-ment 쑗 The referee whistled to stop the match.

white

white /wat/ adjective of a colour like

snow or milk 쑗 A white shirt is part of the uniform 쑗 A white car will always look dirty 쑗 Her hair is now completely white 쑗 Do you take your coffee black

or white? 쐽 noun 1 a person whose

skin is pale 쑗 Whites are in the minority

in African countries 2 a white part of

something 쑗 the white of an egg 쑗 The

whites of his eyes were slightly red 3 a

white wine 쑗 A glass of house white, please.

white lie

white lie /wat la/ noun a lie about something unimportant, especially a lie told in order not to upset someone (informal )

who

who / tion) which person or persons 쑗 Who phoned? 쑗 Who are you talking to? 쑗

Who spoke at the meeting? 2 the person

or the people that 쑗 The men who came yesterday morning work for the electric-ity company 쑗 Anyone who didn’t get tickets early won’t be able to get in 쑗

There’s the taxi driver who took us home last night (NOTE: After an object,

whoever 362 will saw at the pub When who is used to

ask a direct question, the verb is put

after ‘who’ and before the subject:

Who is that man over there?, but not

when it is used in a statement: I don’t

know who that man is over there

When who is used as an object, it is

sometimes written whom /

this is formal and not common: the

man whom I met in the office; Whom

do you want to see?)

whoever

whoever / evə/ pronoun (emphatic

form of ‘who’) no matter who, anyone

who 쑗 Whoever finds the umbrella can

keep it 쑗 Go home with whoever you

like.

whole

whole /həυl/ adjective all of something

쑗 She must have been hungry – she ate

a whole apple pie 쑗 We spent the whole

winter in the south 쑗 A whole lot of

people went down with flu 쐽 noun all of

something 쑗 She stayed in bed the

whole of Sunday morning and read the

newspapers 쑗 The whole of the north of

the country was covered with snow 쑗

Did you watch the whole of the

pro-gramme? (NOTE: Do not confuse with

birds catch small fish and swallow them

whole.

whom

whom / 쏡 who

whose

whose /

question) which belongs to which

per-son 쑗 Whose is that car? 쑗 Whose book

is this? 쑗 Whose money was stolen? 2.

of whom 쑗 the family whose house was

burgled 쑗 the man whose hat you

bor-rowed 쑗 the girl whose foot you trod on

(NOTE: Do not confuse with who’s.)

why

why /wa/ adverb 1 for what reason 쑗

Why did he have to phone me in the

mid-dle of the TV film? 쑗 I asked the ticket

collector why the train was late 2

giv-ing a reason 쑗 She told me why she

couldn’t go to the party 3 agreeing

with a suggestion 쑗 ‘Would you like

some lunch?’ ‘Why not?’

wicked

wicked /wkd/ adjective very bad 쑗

What a wicked thing to say! 쑗 It was

wicked of them to steal the birds’ eggs.

wide

wide /wad/ adjective 1 which measures

from side to side 쑗 The table is three

foot or three feet wide 쑗 The river is not

very wide at this point 2 including

many things 쑗 The shop carries a wide range of imported goods 쑗 She has a wide knowledge of French painting 쒁

much as possible 쑗 She opened her eyes wide 쑗 The door was wide open so we just walked in.

widely

widely /wadli/ adverb 1 by a wide

range of people 쑗 It is widely expected

that he will resign 2 over a wide area 쑗

Contamination spread widely over the area round the factory 쑗 She has trav-elled widely in Greece.

widow

widow /wdəυ/ noun a woman whose husband has died and who has not mar-ried again

width

width /wdθ/ noun 1 a measurement of

something from one side to another 쑗 I need to know the width of the sofa 쑗

The width of the garden is at least forty feet or the garden is at least forty feet in

width 2 the distance from one side to

another of a swimming pool 쑗 She swam three widths easily.

wife

wife /waf/ noun a woman who is

mar-ried to a man 쑗 I know Mr Jones quite well but I’ve never met his wife 쑗 They both came with their wives (NOTE: The

plural is wives /wavz/.) wig

wig /w'/ noun false hair worn on the head

wild

wild /wald/ adjective 1 living naturally, not with people as a pet 2 very angry or

very excited 쑗 He will be wild when he sees what I have done to the car 쑗 The fans went wild at the end of the match.

3. not thinking carefully 쑗 She made a few wild guesses, but didn’t find the right answer 쑗 They had the wild idea

of walking across the Sahara 쐽 adverb

without any control 쑗 The crowds were running wild through the centre of the town.

wildlife

wildlife /waldlaf/ noun birds, plants and animals in their natural conditions will

will /wl/ modal verb 1 used to form the

future tense 쑗 The party will start soon.

쑗 Will they be staying a long time? 쑗 We won’t be able to come to tea 쑗 If you ask her to play the piano, she’ll say

‘no’ 2 used as a polite way of asking

willing 363 winter

someone to do something 쑗 Will

every-one please sit down? 쑗 Will someone

close the curtains? 쑗 (formal) Won’t

you sit down? 3 used for showing that

you are keen to do something 쑗 Don’t

call a taxi – I’ll take you home 쑗 The

car will never start when we want it to.

쑗 Don’t worry – I will do it (NOTE: the

negative: will not is usually written

negative: would not, usually written

wouldn’t Note also that will is often

shortened to ’ll: he’ll = he will) 쐽 noun

1. someone’s desire that something will

happen 왍 against your will without

your agreement 쑗 He was forced to pay

the money against his will 2 a legal

document by which a person gives

in-structions about what should happen to

his or her property after he or she dies 쑗

He wrote his will in 1984 쑗 According

to her will, all her property is left to her

children 쑗 Has she made a will yet? 앳

Visitors can wander around the gardens

at will.

willing

willing /wlŋ/ adjective keen to help 쑗

Is there anyone who is willing to drive

the jeep? 쑗 I need two willing helpers to

wash the car.

win

win /wn/ verb 1 to beat someone in a

game, or be first in a race or competition

쑗 I expect our team will win tomorrow.

쑗 The local team won their match

yes-terday 쑗 She won the race easily 2 to

get something as a prize 쑗 She won first

prize in the art competition 쑗 He won

two million pounds on the lottery 쑗

She’s hoping to win a new car in a

com-petition in the paper (NOTE: wins –

of winning a game, race or competition

쑗 The local team has only had two wins

so far this year 쑗 We’re disappointed,

we expected a win.

wind

wind 1 /wnd/ noun air moving outdoors

쑗 The wind blew two trees down in the

park 쑗 There’s no point trying to use an

umbrella in this wind 쑗 There’s not a

breath of wind – the sailing boats aren’t

moving at all.

wind

wind 2 /wand/ verb to twist round and

round 쑗 He wound the towel round his

waist 쑗 She wound the string into a ball (NOTE: winds – winding –

make a machine work 쑗 When did you wind up the clock or wind the clock up?

2. to turn a key to make something go up

쑗 Wind up your window if it starts to

rain 3 to be in a situation at the end of

a period (informal) 쑗 They wound up owing the bank thousands of pounds.

window

window /wndəυ/ noun 1 an opening

in a surface such as a wall or door,

which is filled with glass 쑗 a seat by the window 쑗 I looked out of the kitchen window and saw a fox 쑗 It’s dangerous

to lean out of car windows 쑗 The bur-glar must have got in through the

bath-room window 2 any of several sections

of a computer screen on which

informa-tion is shown 쑗 Open the command win-dow to see the range of possible com-mands.

windy

windy /wndi/ adjective when a strong wind is blowing (informal) (NOTE:

windier – windiest)

wine

wine /wan/ noun an alcoholic drink

made from grapes 쑗 We had a glass of French red wine 쑗 Two glasses of white wine, please 쑗 Should we have some white wine with the fish?

wing

wing /wŋ/ noun 1 one of the two parts

of the body, which a bird or butterfly

etc uses to fly 쑗 The little birds were flapping their wings, trying to fly 쑗

Which part of the chicken do you prefer:

a leg or a wing? 2 one of the two flat

parts sticking from the side of an

air-craft, which hold the aircraft in the air 쑗

He had a seat by the wing, so could not see much out of the window.

wink

wink /wŋk/ verb to shut and open one

eye quickly, as a signal 쑗 She winked at him to try to tell him that everything was going well.

winner

winner /wnə/ noun 1 a person who

wins something 쑗 The winner of the

race gets a silver cup 2 something

which is successful 쑗 His latest book is

a winner.

winter

winter /wntə/ noun the coldest season

of the year, the season between autumn

wipe 364 woman

and spring 쑗 It’s too cold to do any

gar-dening in the winter 쑗 We’re taking a

winter holiday in Mexico.

wipe

wipe /wap/ verb to clean or dry

some-thing with a cloth 쑗 Wipe your shoes

with a cloth before you polish them 쑗

Use the blue towel to wipe your hands.

wire

wire /waə/ noun 1 a thin piece of metal

or metal thread 쑗 He used bits of wire to

attach the apple tree to the wall 쑗 The

chip basket is made of woven wire 2 왍

(electric) wire thin metal thread along

which electricity flows, usually covered

with coloured plastic 쑗 The wires seem

to be all right, so there must be a

prob-lem with the computer itself.

wisdom

wisdom /wzdəm/ noun general

com-mon sense and the ability to make good

decisions

wise

wise /waz/ adjective having intelligence

and being sensible 쑗 It was a wise

deci-sion to cancel the trip 쑗 I don’t think

it’s wise to keep all that money in the

house.

wish

wish /wʃ/ noun 1 what you want to

hap-pen 2 a greeting 쑗 Best wishes for the

New Year! 쑗 Please give my good

wish-es to your family (NOTE: The plural is

to happen 쑗 She sometimes wished she

could live in the country 쑗 I wish you

wouldn’t be so unkind! 2 to hope

some-thing good will happen 쑗 She wished

him good luck in his interview 쑗 He

wished me a Happy New Year 쑗 Wish

me luck – it’s my exam tomorrow.

witch

witch /wtʃ/ noun a woman believed to

have magic powers (NOTE: The plural is

witches.)

with

with /wð, wθ/ preposition 1 showing

that things or people are together 쑗 She

came here with her mother 쑗 My sister

is staying with us for a few days (NOTE:

with is used with many adjectives and

verbs: to agree with, to be pleased

with.) 2 something which you have 쑗

The girl with fair hair 쑗 They live in the

house with the pink door 3 showing

something which is used 쑗 He was

chopping up wood with an axe 쑗 Since

his accident he walks with a stick 쑗 The

crowd attacked the police with stones

and bottles 4 because of 쑗 Her little

hands were blue with cold 쑗 Half the people in the office are ill with flu.

within

within /wðn/ preposition inside an

area or period of time 쑗 The house is within easy reach of the station 쑗 We are within walking distance of the shop.

쑗 I must go back for a another check within three months 쑗 They promised to deliver the sofa within a week.

without

without /wðaυt/ preposition 1 not

with 쑗 They came on a walking holiday without any boots 쑗 She managed to live for a few days without any food 쑗

He was stuck in Germany without any money 쑗 They were fined for travelling

without tickets 2 not doing something

쑗 She sang for an hour without stop-ping 쑗 They lived in the hut in the forest without seeing anybody for weeks.

witness

witness /wtnəs/ noun 1 a person who

sees something happen or who is

present when something happens 쑗 The witness happened to be outside the

house when it was burgled 2 a person

who is present when someone signs a

document 쑗 The contract has to be signed in front of two witnesses 쑗 His sister signed as a witness 쐽 verb to be present when something happens, and

see it happening 쑗 Did anyone witness the accident?

witty

witty /wti/ adjective clever and funny 쑗

She gave a witty and entertaining speech (NOTE: wittier – wittiest)

wives

wives /wavz/ plural of wife

wobble

wobble /wɒb(ə)l/ verb to move from side to side in a way that is not smooth

or steady 쑗 The children made the jelly wobble in their bowls 쑗 Don’t wobble the table when I’m pouring coffee.

woke

woke /wəυk/ past tense of wake

woken

woken /wəυk(ə)n/ past participle of

wake

wolf

wolf /wυlf/ noun a wild animal like a large dog, which usually lives in groups

in the forest 쑗 At night the wolves came and howled outside the hut (NOTE: The

plural is wolves.)

woman

woman /wυmən/ noun an adult female

person 쑗 The manager is an extremely experienced woman 쑗 There are very few women in government 쑗 There are

won 365 work

more and more women bus drivers.

(NOTE: The plural is women /wmn/.)

won

won /wn/ past tense and past participle

of win

wonder

wonder /wndə/ verb 1 to want to

know something 쑗 I wonder why the

room has gone quiet 쑗 If you don’t ring

home, your parents will start wondering

what has happened 2 to think about

something 쑗 I wonder how I can earn

more money 쑗 He’s wondering what to

do next 3 asking a question politely 쑗

We were wondering if you would like to

come for dinner on Saturday.

wonderful

wonderful /wndəf(ə)l/ adjective

ex-tremely good or enjoyable 쑗 They had a

wonderful holiday by a lake in Sweden.

쑗 The weather was wonderful for the

whole holiday 쑗 You passed your

driv-ing test first time? – Wonderful!

wood

wood /wυd/ noun 1 a hard material

which comes from a tree 쑗 The kitchen

table is made of wood 쑗 She picked up

a piece of wood and put it on the fire 쑗

A wood floor would be just right for this

room (NOTE: no plural: some wood, a

piece of wood) 2 an area in which

many trees are growing together 쑗 The

path goes straight through the wood 쑗

Their house is on the edge of a wood.

(NOTE: The plural is woods Do not

confuse with would.)

wooden

wooden /wυd(ə)n/ adjective made out

of wood 쑗 In the market we bought little

wooden dolls for the children.

wool

wool /wυl/ noun 1 long threads of

twist-ed animal hair, ustwist-ed to make clothes or

carpets etc 쑗 The carpet is made of

wool 쑗 I need an extra ball of wool to

finish this pullover 2. the hair growing

on a sheep 쑗 The sheep are sheared and

the wool sent to market in early summer.

woolly

woolly /wυli/ adjective made out of

wool 쑗 She wore a woolly hat.

word

word /

language, either written or spoken 쑗

This sentence has five words 쑗 He

al-ways spells some words wrongly, such

as ‘though’ 2 something spoken 쑗 She

passed me in the street but didn’t say a

word 쑗 I’d like to say a few words about

Mr Smith who is retiring today 3 a

promise which you have made 왍 to give

word that the matter would remain con-fidential 왍 to keep your word to do

what you promised to do 쑗 He kept his word, and the cheque arrived the next day 왍 to take someone’s word for it to accept what someone says as being true

쑗 OK, I’ll take your word for it 앳 to

to someone 쑗 I must have a word with the manager about the service 쑗 The salesgirl had made so many mistakes, I had to have a word with her 앳 without

went out of the room without a word 앳

written 쑗 Tell me what he said word for word 쑗 A word-for-word translation of-ten doesn’t make any sense.

word processing

word processing / noun using a computer to produce, check and change texts, reports and let-ters etc

word processor

word processor /

noun 1 a small computer which is used

to produce texts, reports and letters etc

쑗 She offered to write the letter for me

on her word processor 쑗 You can use

my word processor to type your letter if

you like 2 a word-processing program

which allows you to create texts, edit them and print them

wore

wore / work

work /

using your strength or your brain 쑗

There’s a great deal of work still to be done on the project 쑗 There’s too much work for one person 쑗 If you’ve fin-ished that piece of work, there’s plenty more to be done 쑗 Cooking for two hundred people every day is hard work.

2. a job done regularly to earn money 쑗

He goes to work every day on his bicy-cle 쑗 Work starts at 9 a.m and finishes

at 5 p.m 쑗 Her work involves a lot of travelling 쑗 He is still looking for work.

3. something which has been made,

painted or written by someone 쑗 the complete works of Shakespeare 쑗 An exhibition of the work of local artists 쐽

verb 1 to use your strength or brain to

do something 쑗 I can’t work in the

gar-worker 366 worse

den if it’s raining 쑗 He’s working well

at school, we’re very pleased with his

progress 쑗 Work hard and you’ll soon

get a better job 2 to have a job 쑗 She

works in an office in London 쑗 He used

to work in his father’s shop 쑗 She had

to stop working when her mother was

ill 3 (of a machine) to run 쑗 The

com-puters aren’t working 쑗 The machine

works by electricity 4 to make a

ma-chine run 쑗 She works the biggest

print-ing machine in the factory 쑗 Do you

know how to work the microwave? 5 to

be successful 쑗 His plan worked well 쑗

Will the plan work? 쑗 If the cough

med-icine doesn’t work, you’ll have to see a

doctor.

problem by looking at information or

calculating figures 쑗 I’m trying to work

out if we’ve sold more this year than

last 왍 to work out at something to

amount to an amount 쑗 The total works

out at £10.50 per person 2 to succeed

쑗 Everything worked out quite well in

the end 왍 to work something out to

find a successful way of solving a

prob-lem 3 to do exercises 쑗 He works out

every morning in the gym.

worker

worker /

works 쑗 She’s a good worker 쑗 He’s a

fast worker 2 a person who works in a

particular job 쑗 The factory closed

when the workers went on strike 쑗

Of-fice workers usually work from 9.30 to

5.30.

working

working /

job or to work 쑗 the working population

of a country 쑗 The unions have

com-plained about working conditions in the

factory 쑗 He came to the party in his

working clothes 쐽 noun a way or ways

in which something works 쑗 The

work-ings of a car engine are a complete

mys-tery to him 쑗 I wish I could understand

the workings of local government!

working class

working class /

group in society consisting of people

who work with their hands, usually

earning wages not salaries

workman

workman /

works with his hands (NOTE: The plural

is workmen.)

works

works plural noun 1 the moving parts of

a machine 쑗 I looked inside the clock and there seems to be dust in the works.

2. a factory 쑗 The steel works will be closed next week for the Christmas hol-idays 쐽 the works everything (informal )쑗 They built a conservatory with a fountain, automatic lighting, a barbecue – the works!

workshop

workshop / small factory where things are made or repaired

world

world /

we live 쑗 Here is a map of the world 쑗

She flew round the world twice last year.

쑗 He has to travel all over the world on business 쑗 A round-the-world ticket al-lows several stopovers.

worm

worm / which has no arms or legs and lives in

the soil 쑗 Birds were pecking at the soil for worms.

worn

worn / worn out

worn out /

tired 쑗 He was worn out after the game

of rugby 쑗 She comes home every evening, worn out after a busy day at the office.

worried

worried /wrid/ adjective unhappy be-cause you think something bad will pen or because something bad has

hap-pened 쑗 He had a worried look on his face 쑗 She’s looking worried 쑗 I’m worried that we may run out of petrol.

worry

worry /wri/ verb to make someone feel

anxious 쑗 She’s always looks so tired, and that worries me (NOTE: worries –

some-thing that makes you anxious 쑗 Go on holiday and try to forget your worries.

(NOTE: The plural is worries.) 2 the

state of being anxious 쑗 She is a great source of worry for her family (NOTE:

no plural) worse

worse /

something else 쑗 It rained for the first week of our holidays, and the second week was even worse 쑗 I think this film

is worse than the one I saw last week 쑗

Both children are naughty – but the little

girl is worse than her brother 2 more ill

쑗 He’s much worse since he started

tak-worship 367 wrestle

ing his medicine 쐽 adverb not as well 쑗

He drives badly enough but his sister

drives even worse.

worship

worship /

respect God 쑗 The ancient peoples

wor-shipped stone statues of their gods 2 to

take part in a church service 쑗 They

worship regularly in the local church.

(NOTE: worships – worshipping –

worshipped)

worst

worst /

thing else 쑗 I think this is the worst film

he’s ever made 쐽 adverb less well than

anything or anyone else or than at any

other time 쑗 It’s difficult to say which

team played worst 쑗 She works worst

when she’s tired 쐽 noun a very bad

thing 쑗 This summer is the worst for

fif-ty years.

worth

to have a certain value or price 쑗 This

ring’s worth a lot of money 쑗 Gold is

worth more than silver 쑗 The house is

worth more than £250,000 2 왍 to be

worth doing something to find

some-thing good or helpful to do 쑗 It’s worth

taking a map with you, as you may get

lost in the little streets 쑗 His latest film

is well worth seeing 쑗 The old castle is

well worth visiting or is well worth a

visit 쐽 noun a value 쑗 Its worth will

in-crease each year 쑗 She lost jewellery of

great worth in the fire 쑗 Can you give

me twenty pounds’ worth of petrol?

would

would /wυd/ modal verb 1 used as a

po-lite way of asking someone to do

some-thing 쑗 Would you please stop talking?

쑗 Would someone please tell me where

the library is? 쑗 Would you like some

more tea? 2 used as the past of ‘will’ 쑗

He said he would be here for lunch 쑗

She hoped she would be well enough to

come 쑗 He wouldn’t go even if I paid

him 3 used as the past of ‘will’,

show-ing somethshow-ing which often happens 쑗

He would bring his dog with him, even

though we asked him not to 쑗 My

hus-band forgot my birthday again this year

– he would! 4 used for showing

some-thing which often happened in the past

쑗 Every morning she would go and feed

the chickens 쑗 He would always be

there waiting outside the station 쑗 They

would often bring us flowers 5 used

following a condition 쑗 I’m sure that if they could come, they would 쑗 I would’ve done it if you had asked me to.

쑗 If she were alive, she would or she’d

be a hundred years old today 쑗 If it snowed we would or we’d go skiing.

(NOTE: The negative would not is usu-ally written wouldn’t Note also that

a hundred, he’d stay at home Note

also that would is only used with other verbs and is not followed by to)

wound

wound 1 / someone’s body, usually in fighting 쐽

verb 1 to hurt someone badly by cutting

into their flesh 쑗 Two of the gang were

wounded in the bank robbery 2 to hurt

someone’s feelings 쑗 She was deeply wounded by what he said.

wound

wound 2 /waυnd/ past tense and past

par-ticiple of wind

wove

wove /wəυv/ past tense of weave

woven

woven /wəυv(ə)n/ past participle of

weave

wrap

wrap /rp/ verb to cover something by

putting something over it 쑗 She wrapped the parcel in paper (NOTE:

1. a type of shawl that is put round the

shoulders or the top part of the body 쑗

She pulled her wrap closer around her.

2. a piece of material used to cover

something 쑗 Remove the wrap before putting the dish in the microwave.

wrapping

wrapping /rpŋ/ noun the paper or plastic used to wrap something up wreck

wreck /rek/ noun 1 a ship which has

been sunk or badly damaged 쑗 Divers have discovered the wreck on the sea-bed 쑗 The wreck of the ‘Mary Rose’ was found in the sea near Southampton.

2. anything which has been damaged

and cannot be used 쑗 The police towed away the wreck of the car 쑗 Their house

is now a total wreck 쐽 verb to damage

something very badly 쑗 The ship was wrecked on the rocks in the storm 쑗 The bank was wrecked by the explosion.

wrestle

wrestle /res(ə)l/ verb to fight with someone to try to throw him to the