
wrap | wrap: v. 1 Sometimes, wrap up. swathe, swaddle, bind, cover, enwrap, envelop, wind, enshroud, shroud, enfold, fold, muffle, enclose, sheathe, encase; pack, package, do up, gift-wrap: Wrap up well - it''s cold outside. I''ve just finished wrapping some Christmas presents. 2 wrapped up in. immersed in, submerged in, buried in, absorbed in, engrossed in, bound up in, involved in, occupied with or by or in, engaged in, dedicated to, devoted to: While Irma is completely wrapped up in her grandchildren, Henry is wrapped up in his books. 3 wrap up. a complete, conclude, finish, end, bring to a close, terminate, wind up, settle, tidy up: We''ll be able to wrap things up in an hour and go home. b Wrap up! Be silent!, Be quiet!, Stop talking!, Hold your tongue!, Slang Shut up!, Shut your face!, Shut your trap!, Shut your mouth!, Brit Put a sock in it!: He would have kept on wittering away if she hadn''t told him to wrap up. --n. 4 stole, shawl, mantle, poncho, serape, cloak, cape: Sonia adjusted her evening wrap before going out to dinner.
wrapper | wrapper: n. 1 housecoat, robe, dressing-gown, bathrobe, kimono, negligee, lounging robe, peignoir, US house-dress: Peggy threw on a wrapper and went to answer the door. 2 envelope, package, packing, wrapping, covering, jacket, case, casing, container: Throw the wrapper in the dustbin.
wreak | wreak: v. inflict, exercise, exert, carry out, bring (to bear), visit, effect, work, unleash, execute, impose, force, vent, let go: The tribesmen wreaked vengeance on the hill people for destroying their farms.
wreck | wreck: v. 1 destroy, ruin, devastate, demolish, smash, shatter, spoil, dash (to pieces), reduce to nothing, turn into scrap, annihilate: He drove my motor-bike into a tree and wrecked it. 2 sink, scuttle, run aground, founder, capsize: The ship was wrecked on a reef near Rarotonga. --n. 3 hulk, shipwreck, ruins: The wreck finally rusted away to nothing. 4 mess, disaster, ruin; havoc: That man made a wreck of her life. 5 destruction, loss, sinking, devastation, foundering, grounding, capsize, capsizing, disabling, disablement, wrecking; demolition, demolishing, levelling, tearing down, razing, pulling down, obliteration: The wreck of the Titanic was a major news event in 1912. The wreck of the old tower block is scheduled for next month.
wreckage | wreckage: n. debris, fragments, remains, rubble, ruin(s): The wreckage of the building is being searched for survivors.
wrench | wrench: v. 1 yank, twist, jerk, force, pull, tug, tear, wring, rip, wrest: The gun was wrenched from my grasp, breaking my finger. 2 strain, sprain, twist, overstrain: After she wrenched her ankle on the ladder, Mary couldn''t walk for a week. 3 extract, wrest, wring, force, pry, draw: The only way they could wrench the information from Michael was by torturing him. --n. 4 yank, twist, jerk, pull, tug, rip: One wrench at the doorknob and it came off in my hand. 5 pang, pain, agony, torture, blow, ache, throe, anguish, sadness, grief, heartbreak: The severest wrench at my heartstrings came when we had to part. 6 Brit spanner, shifting spanner, adjustable spanner, US monkey wrench: We need metric wrenches to work on your car.
wrestle | wrestle: v. battle, fight, struggle, tussle, strive: After thirty years Garth wrestled his way to the top in the company.
wretch | wretch: n. 1 scoundrel, blackguard, worm, villain, cur, beast, dog, swine, rogue, good-for-nothing, knave, varlet, scallywag or scalawag, rascal, rapscallion, Archaic caitiff, whoreson, Colloq rat, stinker, louse, creep, Slang bastard, Brit rotter, bounder, blighter, US bum: That wretch not only stole my wife but asked me for money to support her! 2 unfortunate, poor fellow or chap, miserable creature, poor devil, pilgarlic, Slang poor bastard or son of a bitch, Brit poor bugger or sod, US sad sack: The poor wretch cannot keep a job and lives off others'' charity.
wretched | wretched: adj. 1 miserable, awful, terrible, atrocious, deplorable, Colloq lousy, rotten: We had the most wretched weather throughout our holiday. 2 unhappy, sad, miserable, woebegone, woeful, dismal, downhearted, heartbroken, broken-hearted, heartsick, dejected, depressed, melancholic, melancholy, mournful, disconsolate, inconsolable, doleful, cheerless, crestfallen, joyless, desolate: If you want to see a wretched human being, look at a boy whose dog is lost. 3 pitiable, pathetic, sorry, pitiful, hapless, hopeless, unfortunate, miserable: The poor in these tropical paradises are some of the most wretched people on earth. 4 vile, shameful, scurvy, underhand(ed), treacherous, contemptible, despicable, base, low, mean, paltry, mean-spirited, detestable: It was hard to see how the people could support such a wretched little demagogue.
wriggle | wriggle: v. 1 wiggle, wobble, shake, tremble, quiver, jiggle, waggle, writhe, twist, fidget: She managed to wriggle free of the ropes and run away. The dog was wriggling with excitement at seeing its master. 2 twist, squirm, snake, worm, writhe, slither, crawl: He wriggled through the narrow opening into the strongroom. --n. 3 wiggle, zigzag, wavy line, Colloq squiggle, squiggly line: The page had no writing on it, only a lot of wriggles. 4 wriggling, writhing, squirm, squirming, wiggle, wiggling, shaking, trembling, quiver, quivering, shimmying, waggle, waggling, twisting, twist: Don''t confuse that rhythmic wriggle of the hips with dancing.
wrinkle� | wrinkle�: n. 1 crease, fold, line, furrow, crinkle, crow''s-foot, corrugation, pucker, ridge: She hasn''t a wrinkle on her face - but then she''s only nine. --v. 2 crease, fold, line, furrow, crinkle, corrugate, pucker, gather, ruck, crimp, screw up, rumple, crumple: I love the way you wrinkle your nose when you''re perplexed.
wrinkle� | wrinkle�: n. dodge, gimmick, device, ploy, ruse, scheme, trick, idea, plan, plot, stunt, way, approach, technique, method, Slang chiefly Brit wheeze: Leave it to Edmund to come up with a new wrinkle for fleecing pensioners.
write | write: v. 1 pen, scribble, get off, dash off; indite, inscribe, make out: I was writing you a note when you phoned. She wrote out a cheque for �1000. 2 correspond (with), send a letter or a note or a postcard or US also a postal card, communicate (with): You don''t write home often enough. Write and let me know when you get a job. 3 compose, create, make up, author: We saw the house in which Elgar wrote the ''Enigma'' Variations. 4 write down. a register, list, catalogue, note, make a note or notation, record, transcribe, set or jot or take down, note, put in writing, put in black and white: The teacher was known for Irish bulls like, ''All absent students must write down their names''. b derogate, decry, disparage, put down, minimize, make little of, play down, detract, belittle: Cumberland''s contributions have been written down by his critics. 5 write off. delete, cancel, disregard, ignore, forgive, forget (about), annul, eradicate, erase: The bad debts have been written off.
writer | writer: n. author, novelist, litt�rateur, essayist, man of letters, scribe, scribbler, wordsmith, freelancer, penny-a-liner, hack, Grub Streeter, journalist, newsman, reporter, correspondent, member of the fourth estate, (gossip) columnist, stringer, Brit paragraphist, US paragrapher, Colloq pen-pusher, pencil-pusher, sob sister, Brit journo: These days all those who know how to write call themselves writers.
writing | writing: n. 1 handwriting, longhand, penmanship, script, calligraphy or chirography, scribble: I sometimes have trouble reading your writing. 2 Sometimes, writings. (literary) work(s), composition, theme, book, article, critique, criticism, review, editorial, column, expos�, essay, poetry, poem, novel, non-fiction, fiction, document, letter, correspondence, publication, Chiefly Brit journalism leading article or leader, Chiefly US journalism op-ed article: Her writing has been widely published. Poe''s writings are collected in this book. 3 literature, belles-lettres, letters: I don''t agree that British writing has declined since 1900.
wrong | wrong: adj. 1 improper, unjust, unfair, injudicious, unethical, terrible, foul, awful, bad, immoral, sinful, evil, iniquitous, villainous, wicked, vile, diabolic(al), infernal, fiendish, corrupt, dishonest, reprehensible, abominable, dreadful, dishonourable, blameworthy, naughty, shameful, disgraceful, opprobrious, criminal, felonious, illegal, illicit, unlawful, illegitimate, Colloq crooked: They believe that all war is wrong. It was wrong of you to come here while my husband was away. 2 mistaken, in error, erroneous, incorrect, inaccurate, imprecise, inexact, fallacious, askew, false, wide of the mark; strange, odd, peculiar, curious; Colloq off target or US also off the target, Brit off beam, US off the beam: The answers to these four questions were all wrong. You certainly have some wrong ideas about me. 3 incorrect, improper, unsuitable: They must have given us the wrong baby at the hospital. 4 inappropriate, inapt, improper, indecorous, unseemly, unfitting, unacceptable, undesirable, incongruous, unbecoming, out of place, ill-considered, wrong-headed, imprudent, misguided, inexpedient, impolitic, infelicitous, Colloq out of line: You saw nothing wrong in inviting girls to stay with you in your rooms? Your mother thinks she''s the wrong girl for you. 5 out of order, not working, faulty, awry, amiss, the matter, defective, imperfect, unsound, flawed, deficient: Considering the noise my car makes, there must be something wrong. 6 opposite, reverse, incorrect, improper: That is the wrong direction to the post office. --adv. 7 awry, imperfectly, incorrectly, improperly, inappropriately, amiss, badly, wrongly, Scots and No. Eng. and literary agley, Colloq out of sync: You''ve wired up the video all wrong. 8 go wrong. a go astray, falter, fail, lapse, err, fall from grace, go to the bad, deteriorate, go downhill, backslide, regress, retrogress, recidivate: Her father was convinced that she would go wrong if she went into the theatre. b fail, malfunction, break down, miscarry, backfire, fall through, Colloq flop, come to grief, go kaput, Brit go phut: The entire plan went wrong when Clara started screaming. --v. 9 abuse, mistreat, injure, misuse, maltreat, ill-use, ill-treat, discredit, asperse, calumniate, malign, dishonour, impose upon, take advantage of, harm, damage, oppress: He believes he was wronged by his commanding officer.
wry | wry: adj. 1 distorted, contorted, twisted, lopsided, deformed, crooked, aslant, one-sided, askew, bent, tilted, off-centre: He is afflicted by a rheumatic disorder, which gives his neck a wry appearance. 2 dry, droll, witty, sardonic, sarcastic, ironic(al), amusing; perverse, fey; Scots pawky: Bill has a wry sense of humour that does not appeal to everyone.
