
wheedle | wheedle: v. coax, cajole, inveigle, charm, beguile, persuade, talk; butter up; Colloq con, sweet-talk: Irena always managed to wheedle someone into taking her dancing.
wheel | wheel: n. 1 disc, ring, annulus, circle, hoop: It seems odd that no culture in the western hemisphere ever invented the wheel. --v. 2 spin, turn, veer, swivel, pivot, swing, whirl: Medusa wheeled to face him and he promptly turned to stone.
whereabouts | whereabouts: n.pl. or sg. 1 location, position, place, site, situation, locale, neighbourhood, vicinity: Her present whereabouts are unknown to me. The culprit concealed his whereabouts from the police. --adv. 2 where, in or at or to what place, whither: Whereabouts are you going to spend your holiday? Whereabouts are you going?
whet | whet: v. 1 sharpen, hone, grind, file, put an edge on, strop: He whetted the knife on an oiled stone till it was razor-sharp. 2 pique, sharpen, awaken, arouse, stimulate, kindle, fire, increase, excite, enhance: The cruise on Bill''s yacht whetted my appetite to own a small sailing-boat.
whimsical | whimsical: adj. 1 quaint, fey, fanciful, odd, curious, unusual, chimeric(al), queer, singular, peculiar, funny, fantastic(al), pixyish, playful, puckish, absurd, preposterous, Colloq offbeat: When Andrew''s whimsical drawings caught on they were bought by greetings card makers. 2 capricious, erratic, eccentric, wavering, flighty, unsettled, fickle, mercurial, wavering, fluctuating, unpredictable, inconsistent, volatile, unsteady: The buses in our village run on what could best be termed a whimsical timetable.
whip | whip: v. 1 beat, thrash, lash, flog, horsewhip, scourge, switch, cane, birch, flagellate, leather, spank, strap; castigate, chastise, punish, discipline; Slang tan, US wale: They learnt right from wrong because father whipped them when they were wrong. 2 trounce, defeat, beat, conquer, overwhelm, rout, overcome, overpower, thwart, check, best, worst, drub, stop, outdo, Colloq lick, wipe the floor with, batter, Slang pulverize, clobber, destroy, ruin, murder, slaughter, kill, squash, smash, US cream: Karpilova whipped O''Meara 6-0, 6-2 at today''s match. 3 run, scamper, scoot, race, scurry, scramble, hurry, flit, rush, dash, dart, Colloq zip, zoom, skedaddle: I whipped round the corner and dived behind a tree to hide. 4 beat, whisk, fluff up: Whip the egg-whites till they are stiff. 5 Nautical seize, bind, wind, fasten, tie: The end of the line is whipped to prevent its unravelling. 6 whip out. yank out, jerk out, pull (out), whisk out, present, exhibit, flash, produce: He suddenly whipped out a gun and started shooting. 7 whip up. a stir up, agitate, arouse, rouse, work up, excite, incite: The rabble-rousers whipped the crowd into a frenzy. b improvise, put together or assemble or prepare quickly or hurriedly, Colloq knock together, knock up, US slap together: Tina whipped up a snack while we were waiting for Ken to arrive. --n. 8 scourge, knout, lash, cat-o''-nine-tails, rawhide, quirt, horsewhip, bull-whip, cane, birch, switch, thong, (riding-)crop, Colloq cat: We dreaded it when Dr Hazen eyed the whip hung behind the classroom door.
whipping | whipping: n. 1 beating, thrashing, lashing, flogging, horsewhipping, scourging, switching, caning, birching, flagellation, spanking: Once he had had a whipping, the boy would not misbehave again. 2 Nautical seizing, binding, tying, winding, fastening: The whipping will prevent the end of the line from unravelling.
whirlpool | whirlpool: n. maelstrom, vortex, eddy, whirl, swirl, Heraldry gurges: As we watched in horror, the canoe was drawn down into the whirlpool and disappeared.
whirlwind | whirlwind: n. 1 waterspout, dust devil, cyclone, typhoon, anticyclone, hurricane, extra-tropical cyclone, tropical cyclone, Nontechnical tornado, Nautical white squall, Australian willy-willy, Colloq US whirly: A whole row of houses was destroyed in the whirlwind. --adj. 2 speedy, quick, swift, sudden, precipitous, lightning, headlong, hasty, rash, impetuous: It was one of those whirlwind romances that last till the wind dies down.
whisk | whisk: v. 1 rush, dart, sweep, brush: Agatha whisked about the room, aimlessly moving small objects about on tables and shelves. 2 speed, rush, carry, whip, hasten, hustle, hurry: The taxi came and whisked Fran off to the airport. 3 See whip, 4, above. --n. 4 sweep, wave, brush, flick: With a whisk of his hand he dismissed the servants. 5 brush, fly-whisk: The chief flicked his whisk to signal that the audience was ended. 6 beater, whip: It is quicker to whip cream with a whisk.
whisky | whisky: n. whiskey, alcohol, spirits, John Barleycorn, usquebaugh, Scotch, home-brew, mother''s ruin (= ''gin''), Scots barley-bree, Brit Scotch, US rye, bourbon, white lightning, white mule, moonshine, Colloq booze, hooch, rot-gut, US corn, fire-water, Slang US Sneaky Pete, smoke: Peter is a welcome guest who always remembers to bring a bottle of whisky.
whisper | whisper: v. 1 breathe, murmur, mutter, mumble, hiss, speak or say softly or under (one''s) breath, sigh, susurrate: He whispered sweet nothings in her ear. 2 gossip, bruit about, noise abroad, murmur, insinuate, hint, rumour, disclose, divulge, reveal, breathe a word: We have all heard Corin whispering of your wife''s infidelities. --n. 3 murmur, undertone, hushed tone(s): Why do you always speak in whispers when talking about Nesta? 4 hint, suggestion, soup�on, suspicion: There was never the slightest whisper of gossip about Eleanor.
white | white: adj. 1 snow-white, snowy, chalk-white, chalky, ivory, creamy, milky, milk-white, oyster-white, off-white; silver, hoary: Many buildings in the tropics are painted white. Do you believe that a person''s hair can turn white overnight? 2 pale, pallid, pasty, wan, whey-faced, ashen, bloodless, drained, whitish, waxen, ghastly, ghostly, anaemic, dead white, deathly white, cadaverous, corpse-like: Her black dress contrasted starkly with her white complexion. 3 innocent, pure, unsullied, stainless, unblemished, spotless, immaculate, virginal, virtuous, undefiled, chaste: She came to you with white hands, which you have sought to dirty with your vicious accusations. 4 Caucasian, Caucasoid, light-skinned, fair-skinned, pale-complexioned: The American Indian was - and still is - treated very unfairly by the White man.
whitewash | whitewash: v. gloss over, cover up, sugar-coat, hide, camouflage, conceal, qualify, minimize, extenuate, diminish, play down, downplay, make light of, rationalize, excuse: We are being accused of whitewashing the dishonest actions of the previous administration.
whittle | whittle: v. 1 pare (down or away), shave, trim, cut, carve, hew, shape: Remember when Grandpapa used to whittle those tiny figures of elves when we were children? 2 Usually, whittle away at or down. pare, shave, cut, trim, reduce, diminish, erode, eat away at: If he keeps whittling away at his trust fund, he might have to get a job.
whole | whole: adj. 1 entire, complete, uncut, full, intact, unbroken, total: I can''t believe she ate the whole chicken. Were you here the whole time? 2 in one piece, intact, unharmed, undamaged, unscathed, unimpaired, unhurt, uninjured: How could anyone emerge whole from that smash-up? 3 well, healthy, sound, fit, strong: The surgeons have made him whole again. --n. 4 everything, aggregate, (sum) total, totality, lot, entirety; ensemble; Colloq whole kit and caboodle: I look at the whole and don''t bother about petty details. 5 on the whole. largely, mostly, usually, more often than not, for the most part, in general, generally, by and large, with few exceptions, all things considered, all in all, as a rule, chiefly, mainly, in the main, predominantly: On the whole, our clients collect only originals, not copies or prints.
wholehearted | wholehearted: adj. devoted, dedicated, committed, earnest, sincere, unqualified, unmitigated, unreserved, complete, entire, unstinting, real, true, genuine, hearty, heartfelt, serious, enthusiastic, zealous, warm, fervent, ardent, spirited, eager, energetic: Once I agree to help, you can rely on my wholehearted support.
wholesome | wholesome: adj. 1 healthful, healthy, health-giving, nutritious, nourishing, beneficial, tonic, salutary, salubrious, strengthening, bracing, stimulating: Everyone should regularly engage in wholesome exercise. 2 moral, ethical, righteous, upright, honourable, decent, principled, proper, fit, meet: I am not sure that the child is being brought up in a wholesome atmosphere.
wholly | wholly: adv. 1 altogether, entirely, absolutely, quite, totally, thoroughly, completely, in toto, fully, in all respects, in every way, all in all, utterly, unqualifiedly, every inch, 100%; lock, stock, and barrel; root and branch; backwards and forwards; from the ground up; Colloq bag and baggage; hook, line, and sinker; to the nth degree; (the) whole hog, US up one side and down the other: We are wholly on your side in this matter. The company has been wholly reorganized. 2 only, exclusively, solely, unexceptionally, categorically, unequivocally, unambiguously, explicitly: The success or failure of the plan depends wholly on you.
whoop | whoop: n. 1 shout, shriek, yell, roar, bellow, hoot, (battle or war) cry, war-whoop, outcry, scream, screech, squeal, yelp, yowl, howl, bark; cheer, hurrah, huzzah; Colloq holler: At his whoop of joy we knew he had passed the exam. --v. 2 shout, shriek, yell, roar, bellow, hoot, cry (out), scream, screech, squeal, yelp, yowl, howl, bark; cheer, hurrah, huzzah; Colloq holler: He heard the tribesmen whooping as they descended on the fort.
whopping | whopping: adj. 1 huge, great, enormous, colossal, gigantic, immense, tremendous, prodigious, monstrous, thumping, mammoth, massive, Brobdingnagian: With that whopping Great Dane of yours in the kitchen there''s no room to move about. 2 flagrant, outrageous, extravagant, terrible, awful: Jones tells such whopping lies I don''t know when to believe him.
