W
Idioms beginning with "W"
Part of speech, explanation, example sentences, pronunciation
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Contents of W:
[while]
See:
[AFTER A WHILE] or [IN A WHILE],
[ALL THE TIME] (1),
[EVERY NOW AND THEN] or [EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE],
[ONCE IN A WHILE].
[while ago] {adv.}
At a time several minutes in the past; a few minutes ago; a short time ago. — Used with "a".
I laid my glasses on this table a while ago; and now they're gone.
* /A while ago, Mary was tired and wanted to go home; now she's […]
[while away] {v.}
To make time go by pleasantly or without being bored; pass or spend.
We whiled away the time that we were waiting by talking and playing cards.
We whiled away the summer swimming and fishing.
[while back] {adv.}
At a time several weeks or months in the past. — Used with "a".
We had a good rain a while back, but we need more now.
Grandfather is well now, but a while back he was in the hospital for three weeks.
See: [CRACK THE WHIP].
[whip up] {v.}, {informal}
1. To make or do quickly or easily.
Mary whipped up a lunch for the picnic.
The reporter whipped up a story about the fire for his paper.
2. To make active; stir to action; excite.
* /The girls are trying to whip […]
[whipping boy] {n. phr.}
The person who gets punished for someone else's mistake.
"I used to be the whipping boy during my early days at the company," he musingly remembered.
[whispering campaign] {n.}
The spreading of false rumors, or saying bad things, about a person or group, especially in politics or public life.
A bad man has started a whispering campaign against the mayor, saying that he isn't honest.