whys

the whys and wherefores of something the

reason or causes relating to something.

I refuse to discuss the whys and wherefores

of my decision. It’s final. Bob doesn’t

know the whys and wherefores of his con-

tract. He just knows that it means he will

get a lot of money when he finishes the

work.

wide-awake completely awake. After the

telephone rang, I was wide-awake for an

hour. I’m not very wide-awake at six

o’clock in the morning.

wide of the mark 1. far from the target.

Tom’s shot was wide of the mark. The

pitch was quite fast, but wide of the mark.

2. inadequate; far from what is required

or expected. Jane’s efforts were sincere,

but wide of the mark.  He failed the

course because everything he did was wide

of the mark.

wild about someone or something enthusiastic

about someone or something.

wild about chocolate ice cream. Sally is

wild about Tom and his new car.

a wild-goose chase a worthless hunt or

chase; a futile pursuit. I wasted all af-

ternoon on a wild-goose chase. John was

angry because he was sent out on a wild-

goose chase.

will not hear of something will not tolerate

or permit something. You mustn’t drive

home alone. I won’t hear of it. My par-

ents won’t hear of my staying out that late.

win by a nose to win by the slightest

amount of difference. (Informal. As in a

horse race where one horse wins with

only its nose ahead of the horse that

comes in second.) I ran the fastest race

I could, but I only won by a nose. Sally

won the race, but she only won by a nose.

win out (over someone or something) to beat

someone or something in a race or a con-

test. My horse won out over yours, so

you lose your bet. I knew I could win out

if I just kept trying.

win someone over to succeed in gaining the

support and sympathy of someone.

Jane’s parents disapproved of her engage-

ment at first, but she won them over.

I’m trying to win the boss over and get him

to give us the day off.

win the day Go to carry the day.

wind down to decrease or diminish.

Things are very busy now, but they’ll wind

down in about an hour. I hope business

winds down soon. I’m exhausted.

wind something up to conclude something.

(Also literal.) Today we’ll wind that

deal up with the bank. T I have a few

items of business to wind up; then I’ll be

with you.

wind up doing something Go to end up doing

something.

wind up somewhere Go to end up somewhere.

window-shopping the habit or practice of

looking at goods in shop windows or

stores without actually buying anything.

Mary and Jane do a lot of window-

shopping in their lunch hour, looking for

things to buy when they get paid. Jane

said she was just window-shopping, but she

bought a new coat.

wing it to do the best that one can in a sit-

uation, especially when one is not pre-

pared. (Compare this with play something

by ear.) I lost my notes before my speech,

and I had to wing it. The professor, it

turned out, was winging it in every single

lecture.

wink at something to ignore something. (In-

formal.) Billy caused me a little trouble,

but I just winked at it. This is a serious

matter, and you can’t expect me just to

wink at it.

wipe someone or something out 1. to cause

someone to be broke. (Slang.) They

wiped me out in the poker game. T The

crop failure wiped out all the farmers. 2.

to exterminate someone or something.

(Slang.) The hunters came and wiped

all the deer out. T The crooks wiped out

the two witnesses.

wipe someone’s slate clean to erase some-

one’s (bad) record. (Figurative.) I’d like

to wipe my slate clean and start all over

again. Bob did badly in high school, but

he wiped his slate clean and did a good job

in college.

wipe something off 1. to remove something

(from something else) by wiping or rub-

bing. There is mud on your shirt. Please

wipe it off. T My shirt has catsup on it. I

must wipe off the catsup. 2. to tidy or

clean something by wiping (something

else) off. Please wipe the table off.

There’s water on it. T Wipe off your shirt.

There’s catsup on it.

wise as an owl Go to (as) wise as an owl.

wise as Solomon Go to (as) wise as

Solomon.

wise up (to someone or something) to begin to

understand the truth about someone or

something. (Slang.) It was almost a

week before I began to wise up to John. He’s

a total phony. You had better stay hid-

den for a while. The police are beginning

to wise up.

wish something off on someone to pass some-

thing off onto someone else. (Informal.)

I don’t want to have to deal with your

problems. Don’t wish them off on me. T

The storekeeper wished off the defective

watch on the very next customer who came

in.

wishful thinking believing that something

is true or that something will happen just

because one wishes that it were true or

would happen. Hoping for a car as a

birthday present is just wishful thinking.

Your parents can’t afford it. Mary thinks

that she is going to get a big rise, but that’s

wishful thinking. Her boss is so mean.

with a heavy heart sadly. With a heavy

heart, she said good-bye. We left school

on the last day with a heavy heart.

with all one’s heart and soul very sin-

cerely. Oh, Bill, I love you with all my

heart and soul, and I always will! She

thanked us with all her heart and soul for

the gift.

with all the fixings with all the condi-

ments that accompany a certain kind of

food. For $5.99 you get a turkey din-

ner with all the fixings. Max likes his

hamburgers with all the fixings.

with an eye to doing something Go to with a

view to doing something.

with a vengeance with determination and

eagerness, as if angry. The angry soldier

attacked the enemy with a vengeance.

Bill ate all his dinner and gobbled up his

dessert with a vengeance.

with a will with determination and en-

thusiasm. The children worked with a

will to finish the project on time. The

workers set about manufacturing the new

products with a will.

with bells on (one’s toes) eagerly, willingly,

and on time. Oh, yes! I’ll meet you at

the restaurant. I’ll be there with bells on.

All the smiling children were there wait-

ing for me with bells on their toes.

with both hands tied behind one’s back

Go to with one hand tied behind one’s

back.

with each passing day as days pass, one

by one; day by day. Things grow more

expensive with each passing day. We are

all growing older with each passing day.

with ease without effort. The smart stu-

dent passed the test with ease. The gym-

nast did a back f lip with ease.

with every (other) breath [saying some-

thing] repeatedly or continually. Bob

was out in the yard, raking leaves and curs-

ing with every other breath. The child

was so grateful that she was thanking me

with every breath.

with everything (on it) [of a sandwich]

ordered with everything available on it,

such as ketchup, mustard, onions, cheese,

peppers, chili, lettuce, tomato, etc., as ap-

propriate. Do you want it with every-

thing?  Give me a cheeseburger with

everything on it.

with flying colors easily and excellently.

(Flying colors refers to ships’ pennants.)

John passed his geometry test with f ly-

ing colors. Sally qualified for the race

with f lying colors.

(with) hat in hand with humility. (Also

literal.) She stormed off but came back

with hat in hand when she ran out of

money. We had to go hat in hand to the

committee to get a grant for our proposal.

with impunity without risk of punish-

ment; with immunity from the negative

consequences of an act; while being ex-

empt from punishment. The diplomat

parked in illegal parking spaces with im-

punity. Bob used his brother’s property

with impunity.

with it 1. alert and knowledgeable. (Slang.)

Jane isn’t making any sense. She’s not

really with it tonight. Jean’s mother is

not really with it anymore. She’s going se-

nile. Peter’s not with it yet. He’s only just

come round from the anesthetic. 2. up-to-

date. (Slang.) My parents are so old-

fashioned. I’m sure they were never with

it. Why do you wear those baggy old

clothes? Why aren’t you with it?

with no strings attached and without

any strings attached unconditionally;

with no obligations attached. My par-

ents gave me a computer without any

strings attached. I want this only if it

comes with no strings attached.

with one hand tied behind one’s back

and with both hands tied behind one’s

back even under a severe handicap; eas-

ily. I could put an end to this argument

with one hand tied behind my back.

John could do this job with both hands tied

behind his back.

with one’s tail between one’s legs appear-

ing frightened or cowardly, like a fright-

ened or defeated dog; appearing threat-

ened or humiliated. John seems to lack

courage. When people criticize him un-

justly, he just goes away with his tail be-

tween his legs and doesn’t tell them that

they’re wrong. The frightened dog ran

away with its tail between its legs when the

bigger dog growled.

with regard to someone or something con-

cerning someone or something. What

shall we do with regard to planning din-

ner? With regard to Bill, I think he is

working too hard.

with respect to someone or something of or

about someone or something. With re-

spect to radiation, this power plant is very

safe. This article examines experiments

with respect to ethical issues.

with something to spare Go to and something

to spare.

with the best will in the world however

much one wishes to do something or

however hard one tries to do something.

With the best will in the world, Jack

won’t be able to help Mary get the job.

With the best will in the world, they won’t

finish the job in time.

wither on the vine and die on the vine

[for something] to decline or fade away

at an early stage of development. (Also

literal in reference to grapes or other

fruit.) You have a great plan, Tom. Let’s

keep it alive. Don’t let it wither on the vine.

The whole project died on the vine when

the contract was canceled.

within an inch of one’s life very close to

taking one’s life; almost to death. The

accident frightened me within an inch of

my life. When Mary was seriously ill in

the hospital, she came within an inch of

her life.

within a stone’s throw (of something) and

(just) a stone’s throw (away) (from

something) very close (to something). (Pos-

sibly as close as the distance one could

throw a stone. It usually refers to a dis-

tance much greater than one could throw

a stone.) The police department was lo-

cated within a stone’s throw of our house.

We live in Carbondale, and that’s just

a stone’s throw from the Mississippi River.

Come visit. We live just a stone’s throw

away. John saw Mary across the street,

just a stone’s throw away. Philadelphia

is a stone’s throw from New York City.

within bounds Go to within limits.

within calling distance Go to within hail-

ing distance.

within limits and within bounds up to a

certain point; with certain restrictions.

You’re free to do what you want—within

limits, of course. You must try to keep

behavior at the party within bounds.

within reason reasonable; reasonably.

You can do anything you want within rea-

son. I’ll pay any sum you ask—within

reason.

within shouting distance Go to within

hailing distance.

within someone’s grasp Go to within some-

one’s reach.

within someone’s reach and within some-

one’s grasp almost in the possession of

someone. My goals are almost within

my reach, so I know I’ll succeed. We al-

most had the contract within our grasp,

but the deal fell through at the last minute.

within walking distance close enough to

walk to. Is the train station within walk-

ing distance? My office is within walk-

ing distance from here.

without a moment to spare Go to not a

moment to spare.

without any strings attached Go to with

no strings attached.

without batting an eye casually; without

showing alarm or response. I knew I

had insulted her, but she turned to me and

asked me to leave without batting an eye.

Right in the middle of the speech—

without batting an eye—the speaker

walked off the stage.

without fail for certain; absolutely. I’ll

be there at noon without fail. The plane

leaves on time every day without fail.

without further ado without further talk.

(An overworked phrase usually heard in

public announcements.) And without

further ado, I would like to introduce Mr.

Bill Franklin!  The time has come to

leave, so without further ado, good evening

and good-bye.

without question absolutely; certainly.

She agreed to help without question. She

said, “I stand ready to support you with-

out question.”

without rhyme or reason without pur-

pose, order, or reason. The teacher said

my report was disorganized. My para-

graphs seemed to be without rhyme or rea-

son. Everything you do seems to be with-

out rhyme or reason. This procedure is

without rhyme or reason.

without so much as doing something with-

out even doing something. Jane bor-

rowed Bob’s car without so much as ask-

ing his permission.  Mary’s husband

walked out without so much as saying

good-bye.

Woe is me! I am unfortunate!; I am un-

happy! (Usually humorous.) Woe is

me! I have to work when the rest of the of-

fice staff is off. Woe is me. I have the

f lu and my friends have gone to a party.

a wolf in sheep’s clothing someone or

something threatening that is disguised

as someone or something kind. Beware

of the police chief. He seems polite, but he’s

a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This proposal

seems harmless enough, but I think it’s a

wolf in sheep’s clothing.

woman to woman Go to man to man.