Definitions of
sound-alike words: W
- wail
- to cry loudly, expressing sorrow, as in: The baby started to wail when Mother left the room.
- whale
- to hit or beat, as in: In times past, a teacher might threaten to whale an unruly student.
"I'm a dutch-speaking Belgian user of this site, but I always thought that a whale was a rather big fish with a particular appetite for Jonah's ...With kind regards, Stefan Van pellicom"
- waist
- that part of a human body between the ribs and the hips, as in: She wore a red belt around her waist.
- waste
- act of squandering, as in: For the sake of our budget, we must cut down on waste in this office.
- wait
- period of expectation, as in: Dinner took a long
time, but it was well worth the wait.
- weight
- heaviness, as in: It feels good to sit down and take the weight off my feet.
- waive
- to give up something you are entitled to, as in: We will waive the application fee if you sign up now.
- wave
- to signal by bending your hand up and down, as in: We will wave our hands when the coast is clear.
(Thanks to word-lover Chris Maddox, who gets letters from her bank saying they will wave the fee)
- waiver
- voluntary relinquishment of a right, as in: The
university gave him a waiver for the payment of tuition.
- waver
- go back and forth on a decision, as in: We must
decide today--there's no more time to waver.
- want
- have a desire for, as in: Children want to be loved and cared for.
- wont
- customary practice or habit, as in: It was his wont to stay late at the office.
- won't
- contraction meaning will not, as in: The boss called, saying he won't be in until ten.
- ware
- article of merchandise, as in: I saw all the new software at Spring Internet World.
- wear
- clothes, as in: She was prepared for the weather in her stylish red rainwear.
- way
- course of action or manner, as in: There must be a
better way to learn this lesson.
- weigh
- measure the heaviness of, as in: It's a good idea to use the same scale each time you weigh yourself.
- weak
- having little strength, as in: She felt weak because she hadn't eaten all day.
- week
- period of seven days, as in: Let's have lunch a week from today.
- weather
- climate, as in: San Diego, California, is famous for nice weather.
- whether
- conjunction before the first of two choices, as in: I can't decide whether I want to sell the property or keep it.
- which
- what one, as in: Which Web
browser do you use?
- witch
- woman claiming to have magical powers, as in: The witch gave them herbs.
- whine
- a high-pitched sound, as in: Just about every parent cringes when they hear, "I'm bored" in that whine that sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard.
- wine
- wine is the naturally fermented juice of fresh fruit or berries, as in: Even for wine experts, a common problem is
the impoverished language we have for describing tastes and smells.
A large part of the wine taster’s skill comes from being able to develop
some sort of classification system and then to associate words/categories with
smells--olfaction
researcher Professor Tim Jacob of Cardiff University
Thanks to word-lover Rabiatul Kamit for suggesting this word pair, May 2002
- who ever
- who as a pronoun and ever as an adverb, as in: Who ever comes to this deserted place?
- whoever
- anyone who, as in: Whoever
wants this book can have it.
- holly
- plant of the Ilex genus, as in: We have a hedge of holly bushes on our property.
- holy
- sacred or pure, as in: The people refused to build
there because they considered it holy ground.
- wholly
- completely or entirely, as in: The company is wholly owned by one family.
- who's
- contraction of who is or who has, as in: Who's been eating my porridge?
- whose
- belonging to who, as in: I'm not sure whose shoes are these?
- one
- single person or thing, as in: The store is locatedon a one-way street.
- won
- past tense of win, as in: Who won
the basketball game?
- wood
- lumber, as in: The book said wood
floors look nice and last a long time.
- would
- auxiliary verb used to express a condition, futurity, preference, intention, longing, probability, a request, habitual action, or uncertainty, as in: I would go with you if I could.
- rap
- knock or tap sharply, as in: Rap
on the door again; I'm sure someone's home.
- wrap
- to put a cover around something, as in: Be sure to wrap the baby warmly in this cold weather.
- retch
- to try to vomit, as in: The awful smell made me retch.
- wretch
- a pitiful or despised person, as in: I'd like to get my hands on the wretch who robbed the blind old man.
- right
- correct or accurate, as in: Careful writers strive to use the right word.
- rite
- customary and solemn ritual or ceremony, as in: The rite of baptism is taken very seriously in many faiths.
- wright
- someone who makes or repairs a thing, as in: My grandfather was a shipwright and my grandson is a playwright.
- write
- to put letters of the alphabet, numbers, and/or punctuation marks on a surface to be read, as in: When I write my goals on paper I am more likely to achieve them than if they remain only as thoughts in my head.
- rote
- unthinking routine, as in: Foreign languages used to be taught by the rote method.
- wrote
- past tense of to write, as in: I wrote to the company last week but I haven't received any answer yet.
This list of definitions can't replace your dictionary. Rather
than discussing every possible meaning of the words on this list,
I try to show how one word differs from another in a group of words that sound or
look very much alike.
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