English Idioms - letter W

Idiom	Definition	Usage
wade into	join in	The football player decided to wade into the fight to protect his teammates.
wait on someone hand and foot	serve his wife in every possible way	He likes to wait on his wife hand and foot.
wait up for	not go to bed and wait for	The woman decided to wait up for her daughter to come home.
waiting tables	serving food	He spent the summer waiting tables at the resort.
walk all over	control and take advantage of	She is always trying to walk all over him.
walk away with	steal	Someone tried to walk away with the office computer.
walk in the park	easy	This class is gonna be a walk in the park.
walk of life	social level	People from every walk of life came to event.
walk off with	steal	Someone tried to walk off with the office computer.
walk on air	be happy	She is going to walk on air when he gives her the diamond ring.
walk out	go on strike	Many workers at the factory decided to walk out today.
walk out	leave suddenly	They decided to walk out in the middle of the meeting.
walk the floor	walk back and forth across the floor	She will usually walk the floor when she is nervous.
walk the plank	resign	The manager of the department was forced to walk the plank.
walking papers	dismissal	She was given her walking papers from his company last week.
waltz off with	take	The home team was able to waltz off with the championship again.
warm up to	become friendly with	She could easily warm up to the new student.
warm up	practice	The baseball team began to warm up before the game.
wash one's hands of	abandon	You should wash your hands of this problem.
washed up	no longer successful	The player was all washed up and had to retire.
waste one's breath	speak pointlessly	Do not waste your breath trying to change her mind.
watch it	be careful	I think you should watch it if you travel to that city.
watch one's P's and Q's	be well-behaved	The teacher told him to watch his P's and Q's.
water down	make weaker	You need to water down the new office policies.
water under the bridge	in the past	The situation is water under the bridge and you should move on.
way off base	way off base	The plan to redesign the office was way off base.
way the wind blows	situation occurs	The vacation plans will depend on which way the wind blows.
wear and tear	damage as a result of ordinary use	She put a lot of wear and tear on her car.
wear away	disappear	The face on the coin began to wear away.
wear down	deteriorate	The river proceeded to wear down the rocks over time.
wear down	exhaust	Try not to wear down the employees with a long speech.
wear off	disappear	The face on the coin began to wear off.
wear on	annoy	She was really beginning to wear on him.
wear out	deteriorate	The shoes began to wear out after only one week.
wear out	exhaust	Try not to wear out the employees with a long speech.
wear out one's welcome	stay too long	Try not to wear out your welcome at the party.
wear thin	disappear	The face on the coin began to wear thin.
wear thin	be less believable	Her excuses have begun to wear thin.
wears the pants	is the boss	I think she wears the pants in that family.
weed out	sort and dispose of	She needs to weed out the clothes she does not want anymore.
weigh on	concern and worry	The upcoming college entrance exam began to weigh on her.
weigh upon	concern and worry	The upcoming college entrance exam began to weigh upon her.
weigh one's words	think about what you will say	You should weigh your words before you tell her.
well-off	wealthy	The owner of the restaurant is certainly well-off.
well-to-do	wealthy	The owner of the restaurant is certainly well-to-do.
went through	was okay	It went through this time.
well and good	good	It is well and good that he wants to discuss the problem.
well-heeled	wealthy	The owner of the restaurant is certainly well-heeled.
wet behind the ears	inexperienced	The new employee is wet behind the ears.
wet blanket	person who discourages others from having fun	She is a wet blanket so we never invite her to any parties.
wet one's whistle	drink something	She was tired from hiking and needed to wet her whistle.
what's cooking	is happening	She really wants to know what's cooking.
what's doing	is happening	She really wants to know what's doing.
what's up	is happening	She really wants to know what's up.
what's up with	what is happening with	Hey, what's up with the manager today.
what's with	what is happening with	Hey, what's with the manager today.
what's the big idea	what were you thinking	Hey, what's the big idea using the car without asking?
what's what	one thing from another	It is hard to tell what's what at an auction.
wiped out	tired	I was really wiped out after looking at those lines.
work out	exercise	She likes to work out at the gym.
work out	develop	They needed to work out the plans of the new product.
write off	remove the expense of	They were able to write off the money spent on entertainment.