# dict

Words: working class
Meaning:
work.ing class\n   working class  working classes\n  The working class or the working classes are the group of people in a society who do not own much property, who have low social status, and who do jobs which involve using physical skills rather than intellectual skills.\n...increased levels of home ownership among the working classes.\n  N-COUNT-COLL: the N\n\n  Working class is also an adjective.\n...a self-educated man from a working class background...\nThe group is mainly black, mainly working-class.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: working group
Meaning:
work.ing group\n   working group  working groups\n  A working group is the same as a working party.\nThere will be a working group on international issues.\n  N-COUNT-COLL


Words: working men’s club
Meaning:
work.ing men’s club\n   working men’s club  working men’s clubs\n  A working men’s club is a place where working people, especially men, can go to relax, drink alcoholic drinks, and sometimes watch live entertainment.\n  N-COUNT


Words: working party
Meaning:
work.ing par.ty\n   working party  working parties\n  A working party is a committee which is formed to investigate a particular situation or problem and to produce a report containing its opinions and suggestions. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use working group)\nThey set up a working party to look into the issue.\n  N-COUNT-COLL\n  = working group


Words: workload
Meaning:
work.load\n   workload  workloads   also work load\n  The workload of a person or organization is the amount of work that has to be done by them.\nThe sudden cancellation of Mr Blair’s trip was due to his heavy workload...\n  N-COUNT: oft supp N


Words: workman
Meaning:
work.man\n   workman  workmen\n  A workman is a man who works with his hands, for example building or repairing houses or roads.\nIn University Square workmen are building a steel fence...\n  N-COUNT


Words: workmanlike
Meaning:
work.man.like\n   workmanlike\n  If you describe something as workmanlike, you mean that it has been done quite well and sensibly, but not in a particularly imaginative or original way.\nReally it’s a workmanlike conference rather than a dramatic one...\nThe script was workmanlike at best.\n  ADJ


Words: workmanship
Meaning:
work.man.ship\n   workmanship\n  Workmanship is the skill with which something is made and which affects the appearance and quality of the finished object.\nThe problem may be due to poor workmanship...\nThe standard of workmanship is very high.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft supp N\n  = craftsmanship


Words: workmate
Meaning:
work.mate\n   workmate  workmates\n  Your workmates are the people you work with. (mainly BRIT INFORMAL)\nMy workmates, and, even more, the management, didn’t want me to leave.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl, usu supp N\n  = colleague


Words: workout
Meaning:
work.out\n   workout  workouts\n  A workout is a period of physical exercise or training.\nGive your upper body a workout by using handweights.\n...a 35-minute aerobic workout.\n  N-COUNT


Words: workplace
Meaning:
work.place\n   workplace  workplaces   also work place\n  Your workplace is the place where you work.\n...the difficulties facing women in the workplace...\n  N-COUNT


Words: workroom
Meaning:
work.room\n   workroom  workrooms\n  A person’s workroom is a room where they work, especially when their work involves making things.\n  N-COUNT


Words: worksheet
Meaning:
work.sheet\n   worksheet  worksheets\n  A worksheet is a specially prepared page of exercises designed to improve your knowledge or understanding of a particular subject.\n  N-COUNT


Words: workshop
Meaning:
work.shop\n   workshop  workshops\n1. A workshop is a period of discussion or practical work on a particular subject in which a group of people share their knowledge or experience.\nTrumpeter Marcus Belgrave ran a jazz workshop for young artists...\n  N-COUNT: oft supp N\n\n2. A workshop is a building which contains tools or machinery for making or repairing things, especially using wood or metal.\n...a modestly equipped workshop.\n  N-COUNT


Words: workstation
Meaning:
work.station\n   workstation  workstations   also work station\n  A workstation is a screen and keyboard that are part of an office computer system.\n  N-COUNT


Words: worktop
Meaning:
work.top\n   worktop  worktops\n  A worktop is a flat surface in a kitchen which is easy to clean and on which you can prepare food. (BRIT; in AM, usually use countertop, counter)\n  N-COUNT


Words: world
Meaning:
world  worlds\n1. The world is the planet that we live on.\nIt’s a beautiful part of the world...\nThe satellite enables us to calculate their precise location anywhere in the world.\n  N-SING: the N\n\n2. The world refers to all the people who live on this planet, and our societies, institutions, and ways of life.\nThe world was, and remains, shocked...\nHe wants to show the world that anyone can learn to be an ambassador.\n...his personal contribution to world history.\n  N-SING: the N, N n\n\n3. You can use world to describe someone or something that is one of the most important or significant of its kind on earth.\nAbroad, Mr Bush was seen as a world statesman...\nChina has once again emerged as a world power...\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n4. You can use world in expressions such as the Arab world, the western world, and the ancient world to refer to a particular group of countries or a particular period in history.\nAthens had strong ties to the Arab world.\n...the developing world...\n  N-SING: the supp N\n\n5. Someone’s world is the life they lead, the people they have contact with, and the things they experience.\nHis world seemed so different from mine...\nI lost my job and it was like my world collapsed...\n  N-COUNT: oft poss N\n\n6. You can use world to refer to a particular field of activity, and the people involved in it.\nThe publishing world had certainly never seen an event quite like this.\n  N-SING: the N, with supp, oft N of n\n\n7. You can use world to refer to a particular group of living things, for example the animal world, the plant world, and the insect world.\n  N-SING: the n N\n  = kingdom\n8. A world is a planet.\nHe looked like something from another world...\n  N-COUNT\n\n9.\n  see also brave new world, New World, real world, Third World\n10. If you say that two people or things are worlds apart, you are emphasizing that they are very different from each other.\nIntellectually, this man and I are worlds apart...\n  PHRASE: usu v-link PHR, oft PHR from n  emphasis\n\n11. If you say that someone has the best of both worlds, you mean that they have only the benefits of two things and none of the disadvantages.\nHer living room provides the best of both worlds, with an office at one end and comfortable sofas at the other.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR\n\n12. If you say that something has done someone the world of good or a world of good, you mean that it has made them feel better or improved their life. (INFORMAL)\nA sleep will do you the world of good.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n13. You use in the world to emphasize a statement that you are making.\nThe saddest thing in the world is a little baby nobody wants...\nHe had no one in the world but her.\n  PHRASE: oft PHR after superl  emphasis\n\n14. You can use in the world in expressions such as what in the world and who in the world to emphasize a question, especially when expressing surprise or anger.\nWhat in the world is he doing?...\n  PHRASE: quest PHR  emphasis\n\n15. You can use in an ideal world or in a perfect world when you are talking about things that you would like to happen, although you realize that they are not likely to happen.\nIn a perfect world, there would be the facilities and money to treat every sick person.\n  PHRASE: PHR with cl\n  = ideally\n16. If you say that someone is a man of the world or a woman of the world, you mean that they are experienced and know about the practical or social aspects of life, and are not easily shocked by immoral or dishonest actions.\nLook, we are both men of the world, would anyone really mind?\n...an elegant, clever and tough woman of the world.\n  PHRASE: man/woman inflects\n\n17. If you say that something is out of this world, you are emphasizing that it is extremely good or impressive. (INFORMAL)\nThese new trains are out of this world.\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR  emphasis\n\n18. You can use the outside world to refer to all the people who do not live in a particular place or who are not involved in a particular situation.\n(next)


Words: world .1
Meaning:
For many, the post office is the only link with the outside world...\n  PHRASE\n\n19. If you think the world of someone, you like them or care about them very much.\nI think the world of him, but something tells me it’s not love...\nWe were really close. We thought the world of each other.\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n\n\n20.\nnot be the end of the world: see end\nthe world is your oyster: see oyster\non top of the world: see top


Words: world beater
Meaning:
world beat.er\n   world beater  world beaters   also world-beater\n  If you describe a person or thing as a world beater, you mean that they are better than most other people or things of their kind. (BRIT)\n  N-COUNT


Words: world leader
Meaning:
world lead.er\n   world leader  world leaders\n1. A world leader is someone who is the leader of a country, especially an economically powerful country.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A product, company, organization, or person that is a world leader is the most successful or advanced one in a particular area of activity. (JOURNALISM)\nIn the field of consumer electronics, Philips is determined to remain a world leader...\n  N-COUNT


Words: World Trade Organization
Meaning:
World Trade Or.gani.za.tion\n\n  The World Trade Organization is an international organization that encourages and regulates trade between its member states. The abbreviation WTO is also used.\n  N-PROPER


Words: world view
Meaning:
world view  world views   also world-view\n  A person’s world view is the way they see and understand the world, especially regarding issues such as politics, philosophy, and religion.\nMany artists express their world view in their work.\n  N-COUNT: with supp


Words: world war
Meaning:
world war  world wars\n  A world war is a war that involves countries all over the world.\nMany senior citizens have been though two world wars...\nAt the end of the second world war he was working as a docker...\n  N-VAR


Words: World Wide Web
Meaning:
The World Wide Web is a computer system which links documents and pictures into a database that is stored in computers in many different parts of the world and that people everywhere can use. The abbreviations WWW and the Web are often used. (COMPUTING)\n  N-PROPER: the N


Words: world-class
Meaning:
world-class\n  A world-class sports player, performer, or organization is one of the best in the world. (JOURNALISM)\nHe was determined to become a world-class player.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: world-famous
Meaning:
world-famous\n  Someone or something that is world-famous is known about by people all over the world.\n...the world-famous Hollywood Bowl...\n  ADJ


Words: world-weary
Meaning:
world-weary\n  A world-weary person no longer feels excited or enthusiastic about anything.\n  ADJ\n  = jaded


Words: worldly
Meaning:
world.ly\n   worldly\n1. Worldly is used to describe things relating to the ordinary activities of life, rather than to spiritual things. (LITERARY)\nI think it is time you woke up and focused your thoughts on more worldly matters...\n  ADJ\n\n2. Someone who is worldly is experienced and knows about the practical or social aspects of life.\nHe was different from anyone I had known, very worldly, everything that Dermot was not...\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n\n3. Worldly is used to describe things relating to success, wealth, and possessions. (mainly LITERARY)\nToday the media drive athletes to the view that the important thing is to gain worldly success.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n4. You can refer to someone’s possessions as their worldly goods or possessions. (LITERARY)\n...a man who had given up all his worldly goods...\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: worldly-wise
Meaning:
worldly-wise\n  If you describe someone as worldly-wise, you mean they are experienced and know about the practical or social aspects of life, and are not easily shocked or impressed.\n  ADJ


Words: worldwide
Meaning:
world.wide\n   worldwide   also world-wide\n  If something exists or happens worldwide, it exists or happens throughout the world.\nHis books have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide...\nWorldwide, an enormous amount of research effort goes into military technology.\n  ADV: ADV after v, n ADV, ADV with cl\n\n  Worldwide is also an adjective.\nToday, doctors are fearing a worldwide epidemic.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: worm
Meaning:
worm  worms  worming  wormed\n1. A worm is a small animal with a long thin body, no bones and no legs.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If animals or people have worms, worms are living in their intestines.\n  N-PLURAL\n\n3. If you worm an animal, you give it medicine in order to kill the worms that are living in its intestines.\nI worm all my birds in early spring...\nAll adult dogs are routinely wormed at least every six months.\n  VERB: V n, be V-ed\n\n4. If you say that someone is worming their way to success, or is worming their way into someone else’s affection, you disapprove of the way that they are gradually making someone trust them or like them, often in order to deceive them or gain some advantage.\nShe never misses a chance to worm her way into the public’s hearts...\n  VERB: V way prep/adv  disapproval\n\n5. A worm is a computer program that contains a virus which duplicates itself many times in a network. (COMPUTING)\n  N-COUNT\n\n6. If you say that someone is opening a can of worms, you are warning them that they are planning to do or talk about something which is much more complicated, unpleasant, or difficult than they realize and which might be better left alone.\nYou’ve opened up a whole new can of worms here I think. We could have a whole debate on student loans and grants...\n  PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR


Words: wormwood
Meaning:
worm.wood\n   wormwood\n  Wormwood is a plant that has a very bitter taste and is used in making medicines and alcoholic drinks.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: worn
Meaning:
worn\n1. Worn is the past participle of wear.\n\n2. Worn is used to describe something that is damaged or thin because it is old and has been used a lot.\nWorn rugs increase the danger of tripping...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n3. If someone looks worn, they look tired and old.\nShe was looking very haggard and worn.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ\n\n4.\n  see also well-worn


Words: worn out
Meaning:
worn out   also worn-out\n1. Something that is worn out is so old, damaged, or thin from use that it cannot be used any more.\n...the car’s worn out tyres.\n...faded bits of worn-out clothing.\n  ADJ\n\n2. Someone who is worn out is extremely tired after hard work or a difficult or unpleasant experience.\nBefore the race, he is fine. But afterwards he is worn out.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ\n  = exhausted


Words: worried
Meaning:
wor.ried\n   worried\n  When you are worried, you are unhappy because you keep thinking about problems that you have or about unpleasant things that might happen in the future.\nHe seemed very worried...\nIf you’re at all worried about his progress, do discuss it with one of his teachers...\n  ADJ: oft ADJ about n, ADJ that\n  = anxious\n=>  wor.ried.ly\n`You don’t have to go, you know,’ she said worriedly.\n  ADV: usu ADV with v


Words: worrier
Meaning:
wor.ri.er\n   worrier  worriers\n  If you describe someone as a worrier, you mean that they spend a lot of time thinking about problems that they have or unpleasant things that might happen.\n  N-COUNT


Words: worrisome
Meaning:
wor.ri.some\n   worrisome\n  Something that is worrisome causes people to worry. (mainly AM; in BRIT, usually use worrying)\n  ADJ


Words: worry
Meaning:
wor.ry\n   worry  worries  worrying  worried\n1. If you worry, you keep thinking about problems that you have or about unpleasant things that might happen.\nDon’t worry, your luggage will come on afterwards by taxi...\nI worry about her constantly...\nThey worry that extremists might gain control.\n  VERB: V, V about n/-ing, V that\n\n2. If someone or something worries you, they make you anxious because you keep thinking about problems or unpleasant things that might be connected with them.\nI’m still in the early days of my recovery and that worries me...\n`Why didn’t you tell us?’.`I didn’t want to worry you.’...\n  VERB: V n, V n\n\n3. If someone or something does not worry you, you do not dislike them or you are not annoyed by them. (SPOKEN)\nThe cold doesn’t worry me...\n  VERB: oft with neg, V n\n  = bother\n4. Worry is the state or feeling of anxiety and unhappiness caused by the problems that you have or by thinking about unpleasant things that might happen.\nHis last years were overshadowed by financial worry.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n5. A worry is a problem that you keep thinking about and that makes you unhappy.\nMy main worry was that Madeleine Johnson would still be there...\nHis wife Cheryl said she had no worries about his health.\n  N-COUNT


Words: worrying
Meaning:
wor.ry.ing\n   worrying\n  If something is worrying, it causes people to worry. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use worrisome)\nIt’s worrying that they’re doing things without training.\n...a new and worrying report about smoking.\n  ADJ: oft it v-link ADJ that\n\n=>  wor.ry.ing.ly\nThe rate of assaults was worryingly high...\n  ADV: ADV adj, ADV with cl


Words: worse
Meaning:
worse\n1. Worse is the comparative of bad.\n\n2. Worse is the comparative of badly.\n\n3. Worse is used to form the comparative of compound adjectives beginning with `bad’ and `badly.’ For example, the comparative of `badly off’ is `worse off’.\n\n4. If a situation goes from bad to worse, it becomes even more unpleasant or unsatisfactory.\nFor the past couple of years my life has gone from bad to worse.\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n5. If a situation changes for the worse, it becomes more unpleasant or more difficult.\nThe grandparents sigh and say how things have changed for the worse.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v\n\n6. If a person or thing is the worse for something, they have been harmed or badly affected by it. If they are none the worse for it, they have not been harmed or badly affected by it.\nFather came home from the pub very much the worse for drink...\nThey are all apparently fit and well and none the worse for the fifteen hour journey.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR n\n\n7.\nfor better or worse: see better


Words: worsen
Meaning:
wors.en\n   worsen  worsens  worsening  worsened\n  If a bad situation worsens or if something worsens it, it becomes more difficult, unpleasant, or unacceptable.\nThe security forces had to intervene to prevent the situation worsening...\nThese options would actually worsen the economy and add to the deficit...\nThey remain stranded in freezing weather and rapidly worsening conditions.\n  VERB: V, V n, V-ing\n  !=improve


Words: worship
Meaning:
wor.ship\n   worship  worships  worshipping  worshipped\nin AM, use worshiping, worshiped\n1. If you worship a god, you show your respect to the god, for example by saying prayers.\nI enjoy going to church and worshipping God.\n...Jews worshipping at the Wailing Wall.\n  VERB: V n, V\n\n  Worship is also a noun.\nSt Jude’s church is a public place of worship.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n=>  wor.ship.per      worshippers\nAt the end of the service, scores of worshippers streamed down to the altar.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you worship someone or something, you love them or admire them very much.\nShe had worshipped him for years...\n  VERB: V n


Words: worshipful
Meaning:
wor.ship.ful\n   worshipful\n  If someone has a worshipful attitude to a person or thing, they show great respect and admiration for them.\n...Franklin’s almost worshipful imitation of his cousin.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  = reverential


Words: worst
Meaning:
worst\n1. Worst is the superlative of bad.\n\n2. Worst is the superlative of badly.\n\n3. The worst is the most unpleasant or unfavourable thing that could happen or does happen.\nThough mine safety has much improved, miners’ families still fear the worst...\nThe country had come through the worst of the recession.\n  N-SING: the N, oft N of n\n  !=best\n4. Worst is used to form the superlative of compound adjectives beginning with `bad’ and `badly’. For example, the superlative of `badly-affected’ is `worst-affected’.\n\n5. You say worst of all to indicate that what you are about to mention is the most unpleasant or has the most disadvantages out of all the things you are mentioning.\nThe people most closely affected are the passengers who were injured and, worst of all, those who lost relatives.\n  PHRASE: PHR with cl\n\n6. You use at worst or at the worst to indicate that you are mentioning the worst thing that might happen in a situation.\nAt best Nella would be an invalid; at worst she would die...\n  PHRASE: PHR with cl/group\n\n7. When someone is at their worst, they are as unpleasant, bad, or unsuccessful as it is possible for them to be.\nThis was their mother at her worst. Her voice was strident, she was ready to be angry at anyone.\n  PHRASE: n PHR, PHR after v, v-link PHR\n\n8. You use if the worst comes to the worst to say what you might do if a situation develops in the most unfavourable way possible. The form if worst comes to worst is also used, mainly in American English.\nIf the worst comes to the worst I guess I can always ring Jean...\nHe was asked whether he would walk out if the worst came to the worst.\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with cl


Words: worth
Meaning:
worth\n1. If something is worth a particular amount of money, it can be sold for that amount or is considered to have that value.\nThese books might be worth .80 or .90 or more to a collector...\nThe contract was worth .25 million a year.\n  v-link worth amount\n\n2. Worth combines with amounts of money, so that when you talk about a particular amount of money’s worth of something, you mean the quantity of it that you can buy for that amount of money.\nI went and bought about six dollars’ worth of potato chips...\n  COMB in QUANT: QUANT of n\n\n  Worth is also a pronoun.\n`How many do you want?’.`I’ll have a pound’s worth.’\n  PRON\n\n3. Worth combines with time expressions, so you can use worth when you are saying how long an amount of something will last. For example, a week’s worth of food is the amount of food that will last you for a week.\nYou’ve got three years’ worth of research money to do what you want with...\n  COMB in QUANT: QUANT of n\n\n  Worth is also a pronoun.\nThere’s really not very much food down there. About two weeks’ worth.\n  PRON\n\n4. If you say that something is worth having, you mean that it is pleasant or useful, and therefore a good thing to have.\nHe’s decided to get a look at the house and see if it might be worth buying...\nMost things worth having never come easy.\n  v-link worth -ing\n\n5. If something is worth a particular action, or if an action is worth doing, it is considered to be important enough for that action.\nI am spending a lot of money and time on this boat, but it is worth it...\nThis restaurant is well worth a visit...\nIt is worth pausing to consider these statements from Mr Davies.\n  v-link worth n/-ing\n\n6. Someone’s worth is the value, usefulness, or importance that they are considered to have. (FORMAL)\nHe had never had a woman of her worth as a friend...\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu with poss\n\n7. If you do something for all you are worth, you do it with a lot of energy and enthusiasm.\nWe both began waving to the crowd for all we were worth...\nPush for all you’re worth!\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n\n8. If you add for what it’s worth to something that you say, you are suggesting that what you are saying or referring to may not be very valuable or helpful, especially because you do not want to appear arrogant.\nI’ve brought my notes, for what it’s worth.\n  PHRASE: PHR with cl\n\n9. If an action or activity is worth someone’s while, it will be helpful, useful, or enjoyable for them if they do it, even though it requires some effort.\nIt might be worth your while to go to court and ask for the agreement to be changed...\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR\n  = worthwhile\n10.\nworth your weight in gold: see weight


Words: worthless
Meaning:
worth.less\n   worthless\n1. Something that is worthless is of no real value or use.\nThe guarantee could be worthless if the firm goes out of business...\nTraining is worthless unless there is proof that it works.\n...a worthless piece of old junk.\n  ADJ\n  = useless\n2. Someone who is described as worthless is considered to have no good qualities or skills.\nYou feel you really are completely worthless and unlovable.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ


Words: worthwhile
Meaning:
worth.while\n   worthwhile\n  If something is worthwhile, it is enjoyable or useful, and worth the time, money, or effort that is spent on it.\nThe President’s trip to Washington this week seems to have been worthwhile...\nIt might be worthwhile to consider your attitude to an insurance policy.\n  ADJ: oft it v-link ADJ to-inf


Words: worthy
Meaning:
wor.thy\n   worthy  worthier  worthiest\n1. If a person or thing is worthy of something, they deserve it because they have the qualities or abilities required. (FORMAL)\nThe bank might think you’re worthy of a loan...\nThe Minister says the idea is worthy of consideration...\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ, usu ADJ of n\n  !=unworthy\n2. A worthy person or thing is approved of by most people in society and considered to be morally respectable or correct. (FORMAL)\n...worthy members of the community...\n  ADJ


Words: wot
Meaning:
wot\n  Wot is sometimes used in writing to represent `what’, to show that someone is speaking very informally or that they are being humorous. (BRIT INFORMAL)\n`Cor, wot brilliant prizes!’


Words: would
Meaning:
would  WEAK   STRONG\nWould is a modal verb. It is used with the base form of a verb. In spoken English, would is often abbreviated to ’d.\n1. You use would when you are saying what someone believed, hoped, or expected to happen or be the case.\nNo one believed he would actually kill himself...\nWould he always be like this?...\nHe expressed the hope that on Monday elementary schools would be reopened...\nA report yesterday that said British unemployment would continue to rise...\n  MODAL\n\n2. You use would when saying what someone intended to do.\nThe statement added that although there were a number of differing views, these would be discussed by both sides...\nGeorge decided it was such a rare car that he would only use it for a few shows...\n  MODAL\n\n3. You use would when you are referring to the result or effect of a possible situation.\nOrdinarily it would be fun to be taken to fabulous restaurants...\nIt would be wrong to suggest that police officers were not annoyed by acts of indecency...\nIt would cost very much more for the four of us to go from Italy.\n  MODAL\n\n4. You use would, or would have with a past participle, to indicate that you are assuming or guessing that something is true, because you have good reasons for thinking it.\nYou wouldn’t know him...\nHis fans would already be familiar with Caroline...\nIt was half seven; her mother would be annoyed because he was so late.\n  MODAL\n\n5. You use would in the main clause of some `if’ and `unless’ sentences to indicate something you consider to be fairly unlikely to happen.\nIf only I could get some sleep, I would be able to cope...\nA policeman would not live one year if he obeyed these regulations...\n  MODAL\n\n6. You use would to say that someone was willing to do something. You use would not to indicate that they refused to do something.\nThey said they would give the police their full cooperation...\nShe indicated that she would help her husband...\nHe wouldn’t say where he had picked up the information.\n  MODAL\n\n7. You use would not to indicate that something did not happen, often in spite of a lot of effort.\nHe kicked, pushed, and hurled his shoulder at the door. It wouldn’t open...\nHe kept trying to start the car and the battery got flatter and flatter, until it wouldn’t turn the engine at all...\n  MODAL\n\n8. You use would, especially with `like’, `love’, and `wish’, when saying that someone wants to do or have a particular thing or wants a particular thing to happen.\nRight now, your mom would like a cup of coffee...\nIdeally, she would love to become pregnant again...\nHe wished it would end...\n  MODAL\n\nwould rather: see rather\n9. You use would with `if’ clauses in questions when you are asking for permission to do something.\nDo you think it would be all right if I smoked?...\nMr. Cutler, would you mind if I asked a question?\n  MODAL\n\n10. You use would, usually in questions with `like’, when you are making a polite offer or invitation.\nWould you like a drink?...\nPerhaps you would like to pay a visit to London.\n  MODAL  politeness\n\n11. You use would, usually in questions, when you are politely asking someone to do something.\nWould you come in here a moment, please?...\nOh dear, there’s the doorbell. See who it is, would you, darling.\n  MODAL  politeness\n  = could\n12. You say that someone would do something when it is typical of them and you are critical of it. You emphasize the word would when you use it in this way.\nWell, you would say that: you’re a man...\n  MODAL  disapproval\n\n13. You use would, or sometimes would have with a past participle, when you are expressing your opinion about something or seeing if people agree with you, especially when you are uncertain about what you are saying.\nI think you’d agree he’s a very respected columnist...\nI would have thought it a proper job for the Army to fight rebellion...\nI would imagine she’s quite lonely living on her own.\n  MODAL  vagueness\n\n14. You use I would when you are giving someone advice in an informal way.\n(next)


Words: would .1
Meaning:
If I were you I would simply ring your friend’s bell and ask for your bike back...\nThere could be more unrest, but I wouldn’t exaggerate the problems.\n  MODAL\n\n15. You use you would in negative sentences with verbs such as `guess’ and `know’ when you want to say that something is not obvious, especially something surprising.\nChris is so full of artistic temperament you’d never think she was the daughter of a banker...\n  MODAL\n\n16. You use would to talk about something which happened regularly in the past but which no longer happens.\nSunday mornings my mother would bake. I’d stand by the fridge and help...\n  MODAL\n  = used to\n17. You use would have with a past participle when you are saying what was likely to have happened by a particular time.\nWithin ten weeks of the introduction, 34 million people would have been reached by our television commercials.\n  MODAL\n\n18. You use would have with a past participle when you are referring to the result or effect of a possible event in the past.\nMy daughter would have been 17 this week if she had lived...\nIf I had known how he felt, I would never have let him adopt those children...\n  MODAL\n\n19. If you say that someone would have liked or preferred something, you mean that they wanted to do it or have it but were unable to.\nI would have liked a life in politics...\nShe would have liked to ask questions, but he had moved on to another topic...\n  MODAL


Words: would’ve
Meaning:
would’ve\n  Would’ve is a spoken form of `would have’, when `have’ is an auxiliary verb.\nMy mum would’ve loved one of us to go to college.


Words: would-be
Meaning:
would-be\n  You can use would-be to describe someone who wants or attempts to do a particular thing. For example, a would-be writer is someone who wants to be a writer.\n...a book that provides encouragement for would-be writers who cannot get their novel into print.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: wound
Meaning:
VERB FORM OF `WIND’\n   wound\n  Wound is the past tense and past participle of wind 2.\n\nINJURY\n   wound  wounds  wounding  wounded\n1. A wound is damage to part of your body, especially a cut or a hole in your flesh, which is caused by a gun, knife, or other weapon.\nThe wound is healing nicely...\nSix soldiers are reported to have died from their wounds.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If a weapon or something sharp wounds you, it damages your body.\nA bomb exploded in a hotel, killing six people and wounding another five...\nThe two wounded men were taken to a nearby hospital.\n  VERB: V n, V-ed\n\n  The wounded are people who are wounded.\nHospitals said they could not cope with the wounded...\n  N-PLURAL\n\n3. A wound is a lasting bad effect on someone’s mind or feelings caused by a very upsetting experience. (LITERARY)\nShe has been so deeply hurt it may take forever for the wounds to heal.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. If you are wounded by what someone says or does, your feelings are deeply hurt.\nHe was deeply wounded by the treachery of close aides...\n  VERB: be V-ed\n  = hurt\n5.\nto rub salt into the wound: see salt


Words: wound up
Meaning:
wound up\n  If someone is wound up, they are very tense and nervous or angry.\n  ADJ: usu v-link ADJ


Words: wow
Meaning:
wow  wows  wowing  wowed\n1. You can say `wow’ when you are very impressed, surprised, or pleased. (INFORMAL)\nI thought, `Wow, what a good idea’.\n  EXCLAM  feelings\n\n2. You say that someone wows people when they give an impressive performance and fill people with enthusiasm and admiration. (INFORMAL)\nBen Tankard wowed the crowd with his jazz.\n  VERB: V n


Words: WPC
Meaning:
WPC  WPCs\n  In Britain, a WPC is a female police officer of the lowest rank. WPC is an abbreviation for `woman police constable’.\n  N-COUNT; N-TITLE


Words: wraith
Meaning:
wraith  wraiths\n  A wraith is a ghost. (LITERARY)\nThat child flits about like a wraith.\n  N-COUNT


Words: wrangle
Meaning:
wran.gle\n   wrangle  wrangles  wrangling  wrangled\n  If you say that someone is wrangling with someone over a question or issue, you mean that they have been arguing angrily for quite a long time about it.\nThe two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems...\nA group of MPs is still wrangling with the government over the timing of elections.\n  V-RECIP: pl-n V over n, V with n over n, also pl-n V, V with n


Words: wrangler
Meaning:
wran.gler\n   wrangler  wranglers\n  A wrangler is a cowboy who works with cattle and horses. (AM)\n  N-COUNT


Words: wrap
Meaning:
wrap  wraps  wrapping  wrapped\n1. When you wrap something, you fold paper or cloth tightly round it to cover it completely, for example in order to protect it or so that you can give it to someone as a present.\nHarry had carefully bought and wrapped presents for Mark to give them...\nMexican Indians used to wrap tough meat in leaves from the papaya tree.\n  VERB: V n, V n in n\n  !=unwrap\n  Wrap up means the same as wrap.\nDiana is taking the opportunity to wrap up the family presents.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n\n2. Wrap is the material that something is wrapped in.\nI tucked some plastic wrap around the sandwiches to keep them from getting stale.\n...gift wrap.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu supp N\n\n3. When you wrap something such as a piece of paper or cloth round another thing, you put it around it.\nShe wrapped a handkerchief around her bleeding palm...\n  VERB: V n around/over n\n\n4. If someone wraps their arms, fingers, or legs around something, they put them firmly around it.\nHe wrapped his arms around her.\n  VERB: V n around n\n\n5.\n  see also wrapping\n6. If you keep something under wraps, you keep it secret, often until you are ready to announce it at some time in the future.\nThe bids were submitted in May and were meant to have been kept under wraps until October...\n  PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v


Words: wrap up
Meaning:
wrap up\n1. If you wrap up, you put warm clothes on.\nMarkus has wrapped up warmly in a woolly hat...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P adv/adj/prep, also V P\n\n2. If you wrap up something such as a job or an agreement, you complete it in a satisfactory way.\nNATO defense ministers wrap up their meeting in Brussels today...\nSeeing Sticht was keeping him from his golf game, and he hoped they could wrap it up quickly.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n3.\n  see also wrap 1, wrapped up


Words: wrapped up
Meaning:
wrapped up\n  If someone is wrapped up in a particular person or thing, they spend nearly all their time thinking about them, so that they forget about other things which may be important.\nHe’s too serious and dedicated, wrapped up in his career...\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ in/with n


Words: wrapper
Meaning:
wrap.per\n   wrapper  wrappers\n  A wrapper is a piece of paper, plastic, or thin metal which covers and protects something that you buy, especially food.\nI emptied the sweet wrappers from the ashtray.\n  N-COUNT: oft supp N


Words: wrapping
Meaning:
wrap.ping\n   wrapping  wrappings\n  Wrapping is something such as paper or plastic which is used to cover and protect something.\n...food wrapping...\n  N-VAR


Words: wrapping paper
Meaning:
wrap.ping pa.per\n   wrapping paper  wrapping papers\n  Wrapping paper is special paper which is used for wrapping presents.\n  N-MASS


Words: wrath
Meaning:
wrath\n  Wrath means the same as anger. (LITERARY)\nHe incurred the wrath of the authorities in speaking out against government injustices.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft with poss


Words: wreak
Meaning:
wreak  wreaks  wreaking  wreaked\n\n  The form wrought can also be used as the past participle.\n\n1. Something or someone that wreaks havoc or destruction causes a great amount of disorder or damage. (JOURNALISM or LITERARY)\nViolent storms wreaked havoc on the French Riviera, leaving three people dead and dozens injured...\n  VERB: V n\n\n2. If you wreak revenge or vengeance on someone, you do something that will harm them very much to punish them for the harm they have done to you. (JOURNALISM or LITERARY)\nHe threatened to wreak vengeance on the men who toppled him a year ago.\n  VERB: V n\n\n3.\n  see also wrought


Words: wreath
Meaning:
wreath  wreaths\n1. A wreath is an arrangement of flowers and leaves, usually in the shape of a circle, which you put on a grave or by a statue to show that you remember a person who has died or people who have died.\nThe coffin lying before the altar was bare, except for a single wreath of white roses...\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A wreath is a circle of leaves or flowers which someone wears around their head.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. A wreath is a circle of leaves which some people hang on the front door of their house at Christmas.\n  N-COUNT


Words: wreathe
Meaning:
wreathe  wreathes  wreathing  wreathed\n1. If something is wreathed in smoke or mist, it is surrounded by it. (LITERARY)\nThe ship was wreathed in smoke...\nFog wreathes the temples.\n  VERB: be V-ed in n, V n\n  = shroud\n2. If something is wreathed with flowers or leaves, it has a circle or chain of flowers or leaves put round it.\nIts huge columns were wreathed with laurel and magnolia.\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed with/in n


Words: wreck
Meaning:
wreck  wrecks  wrecking  wrecked\n1. To wreck something means to completely destroy or ruin it.\nA coalition could have defeated the government and wrecked the treaty...\nHis life has been wrecked by the tragedy.\n...missed promotions, lost jobs, wrecked marriages.\n  VERB: V n, V n, V-ed\n\n2. If a ship is wrecked, it is damaged so much that it sinks or can no longer sail.\nThe ship was wrecked by an explosion.\n...a wrecked cargo ship.\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed, V-ed\n\n3. A wreck is something such as a ship, car, plane, or building which has been destroyed, usually in an accident.\n...the wreck of a sailing ship...\nThe car was a total wreck...\nWe thought of buying the house as a wreck, doing it up, then selling it.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. A wreck is an accident in which a moving vehicle hits something and is damaged or destroyed. (mainly AM; in BRIT, usually use crash)\nHe was killed in a car wreck.\n  N-COUNT: usu supp N\n\n5. If you say that someone is a wreck, you mean that they are very exhausted or unhealthy. (INFORMAL)\nYou look a wreck...\n  N-COUNT: usu sing\n\n  see also nervous wreck


Words: wreckage
Meaning:
wreck.age\n   wreckage\n  When something such as a plane, car, or building has been destroyed, you can refer to what remains as wreckage or the wreckage.\nMark was dragged from the burning wreckage of his car.\n  N-UNCOUNT: also the N


Words: wrecker
Meaning:
wreck.er\n   wrecker   wreckers\n1. A wrecker is a motor vehicle which is used to pull broken or damaged vehicles to a place where they can be repaired or broken up, for example after an accident. (mainly AM)\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Wreckers are people whose job involves destroying old, unwanted, or damaged buildings. (mainly AM)\n  N-COUNT


Words: wrench
Meaning:
wrench  wrenches  wrenching  wrenched\n1. If you wrench something that is fixed in a particular position, you pull or twist it violently, in order to move or remove it.\nHe felt two men wrench the suitcase from his hand...\nThey wrenched open the passenger doors and jumped into her car.\n  VERB: V n prep, V n with adj\n\n2. If you wrench yourself free from someone who is holding you, you get away from them by suddenly twisting the part of your body that is being held.\nShe wrenched herself from his grasp...\nHe wrenched his arm free...\nShe tore at one man’s face as she tried to wrench free...\n  VERB: V pron-refl prep, V n adj, V adj\n\n3. If you wrench one of your joints, you twist it and injure it.\nHe had wrenched his ankle badly from the force of the fall.\n  VERB: V n\n\n4. If you say that leaving someone or something is a wrench, you feel very sad about it. (BRIT)\nI always knew it would be a wrench to leave Essex after all these years...\nAlthough it would be a wrench, we would all accept the challenge of moving abroad.\n  N-SING: usu a N to-inf/-ing\n\n5. A wrench or a monkey wrench is an adjustable metal tool used for tightening or loosening metal nuts of different sizes.\n  N-COUNT\n\n6. If someone throws a wrench or throws a monkey wrench into a process, they prevent something happening smoothly by deliberately causing a problem. (AM; in BRIT, use throw a spanner in the works)\nTheir delegation threw a giant monkey wrench into the process this week by raising all sorts of petty objections.\n  PHRASE: V inflects, PHR in/into n


Words: wrest
Meaning:
wrest  wrests  wresting  wrested\n1. If you wrest something from someone else, you take it from them, especially when this is difficult or illegal. (JOURNALISM or LITERARY)\nFor the past year he has been trying to wrest control from the central government...\nThe men had returned to wrest back power.\n  VERB: V n from n, V n with away/back\n  = seize\n2. If you wrest something from someone who is holding it, you take it from them by pulling or twisting it violently. (LITERARY)\nHe wrested the suitcase from the chauffeur...\nHe was attacked by a security man who tried to wrest away a gas cartridge.\n  VERB: V n from n, V n with away


Words: wrestle
Meaning:
wres.tle\n   wrestle  wrestles  wrestling  wrestled\n1. When you wrestle with a difficult problem, you try to deal with it.\nDelegates wrestled with the problems of violence and sanctions...\n  VERB: V with n\n\n2. If you wrestle with someone, you fight them by forcing them into painful positions or throwing them to the ground, rather than by hitting them. Some people wrestle as a sport.\nThey taught me to wrestle...\n  VERB: V\n\n3. If you wrestle a person or thing somewhere, you move them there using a lot of force, for example by twisting a part of someone’s body into a painful position.\nWe had to physically wrestle the child from the man’s arms...\n  VERB: V n prep\n\n4.\n  see also wrestling


Words: wrestler
Meaning:
wres.tler\n   wrestler  wrestlers\n  A wrestler is someone who wrestles as a sport, usually for money.\n  N-COUNT


Words: wrestling
Meaning:
wres.tling\n   wrestling\n  Wrestling is a sport in which two people wrestle and try to throw each other to the ground.\n...a championship wrestling match.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: wretch
Meaning:
wretch  wretches\n1. You can refer to someone as a wretch when you feel sorry for them because they are unhappy or unfortunate. (LITERARY)\nBefore the poor wretch had time to speak, he was shot.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. You can refer to someone as a wretch when you think that they are wicked or if they have done something you are angry about. (LITERARY)\nOh, what have you done, you wretch!\n  N-COUNT  disapproval


Words: wretched
Meaning:
wretch.ed\n   wretched\n1. You describe someone as wretched when you feel sorry for them because they are in an unpleasant situation or have suffered unpleasant experiences. (FORMAL)\nYou have built up a huge property empire by buying from wretched people who had to sell or starve.\n  ADJ\n\n2. You use wretched to describe someone or something that you dislike or feel angry with. (INFORMAL)\nWretched woman, he thought, why the hell can’t she wait?...\n  ADJ: ADJ n  feelings\n\n3. Someone who feels wretched feels very unhappy. (FORMAL)\nI feel really confused and wretched...\n  ADJ\n  = miserable


Words: wriggle
Meaning:
wrig.gle\n   wriggle  wriggles  wriggling  wriggled\n1. If you wriggle or wriggle part of your body, you twist and turn with quick movements, for example because you are uncomfortable.\nThe babies are wriggling on their tummies...\nShe pulled off her shoes and stockings and wriggled her toes.\n  VERB: V, V n\n\n2. If you wriggle somewhere, for example through a small gap, you move there by twisting and turning your body.\nHe clutched the child tightly as she again tried to wriggle free...\nBauman wriggled into the damp coverall.\n  VERB: V adv/prep, V adv/prep


Words: wriggle out of
Meaning:
wriggle out of\n  If you say that someone has wriggled out of doing something, you disapprove of the fact that they have managed to avoid doing it, although they should have done it.\nThe Government has tried to wriggle out of any responsibility for providing childcare for working parents.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P P n/-ing\n  = get out of


Words: wring
Meaning:
wring  wrings  wringing  wrung\n1. If you wring something out of someone, you manage to make them give it to you even though they do not want to.\nBuyers use different ruses to wring free credit out of their suppliers...\n  VERB: V n out of/from n\n  = squeeze\n2. If someone wrings their hands, they hold them together and twist and turn them, usually because they are very worried or upset about something. You can also say that someone is wringing their hands when they are expressing sorrow that a situation is so bad but are saying that they are unable to change it.\nThe Government has got to get a grip. Wringing its hands and saying it is a world problem just isn’t good enough.\n  PHRASE: V inflects


Words: wring out
Meaning:
wring out\n  When you wring out a wet cloth or a wet piece of clothing, you squeeze the water out of it by twisting it strongly.\nHe turned away to wring out the wet shirt...\nSoak a small towel in the liquid, wring it out, then apply to the abdomen.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P


Words: wringer
Meaning:
wring.er\n   wringer\n  If you say that someone has been put through the wringer or has gone through the wringer, you mean that they have suffered a very difficult or unpleasant experience. (INFORMAL)\n  PHRASE: V inflects


Words: wrinkle
Meaning:
wrin.kle\n   wrinkle  wrinkles  wrinkling  wrinkled\n1. Wrinkles are lines which form on someone’s face as they grow old.\nHis face was covered with wrinkles...\n  N-COUNT: usu pl\n\n2. When someone’s skin wrinkles or when something wrinkles it, lines start to form in it because the skin is getting old or damaged.\nThe skin on her cheeks and around her eyes was beginning to wrinkle.\n...protection against the sun’s rays that age and wrinkle the skin.\n  VERB: V, V n\n\n=>  wrin.kled\nI did indeed look older and more wrinkled than ever.\n  ADJ\n\n3. A wrinkle is a raised fold in a piece of cloth or paper that spoils its appearance.\nHe noticed a wrinkle in her stocking.\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. If cloth wrinkles, or if someone or something wrinkles it, it gets folds or lines in it.\nHer stockings wrinkled at the ankles...\nI wrinkled the velvet.\n  VERB: V, V n\n\n=>  wrin.kled\nHis suit was wrinkled and he looked very tired.\n  ADJ\n  = crumpled\n5. When you wrinkle your nose or forehead, or when it wrinkles, you tighten the muscles in your face so that the skin folds.\nFrannie wrinkled her nose at her daughter...\nEllen’s face wrinkles as if she is about to sneeze.\n  VERB: V n, V


Words: wrinkly
Meaning:
wrin.kly\n   wrinkly\n  A wrinkly surface has a lot of wrinkles on it.\n...wrinkly cotton and wool stockings.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: wrist
Meaning:
wrist  wrists\n  Your wrist is the part of your body between your hand and your arm which bends when you move your hand.\n  N-COUNT


Words: wristwatch
Meaning:
wrist.watch\n   wristwatch  wristwatches\n  A wristwatch is a watch with a strap which you wear round your wrist.\n  N-COUNT


Words: writ
Meaning:
writ  writs\n  A writ is a legal document that orders a person to do a particular thing.\nHe issued a writ against one of his accusers.\n  N-COUNT: oft N for/against n


Words: write
Meaning:
write  writes  writing  wrote  written\n1. When you write something on a surface, you use something such as a pen or pencil to produce words, letters, or numbers on the surface.\nIf you’d like one, simply write your name and address on a postcard and send it to us...\nThey were still trying to teach her to read and write...\nHe wrote the word `pride’ in huge letters on the blackboard.\n  VERB: V n adv/prep, V, V n\n\n2. If you write something such as a book, a poem, or a piece of music, you create it and record it on paper or perhaps on a computer.\nI had written quite a lot of orchestral music in my student days...\nFinding a volunteer to write the computer program isn’t a problem...\nThereafter she wrote articles for papers and magazines in Paris...\nJung Lu wrote me a poem once.\n  VERB: V n, V n, V n for n, V n n\n\n3. Someone who writes creates books, stories, or articles, usually for publication.\nJay wanted to write...\nShe writes for many papers, including the Sunday Times...\n  VERB: V, V for n\n\n4. When you write to someone or write them a letter, you give them information, ask them something, or express your feelings in a letter. In American English, you can also write someone.\nMany people have written to me on this subject...\nShe had written him a note a couple of weeks earlier...\nI wrote a letter to the car rental agency, explaining what had happened...\nWhy didn’t you write, call, anything?...\nHe had written her in Italy but received no reply.\n  VERB: V to n, V n n, V n to n, V, V n\n\nnothing to write home about: see home\n5. When someone writes something such as a cheque, receipt, or prescription, they put the necessary information on it and usually sign it.\nSnape wrote a receipt with a gold fountain pen...\nI’ll write you a cheque in a moment.\n  VERB: V n, V n n, also V n for n\n\n  Write out means the same as write.\nWe went straight to the estate agent and wrote out a cheque...\nGet my wife to write you out a receipt before you leave.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P n, also V n P\n\n6. If you write to a computer or a disk, you record data on it. (COMPUTING)\nYou should write-protect all disks that you do not usually need to write to.\n  VERB: V to/onto n, also V, V n to/onto n\n\n7.\n  see also writing, written


Words: write back
Meaning:
write back\n  If you write back to someone who has sent you a letter, you write them a letter in reply.\nMacmillan wrote back saying that he could certainly help...\nI wrote back to Meudon at once to fix up a meeting.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P to n


Words: write down
Meaning:
write down\n  When you write something down, you record it on a piece of paper using a pen or pencil.\nOn the morning before starting the fast, write down your starting weight...\nOnly by writing things down could I bring some sort of order to the confusion.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P


Words: write in
Meaning:
write in\n1. If you write in to an organization, you send them a letter.\nWhat’s the point in writing in when you only print half the letter anyway?...\nSo there’s another thing that you might like to write in to this programme about.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P to n\n\n2. In the United States, if someone who is voting in an election writes in a person whose name is not on the list of candidates, they write that person’s name on the voting paper and vote for him or her.\nI think I’ll write in Pat Wilson...\nI’m going to write him in on my ballot next year.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n3.\n  see also write-in


Words: write into
Meaning:
write into\n  If a rule or detail is written into a contract, law, or agreement, it is included in it when the contract, law, or agreement is made.\nThey insisted that a guaranteed supply of Chinese food was written into their contracts...\nI didn’t write that into the rules but I don’t think it’s a bad idea.\n  PHRASAL VERB: be V-ed P n, V n P n


Words: write off
Meaning:
write off\n1. If you write off to a company or organization, you send them a letter, usually asking for something.\nHe wrote off to the New Zealand Government for these pamphlets about life in New Zealand.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P to n, also V P\n  = write\n2. If someone writes off a debt or an amount of money that has been spent on a project, they accept that they are never going to get the money back. (BUSINESS)\nThe president persuaded the West to write off Polish debts...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), also V n P\n\n3. If you write someone or something off, you decide that they are unimportant or useless and that they are not worth further serious attention.\nHe is fed up with people writing him off because of his age...\nHis critics write him off as too cautious to succeed...\nThese people are difficult to write off as malingering employees.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V n P as n/adj, V P n (not pron) as n/adj\n  = dismiss\n4. If someone writes off a vehicle, they have a crash in it and it is so badly damaged that it is not worth repairing. (BRIT)\nJohn’s written off four cars. Now he sticks to public transport...\nOne of Pete’s friends wrote his car off there.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n5. If you write off a plan or project, you accept that it is not going to be successful and do not continue with it.\nWe decided to write off the rest of the day and go shopping...\nThe prices were much higher. So we decided to write that off...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n6.\n  see also write-off


Words: write out
Meaning:
write out\n1. When you write out something fairly long such as a report or a list, you write it on paper.\nWe had to write out a list of ten jobs we’d like to do...\nThe application form is important. Sit down and write it out properly.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n2. If a character in a drama series is written out, he or she is taken out of the series.\nWhen Angie was written out of `Eastenders’ her character went to Spain to open a bar...\n  PHRASAL VERB: be V-ed P of n, also V n P\n\n3.\nsee write 5


Words: write up
Meaning:
write up\n  If you write up something that has been done or said, you record it on paper in a neat and complete form, usually using notes that you have made.\nHe wrote up his visit in a report of over 600 pages...\nMr Sadler conducted interviews, and his girlfriend wrote them up.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P\n\n  see also write-up


Words: write-in
Meaning:
write-in  write-ins\n  In the US, a write-in is a vote that you make by writing the candidate’s name on the ballot paper.\nWhen Republican write-ins were included, Johnson’s margin of victory was only 330 votes...\n  N-COUNT: also N n


Words: write-off
Meaning:
write-off  write-offs\n1. Something such as a vehicle that is a write-off has been so badly damaged in an accident that it is not worth repairing. (BRIT)\nThe car was a write-off, but everyone escaped unharmed.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. A write-off is the decision by a company or government to accept that they will never recover a debt or an amount of money that has been spent on something.\nMr James persuaded the banks to accept a large write-off of debt.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. If you describe a plan or period of time as a write-off, you mean that it has been a failure and you have achieved nothing. (INFORMAL)\nToday was really a bit of a write-off for me...\n  N-SING


Words: write-up
Meaning:
write-up  write-ups\n  A write-up is an article in a newspaper or magazine, in which someone gives their opinion of something such as a film, restaurant, or new product.\nThe show received a good write-up...\nThe guide book contains a short write-up of each hotel.\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp\n  = review


Words: writer
Meaning:
writ.er\n   writer  writers\n1. A writer is a person who writes books, stories, or articles as a job.\nTurner is a writer and critic.\n...detective stories by American writers.\n...novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux.\n  N-COUNT: oft supp N\n\n2. The writer of a particular article, report, letter, or story is the person who wrote it.\nNo-one is to see the document without the permission of the writer of the report...\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp


Words: writhe
Meaning:
writhe  writhes  writhing  writhed\n  If you writhe, your body twists and turns violently backwards and forwards, usually because you are in great pain or discomfort.\nHe was writhing in agony...\nThe shark was writhing around wildly, trying to get free.\n  VERB: V, V adv/prep


Words: writing
Meaning:
writ.ing\n   writing  writings\n1. Writing is something that has been written or printed.\n`It’s from a notebook,’ the sheriff said, `And there’s writing on it.’...\nIf you have a complaint about your holiday, please inform us in writing.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. You can refer to any piece of written work as writing, especially when you are considering the style of language used in it.\nThe writing is brutally tough and savagely humorous...\nIt was such a brilliant piece of writing.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n3. Writing is the activity of writing, especially of writing books for money.\nShe had begun to be a little bored with novel writing.\n...activities to help prepare children for writing.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n4. Your writing is the way that you write with a pen or pencil, which can usually be recognized as belonging to you.\nIt was a little difficult to read your writing...\nI think it’s due to being left handed that he’s got terrible writing.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu poss N\n  = handwriting\n5. An author’s writings are all the things that he or she has written, especially on a particular subject.\nAlthusser’s writings are focused mainly on France...\nThe pieces he is reading are adapted from the writings of Michael Frayn.\n  N-PLURAL: usu with poss\n\n6. If you say that the writing is on the wall, you mean that there are clear signs that a situation is going to become very difficult or unpleasant.\nThe writing is clearly on the wall. If we do nothing about it, we shall only have ourselves to blame.\n  PHRASE: V inflects


Words: writing desk
Meaning:
writ.ing desk\n   writing desk  writing desks\n  A writing desk is a piece of furniture with drawers, an area for keeping writing materials, and a surface on which you can rest your paper while writing.\n  N-COUNT


Words: writing paper
Meaning:
writ.ing pa.per\n   writing paper  writing papers\n  Writing paper is paper for writing letters on. It is usually of good, smooth quality.\n  N-MASS


Words: written
Meaning:
writ.ten\n   written\n1. Written is the past participle of write.\n\n2. A written test or piece of work is one which involves writing rather than doing something practical or giving spoken answers.\nLearners may have to take a written exam before they pass their driving test...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n3. A written agreement, rule, or law has been officially written down.\nThe newspaper broke a written agreement not to sell certain photographs...\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  !=unwritten\n4.\nto be written all over someone’s face: see face


Words: written word
Meaning:
writ.ten word\n   written word\n  You use the written word to refer to language expressed in writing, especially when contrasted with speech or with other forms of expression such as painting or film.\nEven in the 18th century scholars continued to give primacy to the written word.\n  N-SING: usu the N


Words: wrong
Meaning:
wrong  wrongs  wronging  wronged\n1. If you say there is something wrong, you mean there is something unsatisfactory about the situation, person, or thing you are talking about.\nPain is the body’s way of telling us that something is wrong...\nNobody seemed to notice anything wrong...\nWhat’s wrong with him?\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft ADJ with n\n  !=right\n2. If you choose the wrong thing, person, or method, you make a mistake and do not choose the one that you really want.\nHe went to the wrong house...\nThe wrong man had been punished...\nCould you have given them the wrong drug by mistake?...\nThere is no right or wrong way to do these exercises.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n  !=right\n  Wrong is also an adverb.\nYou’ve done it wrong...\nI must have dialed wrong.\n  ADV: ADV after v\n  !=right\n3. If something such as a decision, choice, or action is the wrong one, it is not the best or most suitable one.\nI really made the wrong decision there...\nThe wrong choice of club might limit your chances of success...\nWe got married when I was 30 for all the wrong reasons.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  !=right\n4. If something is wrong, it is incorrect and not in accordance with the facts.\nHow do you know that this explanation is wrong?...\n20 per cent of the calculations are wrong.\n...a clock which showed the wrong time...\nLots of people got the questions wrong.\n  ADJ\n  !=right\n  Wrong is also an adverb.\nI must have added it up wrong, then...\nIt looks like it’s spelled wrong...\nI can see exactly where he went wrong.\n  ADV: ADV after v\n\n=>  wrong.ly\nA child was wrongly diagnosed as having a bone tumour...\nCivilians assume, wrongly, that everything in the military runs smoothly.\n  ADV: ADV with v\n\n5. If something is wrong or goes wrong with a machine or piece of equipment, it stops working properly.\nWe think there’s something wrong with the computer...\nSomething must have gone wrong with the satellite link.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ with n\n\n6. If you are wrong about something, what you say or think about it is not correct.\nI was wrong about it being a casual meeting...\nIt would be wrong to assume that rich countries will always be able to insulate themselves with drugs against the ravages of new diseases...\nI’m sure you’ve got it wrong. Kate isn’t like that...\nIt’s been very nice to prove them wrong.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft ADJ about n, ADJ in -ing, it v-link ADJ to-inf, ADJ to-inf\n  !=right\n7. If you think that someone was wrong to do something, you think that they should not have done it because it was bad or immoral.\nShe was wrong to leave her child alone...\nWe don’t consider we did anything wrong.\n  ADJ: ADJ to-inf\n  !=right\n  Wrong is also a noun.\n...a man who believes that he has done no wrong.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n8. Wrong is used to refer to activities or actions that are considered to be morally bad and unacceptable.\nIs it wrong to try to save the life of someone you love?...\nThey thought slavery was morally wrong...\nThe only thing I consider wrong is when you hurt someone...\nThere is nothing wrong with journalists commenting on the attractiveness of artists.\n  ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft it v-link ADJ to-inf/that\n\n  Wrong is also a noun.\nJohnson didn’t seem to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n  !=right\n9. A wrong is an unfair or immoral action.\nI intend to right that wrong...\nThe insurance company should not be held liable for the wrongs of one of its agents.\n  N-COUNT\n\n10. If someone wrongs you, they treat you in an unfair way.\nYou have wronged my mother...\nShe felt she’d been wronged...\nThose who have wronged must be ready to say: `We have hurt you by this injustice.’\n  VERB: V n, V n, V\n\n11. You use wrong to describe something which is not thought to be socially acceptable or desirable.\nIf you went to the wrong school, you won’t get the job...\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n12. If a situation goes wrong, it stops progressing in the way that you expected or intended, and becomes much worse.\nIt all went horribly wrong...\n  PHRASE: V inflects\n(nex


Words: wrong .1
Meaning:
13. If someone who is involved in an argument or dispute has behaved in a way which is morally or legally wrong, you can say that they are in the wrong.\nHe didn’t press charges because he was in the wrong...\n  PHRASE: usu v-link PHR\n\n14.\nnot far wrong: see far\nto get off on the wrong foot: see foot\nto get hold of the wrong end of the stick: see stick\nto be barking up the wrong tree: see tree


Words: wrong-foot
Meaning:
wrong-foot  wrong-foots  wrong-footing  wrong-footed   also wrong foot\n  If you wrong-foot someone, you surprise them by putting them into an unexpected or difficult situation. (mainly BRIT)\nHe has surprised his supporters and wrong-footed his opponents with his latest announcement.\n  VERB: V n


Words: wrong-headed
Meaning:
wrong-headed\n  If you describe someone as wrong-headed, you mean that although they act in a determined way, their actions and ideas are based on wrong judgments.\n  ADJ


Words: wrongdoer
Meaning:
wrong.doer\n   wrongdoer  wrongdoers\n  A wrongdoer is a person who does things that are immoral or illegal. (JOURNALISM)\n  N-COUNT


Words: wrongdoing
Meaning:
wrong.doing\n   wrongdoing  wrongdoings\n  Wrongdoing is behaviour that is illegal or immoral.\nThe city attorney’s office hasn’t found any evidence of criminal wrongdoing.\n  N-VAR


Words: wrongful
Meaning:
wrong.ful\n   wrongful\n  A wrongful act is one that is illegal, immoral, or unjust.\nHe is on hunger strike in protest at what he claims is his wrongful conviction for murder...\nOne of her employees sued her for wrongful dismissal.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n=>  wrong.ful.ly\nThe criminal justice system is in need of urgent reform to prevent more people being wrongfully imprisoned.\n  ADV: ADV with v\n  = unjustly


Words: wrought
Meaning:
wrought\n1. If something has wrought a change, it has made it happen. (JOURNALISM or LITERARY)\nEvents in Paris wrought a change in British opinion towards France and Germany.\n  VERB: only past, V n\n\n2.\n  see also wreak


Words: wrought iron
Meaning:
wrought iron   also wrought-iron\n  Wrought iron is a type of iron that is easily formed into shapes and is used especially for making gates, fences, and furniture.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: wry
Meaning:
wry\n1. If someone has a wry expression, it shows that they find a bad situation or a change in a situation slightly amusing.\nMatthew allowed himself a wry smile...\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n\n2. A wry remark or piece of writing refers to a bad situation or a change in a situation in an amusing way.\nThere is a wry sense of humour in his work.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: WTO
Meaning:
WTO is an abbreviation for World Trade Organization.\nThe world desperately needs an effective WTO.\n  N-PROPER


Words: wuss
Meaning:
wuss  wusses\n  If you call someone a wuss, you are criticizing them for being afraid. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT: usu a N  disapproval


Words: WWW
Meaning:
WWW\n  WWW is an abbreviation for `World Wide Web’. It appears at the beginning of website addresses in the form www. (COMPUTING)


Words: WYSIWYG
Meaning:
WYSIWYG is used to refer to a computer screen display which exactly matches the way that a document will appear when it it is printed. WYSIWYG is an abbreviation for `what you see is what you get’. (COMPUTING)\n...the first WYSIWYG application for creating documents on the Web.


Words: X chromosome
Meaning:
X chro.mo.some\n   X chromosome  X chromosomes\n  An X chromosome is one of an identical pair of chromosomes found in a woman’s cells, or one of a non-identical pair found in a man’s cells. X chromosomes are associated with female characteristics. Compare Y chromosome.\n  N-COUNT


Words: X, x
Meaning:
X, x  X’s, x’s\n1. X is the twenty-fourth letter of the English alphabet.\n  N-VAR\n\n2. When writing down the size of something, you can use x in between the measurements to mean `by’.\nThe conservatory measures approximately 13ft x 16ft.


Words: X-ray
Meaning:
X-ray  X-rays  X-raying  X-rayed   also x-ray\n1. X-rays are a type of radiation that can pass through most solid materials. X-rays are used by doctors to examine the bones or organs inside your body and are also used at airports to see inside people’s luggage.\n  N-COUNT: usu pl\n\n2. An X-ray is a picture made by sending X-rays through something, usually someone’s body.\nShe was advised to have an abdominal X-ray.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. If someone or something is X-rayed, an X-ray picture is taken of them.\nAll hand baggage would be x-rayed...\nThey took my pulse, took my blood pressure, and X-rayed my jaw.\n  VERB: be V-ed, V n


Words: xenophobia
Meaning:
xeno.pho.bia\n   xenophobia\n  Xenophobia is strong and unreasonable dislike or fear of people from other countries. (FORMAL)\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: xenophobic
Meaning:
xeno.pho.bic\n   xenophobic\n  If you describe someone as xenophobic, you disapprove of them because they show strong dislike or fear of people from other countries. (FORMAL)\nXenophobic nationalism is on the rise in some West European countries...\nStalin was obsessively xenophobic.\n  ADJ  disapproval


Words: Xerox
Meaning:
Xer.ox\n   Xerox  Xeroxes  Xeroxing  Xeroxed\n1. A Xerox is a machine that can make copies of pieces of paper which have writing or other marks on them. (TRADEMARK)\nThe rooms are crammed with humming Xerox machines.\n  N-COUNT: usu N n\n\n2. A Xerox is a copy of something written or printed on a piece of paper, which has been made using a Xerox machine.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. If you Xerox a document, you make a copy of it using a Xerox machine.\nI should have simply Xeroxed this sheet for you.\n  VERB: V n


Words: xylophone
Meaning:
xy.lo.phone\n   xylophone  xylophones\n  A xylophone is a musical instrument which consists of a row of wooden bars of different lengths. You play the xylophone by hitting the bars with special hammers.\n  N-COUNT: oft the N


Words: Y chromosome
Meaning:
Y chro.mo.some\n   Y chromosome  Y chromosomes\n  A Y chromosome is the chromosome in a man’s cells which will produce a male baby if it joins with a female’s X chromosome. Y chromosomes are associated with male characteristics. Compare X chromosome.\n  N-COUNT


Words: Y, y
Meaning:
Y, y  Y’s, y’s\n1. Y is the twenty-fifth letter of the English alphabet.\n  N-VAR\n\n2. A YMCA or YWCA hostel is sometimes referred to as the Y. (AM INFORMAL)\nI took him to the Y.\n  N-SING: the N


Words: Y-fronts
Meaning:
Y-fronts\n  Y-fronts are men’s or boys’ underwear with an opening at the front. (TRADEMARK) (BRIT)\n  N-PLURAL


Words: yacht
Meaning:
yacht  yachts\n  A yacht is a large boat with sails or a motor, used for racing or pleasure trips.\n...a round-the-world yacht race.\n  N-COUNT


Words: yachting
Meaning:
yacht.ing\n   yachting\n  Yachting is the sport or activity of sailing a yacht.\n...the Olympic yachting regatta.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: yahoo
Meaning:
ya.hoo\n   yahoo yahoos\nPronounced   for meaning 1, and   for meaning 2.\n1. People sometimes shout `yahoo!’ when they are very happy or excited about something.\n  EXCLAM\n\n2. Some people refer to young rich people as yahoos when they disapprove of them because they behave in a noisy, extravagant, and unpleasant way. (BRIT INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT  disapproval


Words: yak
Meaning:
yak  yaks  or yak\n  A yak is a type of cattle that has long hair and long horns. Yaks live mainly in the Himalayan mountains and in Tibet.\n  N-COUNT


Words: yam
Meaning:
yam  yams\n1. A yam is a root vegetable which is like a potato, and grows in tropical regions.\n  N-VAR\n\n2. Yams are the same as sweet potatoes. (AM)\n  N-VAR


Words: Yank
Meaning:
Yank  Yanks\n  Some people refer to people from the United States of America as Yanks. This use could cause offence. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT


Words: yank
Meaning:
yank  yanks  yanking  yanked\n  If you yank someone or something somewhere, you pull them there suddenly and with a lot of force.\nShe yanked open the drawer...\nA quick-thinking ticket inspector yanked an emergency cord.\n  VERB: V n with adj, V n, also V at n\n\n  Yank is also a noun.\nGrabbing his ponytail, Shirley gave it a yank.\n  N-COUNT


Words: Yankee
Meaning:
Yan.kee\n   Yankee  Yankees\n1. A Yankee is a person from a northern or north-eastern state of the United States. (mainly AM)\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Some speakers of British English refer to anyone from the United States as a Yankee. This use could cause offence. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT


Words: yap
Meaning:
yap  yaps  yapping  yapped\n  If a small dog yaps, it makes short loud sounds in an excited way.\nThe little dog yapped frantically.\n  VERB: V


Words: yard
Meaning:
yard  yards\n1. A yard is a unit of length equal to thirty-six inches or approximately 91.4 centimetres.\nThe incident took place about 500 yards from where he was standing...\n...a long narrow strip of linen two or three yards long.\n...a yard of silk.\n  N-COUNT: num N, oft N of n\n\n2. A yard is a flat area of concrete or stone that is next to a building and often has a wall around it.\nI saw him standing in the yard.\n  N-COUNT\n  = courtyard\n3. You can refer to a large open area where a particular type of work is done as a yard.\n...a railway yard.\n...a ship repair yard.\n  N-COUNT: usu supp N\n\n4. A yard is a piece of land next to someone’s house, with grass and plants growing in it. (AM; in BRIT, use garden)\nHe dug a hole in our yard on Edgerton Avenue to plant a maple tree when I was born.\n  N-COUNT


Words: yard sale
Meaning:
yard sale  yard sales\n  A yard sale is a sale where people sell things they no longer want from a table outside their house. (AM)\n  N-COUNT


Words: Yardie
Meaning:
Yar.die\n   Yardie  Yardies\n  A Yardie is a member of a secret criminal organization, based in Jamaica, which is especially associated with drug dealing. (BRIT)\n  N-COUNT


Words: yardstick
Meaning:
yard.stick\n   yardstick  yardsticks\n  If you use someone or something as a yardstick, you use them as a standard for comparison when you are judging other people or things.\nThere has been no yardstick by which potential students can assess individual schools before signing up for a course.\n  N-COUNT


Words: yarn
Meaning:
yarn  yarns\n1. Yarn is thread used for knitting or making cloth.\nShe still spins the yarn and knits sweaters for her family.\n...vegetable-dyed yarns.\n  N-MASS\n\n2. A yarn is a story that someone tells, often a true story with invented details which make it more interesting.\nDoug has a yarn or two to tell me about his trips into the bush.\n  N-COUNT


Words: yaw
Meaning:
yaw  yaws  yawing  yawed\n  If an aircraft or a ship yaws, it turns to one side so that it changes the direction in which it is moving. (TECHNICAL)\nAs the plane climbed to 370 feet, it started yawing...\nHe spun the steering-wheel so that we yawed from side to side.\n  VERB: V, V prep/adv


Words: yawn
Meaning:
yawn  yawns  yawning  yawned\n1. If you yawn, you open your mouth very wide and breathe in more air than usual, often when you are tired or when you are not interested in something.\nShe yawned, and stretched lazily...\n  VERB: V\n\n  Yawn is also a noun.\nRosanna stifled a huge yawn.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you describe something such as a book or a film as a yawn, you think it is very boring. (INFORMAL)\nThe debate was a mockery. A big yawn...\nThe concert was a predictable yawn.\n  N-SING: a N\n  = bore\n3. A gap or opening that yawns is large and wide, and often frightening. (LITERARY)\nThe gulf between them yawned wider than ever...\n  VERB: V


Words: yd
Meaning:
yd yds  also yd.\n  yd is a written abbreviation for yard.\nThe entrance is on the left 200 yds further on up the road.


Words: ye
Meaning:
ye\n1. Ye is an old-fashioned, poetic, or religious word for you when you are talking to more than one person.\nAbandon hope all ye who enter here.\n  PRON\n\n2. Ye is sometimes used in imitation of an old written form of the word `the’.\n...Ye Olde Tea Shoppe.\n  DET


Words: yea
Meaning:
yea\n1. Yea is an old-fashioned, poetic, or religious word for `yes’.\n  CONVENTION\n\n2. Yea is sometimes used to mean `yes’ when people are talking about voting for or agreeing to do something.\nThe House of Commons can merely say yea or nay to the executive judgment.\n  CONVENTION


Words: yeah
Meaning:
yeah\n  Yeah means yes. (INFORMAL, SPOKEN)\n`Bring us something to drink.’.`Yeah, yeah.’\n  CONVENTION\n\n  see also yes


Words: year
Meaning:
year  years\n1. A year is a period of twelve months or 365 or 366 days, beginning on the first of January and ending on the thirty-first of December.\nThe year was 1840...\nWe had an election last year.\n...the number of people on the planet by the year 2050.\n  N-COUNT\n\n  see also leap year\n2. A year is any period of twelve months.\nThe museums attract more than two and a half million visitors a year...\nShe’s done quite a bit of work this past year...\nThe school has been empty for ten years.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. Year is used to refer to the age of a person. For example, if someone or something is twenty years old or twenty years of age, they have lived or existed for twenty years.\nHe’s 58 years old...\nI’ve been in trouble since I was eleven years of age...\nThis column is ten years old today.\n  N-COUNT: num N adj/prep\n\n4. A school year or academic year is the period of time in each twelve months when schools or universities are open and students are studying there. In Britain and the United States, the school year starts in September.\n...the 1990/91 academic year...\nThe twins didn’t have to repeat their second year at school.\n  N-COUNT: usu adj/ord N\n\n5. You can refer to someone who is, for example, in their first year at school or university as a first year. (BRIT)\nThe first years and second years got a choice of French, German and Spanish.\n  N-COUNT: ord N\n\n6. A financial or business year is an exact period of twelve months which businesses or institutions use as a basis for organizing their finances. (BUSINESS)\nHe announced big tax increases for the next two financial years...\nThe company admits it will make a loss for the year ending September.\n  N-COUNT: with supp\n\n7. You can use years to emphasize that you are referring to a long time.\nI haven’t laughed so much in years...\nIt took me years to fully recover...\n  N-PLURAL  emphasis\n  = age\n8.\n  see also calendar year, fiscal year\n9. If something happens year after year, it happens regularly every year.\nRegulars return year after year...\n  PHRASE: PHR after v\n\n10. If something changes year by year, it changes gradually each year.\nThis problem has increased year by year...\nThe department has been shrinking year by year because of budget cuts.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v\n\n11. If you say something happens all year round or all the year round, it happens continually throughout the year.\nTown gardens are ideal because they produce flowers nearly all year round...\nDrinking and driving is a problem all the year round.\n  PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR with cl\n\n12.\ndonkey’s years: see donkey


Words: year-long
Meaning:
year-long\n  Year-long is used to describe something that lasts for a year.\nThe miners ended their year-long strike in March 1985.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: year-round
Meaning:
year-round\n  Year-round is used to describe something that happens, exists, or is done throughout the year.\nCuba has a tropical climate with year-round sunshine.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n  Year-round is also an adverb.\nThey work 7 days a week year-round.\n  ADV: ADV with cl


Words: yearbook
Meaning:
year.book\n   yearbook  yearbooks\n  A yearbook is a book that is published once a year and that contains information about the events and achievements of the previous year, usually concerning a particular place or organization.\n...an American college yearbook for 1955.\n  N-COUNT


Words: yearly
Meaning:
year.ly\n   yearly\n1. A yearly event happens once a year or every year.\nThe seven major industrial countries will have their yearly meeting in London.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  = annual\n  Yearly is also an adverb.\nClients normally pay fees in advance, monthly, quarterly, or yearly.\n  ADV: ADV after v\n  = annually\n2. You use yearly to describe something such as an amount that relates to a period of one year.\nIn Holland, the government sets a yearly budget for health care.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n  = annual\n  Yearly is also an adverb.\nNovello says college students will spend $4.2 billion yearly on alcoholic beverages.\n  ADV: ADV after v\n  = annually


Words: yearn
Meaning:
yearn  yearns  yearning  yearned\n  If someone yearns for something that they are unlikely to get, they want it very much.\nHe yearned for freedom...\nI yearned to be a movie actor.\n  VERB: V for n, V to-inf\n  = long


Words: yearning
Meaning:
yearn.ing\n   yearning  yearnings\n  A yearning for something is a very strong desire for it.\nHe spoke of his yearning for another child...\nHe always had a yearning to be a schoolteacher.\n  N-VAR: oft N for n, N to-inf\n  = longing


Words: yeast
Meaning:
yeast  yeasts\n  Yeast is a kind of fungus which is used to make bread rise, and in making alcoholic drinks such as beer.\n  N-MASS


Words: yeast extract
Meaning:
yeast ex.tract\n   yeast extract  yeast extracts\n  Yeast extract is a brown sticky food that is obtained from yeast. It can be used in cooking or spread on bread.\n  N-MASS


Words: yell
Meaning:
yell  yells  yelling  yelled\n1. If you yell, you shout loudly, usually because you are excited, angry, or in pain.\n`Eva!’ he yelled...\nI’m sorry I yelled at you last night...\nChristian pushed him away, yelling abuse...\n  VERB: V with quote, V at n, V n\n\n  Yell out means the same as yell.\n`Are you coming or not?’ they yelled out after him.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P\n\n2. A yell is a loud shout given by someone who is afraid or in pain.\nSomething brushed past Bob’s face and he let out a yell.\n  N-COUNT\n  = cry


Words: yellow
Meaning:
yel.low\n   yellow  yellows  yellowing  yellowed\n1. Something that is yellow is the colour of lemons, butter, or the middle part of an egg.\nThe walls have been painted bright yellow...\n  COLOUR\n\n2. If something yellows, it becomes yellow in colour, often because it is old.\nThe flesh of his cheeks seemed to have yellowed...\nShe sat scanning the yellowing pages.\n  VERB: V, V-ing


Words: yellow card
Meaning:
yel.low card\n   yellow card  yellow cards\n  In football or rugby, if a player is shown the yellow card, the referee holds up a yellow card to indicate that the player has broken the rules, and that if they do so again, they will be ordered to leave the pitch.\n  N-COUNT: usu sing


Words: yellow fever
Meaning:
yel.low fe.ver\n   yellow fever\n  Yellow fever is a serious infectious disease that people can catch in tropical countries.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: yellow line
Meaning:
yel.low line\n   yellow line  yellow lines\n  A yellow line is a narrow yellow line painted at the edge of a road to warn drivers that parking is not allowed there, or is only allowed at certain times.\n  N-COUNT


Words: Yellow Pages
Meaning:
Yel.low Pages\n   Yellow Pages\n  Yellow Pages is a book that contains advertisements and telephone numbers for businesses and organizations in a particular area, grouped according to the type of business they do. Compare White Pages. (TRADEMARK)\n  N-UNCOUNT: also a N


Words: yellowish
Meaning:
yel.low.ish\n   yellowish\n  Something that is yellowish is slightly yellow in colour.\n...a small yellowish cauliflower.\n  ADJ


Words: yellowy
Meaning:
yel.lowy\n   yellowy\n  Something that is yellowy is slightly yellow in colour.\n  ADJ\n\n  Yellowy is also a combining form.\n...black ink, fading now to a yellowy brown.\n  COMB in COLOUR


Words: yelp
Meaning:
yelp  yelps  yelping  yelped\n  If a person or dog yelps, they give a sudden short cry, often because of fear or pain.\nHer dog yelped and came to heel.\n  VERB: V\n\n  Yelp is also a noun.\nI had to bite back a yelp of surprise.\n  N-COUNT: oft N of n


Words: Yemeni
Meaning:
Yem.eni\n   Yemeni  Yemenis\n1. Yemeni means belonging or relating to the Yemen, or to its people or culture.\n  ADJ\n\n2. A Yemeni is a Yemeni citizen, or a person of Yemeni origin.\n  N-COUNT


Words: yen
Meaning:
yen  yen\n1. The yen is the unit of currency used in Japan.\nShe’s got a part-time job for which she earns 2,000 yen a month.\n  N-COUNT: usu num N\n\n  The yen is also used to refer to the Japanese currency system.\n...sterling’s devaluation against the dollar and the yen.\n  N-SING: the N\n\n2. If you have a yen to do something, you have a strong desire to do it.\nMike had a yen to try cycling...\n  N-SING: usu a N, N to-inf, N for n\n  = yearning


Words: yeoman
Meaning:
yeo.man\n   yeoman  yeomen\n  In former times, a yeoman was a man who was free and not a servant, and who owned and worked on his own land.\n  N-COUNT


Words: yer
Meaning:
yer\n1. Yer is used in written English to represent the word `your’ when it is pronounced informally. (BRIT)\nMister, can we ’elp to carry yer stuff in?\n\n2. Yer is used in written English to represent the word `you’ when it is pronounced informally. (BRIT)\nI bloody told yer it would sell.


Words: yes
Meaning:
yes\nIn informal English, yes is often pronounced in a casual way that is usually written as yeah.\n1. You use yes to give a positive response to a question.\n`Are you a friend of Nick’s?’.`Yes.’...\n`You actually wrote it down, didn’t you?’.`Yes.’...\nWill she say yes when I ask her out?\n  CONVENTION\n  !=no\n2. You use yes to accept an offer or request, or to give permission.\n`More wine?’.`Yes please.’...\n`Will you take me there?’.`Yes, I will.’...\n`Can I ask you something?’.`Yes, of course.’\n  CONVENTION\n  !=no\n3. You use yes to tell someone that what they have said is correct.\n`Well I suppose it is based on the old lunar months isn’t it.’.`Yes that’s right.’...\n`That’s a type of whitefly, is it?’.`Yes, it is a whitefly.’\n  CONVENTION\n  !=no\n4. You use yes to show that you are ready or willing to speak to the person who wants to speak to you, for example when you are answering a telephone or a knock at your door.\nHe pushed a button on the intercom. `Yes?’ came a voice...\nYes, can I help you?\n  CONVENTION\n\n5. You use yes to indicate that you agree with, accept, or understand what the previous speaker has said.\n`A lot of people find it very difficult indeed to give up smoking.’.`Oh yes. I used to smoke nearly sixty a day.’...\n`It’s a fabulous opportunity.’.`Yeah. I know.’\n  CONVENTION\n\n6. You use yes to encourage someone to continue speaking.\n`I remembered something funny today.’.`Yeah?’\n  CONVENTION\n\n7. You use yes, usually followed by `but’, as a polite way of introducing what you want to say when you disagree with something the previous speaker has just said.\n`She is entitled to her personal allowance which is three thousand pounds of income.’.`Yes, but she doesn’t earn any money.’...\n  CONVENTION  politeness\n\n8. You use yes to say that a negative statement or question that the previous speaker has made is wrong or untrue.\n`That is not possible,’ she said. `Oh, yes, it is!’ Mrs Gruen insisted...\n`I don’t know what you’re talking about.’.`Yes, you do.’\n  CONVENTION\n\n9. You can use yes to suggest that you do not believe or agree with what the previous speaker has said, especially when you want to express your annoyance about it.\n`There was no way to stop it.’.`Oh yes? Well, here’s something else you won’t be able to stop.’\n  CONVENTION  feelings\n\n10. You use yes to indicate that you had forgotten something and have just remembered it.\nWhat was I going to say. Oh yeah, we’ve finally got our second computer.\n  CONVENTION\n\n11. You use yes to emphasize and confirm a statement that you are making.\nHe collected the .10,000 first prize. Yes, .10,000.\n  CONVENTION  emphasis\n\n12. You say yes and no in reply to a question when you cannot give a definite answer, because in some ways the answer is yes and in other ways the answer is no.\n`Was it strange for you, going back after such a long absence?’.`Yes and no.’\n  CONVENTION  vagueness


Words: yes-man
Meaning:
yes-man  yes-men\n  If you describe a man as a yes-man, you dislike the fact that he seems always to agree with people who have authority over him, in order to gain favour.\n  N-COUNT  disapproval


Words: yesterday
Meaning:
yes.ter.day\n   yesterday   yesterdays\n1. You use yesterday to refer to the day before today.\nShe left yesterday...\nYesterday she announced that she is quitting her job.\n  ADV: ADV with cl\n\n  Yesterday is also a noun.\nIn yesterday’s games, Switzerland beat the United States two-one.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. You can refer to the past, especially the recent past, as yesterday.\nThe worker of today is different from the worker of yesterday.\n  N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl


Words: yesteryear
Meaning:
yes.ter.year\n   yesteryear\n  You use yesteryear to refer to the past, often a period in the past with a set of values or a way of life that no longer exists. (LITERARY)\nThe modern-day sex symbol has now taken the place of the old-fashioned hero of yesteryear.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: yet
Meaning:
yet\n1. You use yet in negative statements to indicate that something has not happened up to the present time, although it probably will happen. You can also use yet in questions to ask if something has happened up to the present time. In British English the simple past tense is not normally used with this meaning of `yet’.\nThey haven’t finished yet...\nNo decision has yet been made...\nShe hasn’t yet set a date for her marriage...\n`Has the murderer been caught?’.`Not yet.’...\nHave you met my husband yet?...\nHammer-throwing for women is not yet a major event.\n  ADV: usu with brd-neg, ADV with v, ADV group\n\n2. You use yet with a negative statement when you are talking about the past, to report something that was not the case then, although it became the case later.\nThere was so much that Sam didn’t know yet...\nHe had asked around and learned that Billy was not yet here.\n  ADV: usu with brd-neg, ADV with v, ADV group\n\n3. If you say that something should not or cannot be done yet, you mean that it should not or cannot be done now, although it will have to be done at a later time.\nDon’t get up yet...\nThe hostages cannot go home just yet...\nWe should not yet abandon this option for the disposal of highly radioactive waste.\n  ADV: with brd-neg, ADV with v\n\n4. You use yet after a superlative to indicate, for example, that something is the worst or the best of its kind up to the present time.\nThis is the BBC’s worst idea yet...\nHer latest novel is her best yet.\n...one of the toughest warnings yet delivered.\n  ADV: n ADV, ADV adv/-ed, ADV after superl\n\n5. You can use yet to say that there is still a possibility that something will happen.\nA negotiated settlement might yet be possible.\n  ADV: ADV before v\n  = still\n6. You can use yet after expressions which refer to a period of time, when you want to say how much longer a situation will continue for.\nUnemployment will go on rising for some time yet...\nNothing will happen for a few years yet...\nThey’ll be ages yet.\n  ADV: n ADV\n\n7. If you say that you have yet to do something, you mean that you have never done it, especially when this is surprising or bad.\nShe has yet to spend a Christmas with her husband...\nHe has been nominated three times for the Oscar but has yet to win.\n  ADV: ADV to-inf\n\n8. You can use yet to introduce a fact which is rather surprising after the previous fact you have just mentioned.\nI don’t eat much, yet I am a size 16...\nIt is completely waterproof, yet light and comfortable.\n  CONJ\n  = but\n9. You can use yet to emphasize a word, especially when you are saying that something is surprising because it is more extreme than previous things of its kind, or a further case of them.\nI saw yet another doctor...\nThey would criticize me, or worse yet, pay me no attention...\nIt is plain to see we will not have anything to eat yet again.\n  ADV: ADV with adj/adv, usu ADV with compar  emphasis\n\n10. You use as yet with negative statements to describe a situation that has existed up until the present time. (FORMAL)\nAs yet it is not known whether the crash was the result of an accident...\n  PHRASE: PHR with cl


Words: yew
Meaning:
yew  yews\n  A yew or a yew tree is an evergreen tree. It has sharp leaves which are broad and flat, and red berries.\n  N-VAR\n\n  Yew is the wood of this tree.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: Yiddish
Meaning:
Yid.dish\n   Yiddish\n  Yiddish is a language which comes mainly from German and is spoken by many Jewish people of European origin.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: yield
Meaning:
yield  yields  yielding  yielded\n1. If you yield to someone or something, you stop resisting them. (FORMAL)\nWill she yield to growing pressure for her to retire?...\nIf the government does not yield, it should face sufficient military force to ensure its certain and swift defeat.\n  VERB: V to n, V\n  = give in\n2. If you yield something that you have control of or responsibility for, you allow someone else to have control or responsibility for it. (FORMAL)\nHe may yield control...\n  VERB: V n\n  = surrender\n3. If a moving person or a vehicle yields, they slow down or stop in order to allow other people or vehicles to pass in front of them. (AM; in BRIT, usually use give way)\nWhen entering a trail or starting a descent, yield to other skiers.\n...examples of common signs like No Smoking or Yield.\n  VERB: V to n, V\n\n4. If something yields, it breaks or moves position because force or pressure has been put on it.\nThe door yielded easily when he pushed it.\n  VERB: V\n\n5. If an area of land yields a particular amount of a crop, this is the amount that is produced. You can also say that a number of animals yield a particular amount of meat.\nLast year 400,000 acres of land yielded a crop worth $1.75 billion.\n  VERB: V n\n  = produce\n6. A yield is the amount of food produced on an area of land or by a number of animals.\nPolluted water lessens crop yields.\n  N-COUNT: with supp\n\n7. If a tax or investment yields an amount of money or profit, this money or profit is obtained from it. (BUSINESS)\nIt yielded a profit of at least $36 million.\n  VERB: V n\n\n8. A yield is the amount of money or profit produced by an investment. (BUSINESS)\nThe high yields available on the dividend shares made them attractive to private investors.\n...the yield on a bank’s investments.\n  N-COUNT: with supp, oft N of amount, N on n\n\n9. If something yields a result or piece of information, it produces it.\nThis research has been in progress since 1961 and has yielded a great number of positive results...\n  VERB: V n


Words: yielding
Meaning:
yield.ing\n   yielding\n  A yielding surface or object is quite soft and will move or bend rather than staying stiff if you put pressure on it.\n...the yielding ground.\n...the soft yielding cushions.\n  ADJ


Words: yip
Meaning:
yip  yips  yipping  yipped\n  If a dog or other animal yips, it gives a sudden short cry, often because of fear or pain. (mainly AM)\nFar up the west rim of the canyon, a coyote yipped twice.\n  VERB: V\n  = yelp\n  Yip is also a noun.\n...a yip of pain.\n  N-COUNT: oft N of n


Words: yippee
Meaning:
yip.pee\n   yippee\n  People sometimes shout yippee when they are very pleased or excited.\n  EXCLAM


Words: YMCA
Meaning:
YMCA  YMCAs\n  The YMCA is a place where men can stay cheaply, which is run by the YMCA organization. YMCA is an abbreviation for `Young Men’s Christian Association’.\n  N-COUNT: usu the N in sing


Words: yo
Meaning:
yo\n  People sometimes say `yo’ to greet other people or to get their attention. (INFORMAL, SPOKEN)\nYo, Carl, great outfit man!\n  CONVENTION


Words: yo-yo
Meaning:
yo-yo  yo-yos\n  A yo-yo is a toy made of a round piece of wood or plastic attached to a piece of string. You play with the yo-yo by letting it rise and fall on the string.\n  N-COUNT


Words: yob
Meaning:
yob  yobs\n  If you call a boy or a man a yob, you disapprove of him because he behaves in a noisy, rude, and perhaps violent way in public. (BRIT INFORMAL)\nViolent and dangerous yobs deserve to be locked up.\n  N-COUNT: usu with supp  disapproval\n  = lout


Words: yobbish
Meaning:
yob.bish\n   yobbish\n  If you describe a boy or a man as yobbish, you disapprove of him because he behaves in a noisy, rude, and perhaps violent way in public. (BRIT INFORMAL)\n...yobbish football supporters.\n  ADJ  disapproval\n  = loutish


Words: yodel
Meaning:
yo.del\n   yodel  yodels  yodelling  yodelled\nin AM, use yodeling, yodeled\n  When someone yodels, they sing normal notes with very high quick notes in between.\nYou haven’t lived till you’ve learned how to yodel at a tea dance in a mountain hut!\n  VERB: V\n\n=>  yo.del.ling\nSwitzerland isn’t all cow bells and yodelling, you know.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: yoga
Meaning:
yoga\n1. Yoga is a type of exercise in which you move your body into various positions in order to become more fit or flexible, to improve your breathing, and to relax your mind.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n2. Yoga is a philosophy which first developed in India, in which physical exercises and meditation are believed to help people to become calmer and united in spirit with God.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: yogi
Meaning:
yogi  yogis\n  A yogi is a person who has spent many years practising the philosophy of yoga, and is considered to have reached an advanced spiritual state.\n  N-COUNT


Words: yogurt
Meaning:
yo.gurt\n   yogurt  yogurts   also yoghurt\n  Yogurt is a food in the form of a thick, slightly sour liquid that is made by adding bacteria to milk. A yogurt is a small pot of yogurt.\n  N-VAR


Words: yoke
Meaning:
yoke  yokes  yoking  yoked\n1. If you say that people are under the yoke of a bad thing or person, you mean they are forced to live in a difficult or unhappy state because of that thing or person. (LITERARY)\nPeople are still suffering under the yoke of slavery...\n  N-SING: usu N of n, adj N\n\n2. A yoke is a long piece of wood which is tied across the necks of two animals such as oxen, in order to make them walk close together when they are pulling a plough.\n  N-COUNT\n\n3. If two or more people or things are yoked together, they are forced to be closely linked with each other.\nThe introduction attempts to yoke the pieces together...\nThe Auto Pact yoked Ontario into the United States economy...\nFarmers and politicians are yoked by money and votes.\n  VERB: V pl-n together, V n to/into n, be V-ed


Words: yokel
Meaning:
yo.kel\n   yokel  yokels\n  If you refer to someone as a yokel, you think they are uneducated and stupid because they come from the countryside.\n  N-COUNT  disapproval\n  = bumpkin


Words: yolk
Meaning:
yolk  yolks\n  The yolk of an egg is the yellow part in the middle.\nOnly the yolk contains cholesterol.\n...buttered toast dipped in egg yolk.\n  N-VAR


Words: Yom Kippur
Meaning:
Yom Kip.pur\n   Yom Kippur\n  Yom Kippur is the religious holiday when Jewish people do not eat, but say prayers asking to be forgiven for the things they have done wrong. It is in September or October.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: yon
Meaning:
yon\n  Yon is an old-fashioned or dialect word for `that’ or `those’.\nDon’t let yon dog nod off.\n  DET\n\nhither and yon: see hither


Words: yonder
Meaning:
yon.der\n   yonder\n  Yonder is an old-fashioned or dialect word for `over there’.\nNow look yonder, just beyond the wooden post there.\n  ADV: ADV with v


Words: yonks
Meaning:
yonks\n  Yonks means a very long time. (BRIT INFORMAL)\n...the most wonderful club I’ve been to for yonks.\n  N-PLURAL\n  = ages


Words: yore
Meaning:
yore\n  Of yore is used to refer to a period of time in the past. (JOURNALISM or LITERARY)\nThe images provoked strong surges of nostalgia for the days of yore...\n  PHRASE: n PHR, than PHR\n  = of old


Words: Yorkshire pudding
Meaning:
York.shire pud.ding\n   Yorkshire pudding  Yorkshire puddings\n  Yorkshire pudding is a British food which is made by baking a thick liquid mixture of flour, milk, and eggs. It is often eaten with roast beef.\n  N-VAR


Words: you
Meaning:
you\n\n  You is the second person pronoun. You can refer to one or more people and is used as the subject of a verb or the object of a verb or preposition.\n\n1. A speaker or writer uses you to refer to the person or people that they are talking or writing to. It is possible to use you before a noun to make it clear which group of people you are talking to.\nWhen I saw you across the room I knew I’d met you before...\nYou two seem very different to me...\nI could always talk to you about anything in the world...\nWhat is alternative health care? What can it do for you?...\nWhat you kids need is more exercise.\n  PRON\n\n2. In spoken English and informal written English, you is sometimes used to refer to people in general.\nGetting good results gives you confidence...\nIn those days you did what you were told.\n  PRON


Words: you’d
Meaning:
you’d\n1. You’d is the usual spoken form of `you had’, especially when `had’ is an auxiliary verb.\nI think you’d better tell us why you’re asking these questions.\n\n2. You’d is the usual spoken form of `you would’.\nWith your hair and your beautiful skin, you’d look good in red and other bright colors.


Words: you’ll
Meaning:
you’ll\n  You’ll is the usual spoken form of `you will’.\nPromise me you’ll take very special care of yourself...\nI think you’ll find everything you need here.


Words: you’re
Meaning:
you’re\n  You’re is the usual spoken form of `you are’.\nGo to him, tell him you’re sorry...\nI think you’re expecting too much of me.


Words: you’ve
Meaning:
you’ve\n  You’ve is the usual spoken form of `you have’, especially when `have’ is an auxiliary verb.\nNow you’ve got your degree, what will you do?...\nMany of the fruits you’ve tasted on your holidays can be found in supermarkets.


Words: young
Meaning:
young  younger  youngest\n1. A young person, animal, or plant has not lived or existed for very long and is not yet mature.\nIn Scotland, young people can marry at 16...\n...a field of young barley...\nHe played with his younger brother.\n  ADJ\n  !=old\n  The young are people who are young.\nThe association is advising pregnant women, the very young and the elderly to avoid such foods.\n  N-PLURAL: the N\n\n2. You use young to describe a time when a person or thing was young.\nIn her younger days my mother had been a successful fashionwear saleswoman.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n3. Someone who is young in appearance or behaviour looks or behaves as if they are young.\nI was twenty-three, I suppose, and young for my age...\n  ADJ\n\n4. The young of an animal are its babies.\nThe hen may not be able to feed its young.\n  N-PLURAL


Words: young gun
Meaning:
young gun  young guns\n  You can use young guns to talk about people, especially young men, who have lots of energy and talent, and are becoming very successful. (JOURNALISM)\nHe may have been eclipsed by the young guns, but his films are still very popular.\n  N-COUNT: oft plural


Words: youngish
Meaning:
young.ish\n   youngish\n  A youngish person is fairly young.\n...a smart, dark-haired, youngish man.\n  ADJ


Words: youngster
Meaning:
young.ster\n   youngster  youngsters\n  Young people, especially children, are sometimes referred to as youngsters.\nOther youngsters are not so lucky...\nI was only a youngster in 1935.\n  N-COUNT


Words: your
Meaning:
your\n\n  Your is the second person possessive determiner. Your can refer to one or more people.\n\n1. A speaker or writer uses your to indicate that something belongs or relates to the person or people that they are talking or writing to.\nEmma, I trust your opinion a great deal...\nI left all of your messages on your desk...\nIf you are unable to obtain the information you require, consult your telephone directory.\n  DET\n\n2. In spoken English and informal written English, your is sometimes used to indicate that something belongs to or relates to people in general.\nPain-killers are very useful in small amounts to bring your temperature down...\nI then realized how possible it was to overcome your limitations.\n  DET\n\n3. In spoken English, a speaker sometimes uses your before an adjective such as `typical’ or `normal’ to indicate that the thing referred to is a typical example of its type.\nStan Reilly is not really one of your typical Brighton Boys...\n  DET


Words: yours
Meaning:
yours\n\n  Yours is the second person possessive pronoun. Yours can refer to one or more people.\n\n1. A speaker or writer uses yours to refer to something that belongs or relates to the person or people that they are talking or writing to.\nI’ll take my coat upstairs. Shall I take yours, Roberta?...\nI believe Paul was a friend of yours...\nIf yours is a high-stress job, it is important that you learn how to cope.\n  PRON\n\n2. People write yours, yours sincerely, or yours faithfully at the end of a letter before they sign their name.\nWith best regards, Yours, George...\nYours faithfully, Michael Moore, London Business School...\n  CONVENTION\n\nyours truly: see truly


Words: yourself
Meaning:
your.self\n   yourself   yourselves\n\n  Yourself is the second person reflexive pronoun.\n\n1. A speaker or writer uses yourself to refer to the person that they are talking or writing to. Yourself is used when the object of a verb or preposition refers to the same person as the subject of the verb.\nHave the courage to be honest with yourself and about yourself...\nYour baby depends on you to look after yourself properly while you are pregnant...\nTreat yourselves to a glass of wine to help you relax at the end of the day.\n  PRON: v PRON, prep PRON\n\n2. You use yourself to emphasize the person that you are referring to.\nThey mean to share the business between them, after you yourself are gone, Sir...\nI’ve been wondering if you yourselves have any idea why she came.\n  PRON  emphasis\n\n3. You use yourself instead of `you’ for emphasis or in order to be more polite when `you’ is the object of a verb or preposition.\nA wealthy man like yourself is bound to make an enemy or two along the way...\n  PRON: v PRON, prep PRON  politeness\n\nby yourself: see by


Words: youth
Meaning:
youth  youths\n1. Someone’s youth is the period of their life during which they are a child, before they are a fully mature adult.\nIn my youth my ambition had been to be an inventor.\n...the comic books of my youth.\n  N-UNCOUNT: usu poss N\n\n2. Youth is the quality or state of being young.\nGregory was still enchanted with Shannon’s youth and joy and beauty...\nThe team is now a good mixture of experience and youth.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n3. Journalists often refer to young men as youths, especially when they are reporting that the young men have caused trouble.\n...gangs of youths who broke windows and looted shops...\n  N-COUNT\n\n4. The youth are young people considered as a group.\nHe represents the opinions of the youth of today...\n  N-PLURAL: usu with poss


Words: youth club
Meaning:
youth club  youth clubs\n  A youth club is a club where young people can go to meet each other and take part in various leisure activities. Youth clubs are often run by a church or local authority.\n...the youth club disco.\n  N-COUNT


Words: youth hostel
Meaning:
youth hos.tel\n   youth hostel  youth hostels\n  A youth hostel is a place where people can stay cheaply when they are travelling.\n  N-COUNT


Words: youth worker
Meaning:
youth work.er\n   youth worker  youth workers\n  A youth worker is a person whose job involves providing support and social activities for young people, especially young people from poor backgrounds. (mainly BRIT)\n  N-COUNT


Words: youthful
Meaning:
youth.ful\n   youthful\n  Someone who is youthful behaves as if they are young or younger than they really are.\nI’m a very youthful 50.\n...youthful enthusiasm and high spirits...\n  ADJ


Words: yowl
Meaning:
yowl  yowls  yowling  yowled\n  If a person or an animal yowls, they make a long loud cry, especially because they are sad or in pain.\nThe dog began to yowl.\n  VERB: V\n\n  Yowl is also a noun.\nPatsy could hardly be heard above the baby’s yowls.\n  N-COUNT\n\n=>  yowl.ing\nI couldn’t stand that yowling.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: yr
Meaning:
yr yrs  also yr.\n  yr is a written abbreviation for year.\nTheir imaginations are quite something for 2 yr olds.


Words: yuan
Meaning:
yuan  yuan\n  The yuan is the unit of money used in the People’s Republic of China.\nFor most events, tickets cost one, two or three yuan.\n  N-COUNT: num N\n\n  The yuan is also used to refer to the Chinese currency system.\nThe yuan recovered a little; it now hovers around 8.2 to the dollar.\n  N-SING: the N


Words: Yugoslav
Meaning:
Yu.go.slav\n   Yugoslav  Yugoslavs\n  Yugoslav means belonging or relating to the former Yugoslavia, or to its people or culture.\n  ADJ\n\n  A Yugoslav was a Yugoslav citizen, or a person of Yugoslav origin.\n  N-COUNT


Words: yuk
Meaning:
yuk\n  Some people say `yuk’ when they think something is very unpleasant or disgusting. (INFORMAL)\n`It’s corned beef and cabbage,’ said Malone. `Yuk,’ said Maureen.\n  EXCLAM


Words: Yuletide
Meaning:
Yule.tide\n   Yuletide\n  Yuletide is the period of several days around and including Christmas Day.\n...ideas for Yuletide food, drink and decorations.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N n


Words: yum
Meaning:
yum\n  People sometimes say `yum’ or `yum yum’ to show that they think something tastes or smells very good. (INFORMAL)\n  EXCLAM


Words: yummy
Meaning:
yum.my\n   yummy\n  Yummy food tastes very good. (INFORMAL)\nI’ll bet they have yummy ice cream...\nIt smells yummy.\n  ADJ


Words: yuppie
Meaning:
yup.pie\n   yuppie  yuppies\n  A yuppie is a young person who has a well-paid job and likes to show that they have a lot of money by buying expensive things and living in an expensive way.\nThe Porsche 911 reminds me of the worst parts of the yuppie era.\n  N-COUNT  disapproval


Words: YWCA
Meaning:
YWCA  YWCAs\n  The YWCA is a place where women can stay cheaply, which is run by the YWCA organization. YWCA is an abbreviation for `Young Women’s Christian Association’.\n  N-COUNT: usu the N in sing


Words: zany
Meaning:
zany  zanier  zaniest\n  Zany humour or a zany person is strange or eccentric in an amusing way. (INFORMAL)\n...the zany humour of the Marx Brothers.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n\n  = wacky


Words: zap
Meaning:
zap  zaps  zapping  zapped\n1. To zap someone or something means to kill, destroy, or hit them, for example with a gun or in a computer game. (INFORMAL)\nA guard zapped him with the stun gun.\n  VERB: V n\n\n2. If you zap channels while watching television, you change channels using the remote control. (INFORMAL)\nMen like to zap the TV channels, something that can drive certain women berserk.\n  VERB: V n\n\n3. To zap something such as a computer file or document means to to delete it from the computer memory or to clear it from the screen. (COMPUTING INFORMAL)\n  VERB


Words: zapper
Meaning:
zap.per\n   zapper  zappers\n  A zapper is a small device that you use to control a television, video, or stereo from a distance. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT\n  = remote control


Words: zeal
Meaning:
zeal\n  Zeal is great enthusiasm, especially in connection with work, religion, or politics.\n...his zeal for teaching...\nMr Lopez approached his task with a religious zeal.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: zealot
Meaning:
zeal.ot\n   zealot  zealots\n  If you describe someone as a zealot, you think that their views and actions are very extreme, especially in following a particular political or religious belief.\nHe was forceful, but by no means a zealot.\n  N-COUNT  disapproval


Words: zealous
Meaning:
zeal.ous\n   zealous\n  Someone who is zealous spends a lot of time or energy in supporting something that they believe in very strongly, especially a political or religious ideal.\nShe was a zealous worker for charitable bodies...\n  ADJ


Words: zebra
Meaning:
zeb.ra\n   zebra   zebras   or zebra\n  A zebra is an African wild horse which has black and white stripes.\n  N-COUNT


Words: zebra crossing
Meaning:
zeb.ra cross.ing\n   zebra crossing  zebra crossings\n  In Britain, a zebra crossing is a place on the road that is marked with black and white stripes, where vehicles are supposed to stop so that people can walk across.\n  N-COUNT


Words: zeitgeist
Meaning:
zeit.geist\n   zeitgeist\n  The zeitgeist of a particular place during a particular period in history is the attitudes and ideas that are generally common there at that time, especially the attitudes and ideas shown in literature, philosophy, and politics.\nHe has caught the zeitgeist of rural life in the 1980s very well indeed.\n  N-SING


Words: Zen
Meaning:
Zen\n  Zen or Zen Buddhism is a form of the Buddhist religion that concentrates on meditation rather than on studying religious writings.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: zenith
Meaning:
zen.ith\n   zenith\n  The zenith of something is the time when it is most successful or powerful.\nHis career is now at its zenith...\n  N-SING: usu with poss\n  = peak


Words: zero
Meaning:
zero  zeros  or zeroes  zeroing  zeroed\n1. Zero is the number 0.\nVisibility at the city’s airport came down to zero, bringing air traffic to a standstill.\n...a scale ranging from zero to seven.\n  NUM\n  = nought\n2. Zero is a temperature of 0.. It is freezing point on the Centigrade and Celsius scales, and 32. below freezing point on the Fahrenheit scale.\nIt’s a sunny late winter day, just a few degrees above zero...\nThat night the mercury fell to thirty degrees below zero.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n3. You can use zero to say that there is none at all of the thing mentioned.\nThis new ministry was being created with zero assets and zero liabilities.\n  ADJ


Words: zero in on
Meaning:
zero in on\n1. To zero in on a target means to aim at it or move towards it.\nHe raised the binoculars again and zeroed in on an eleventh-floor room.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P P n\n  = home in on\n2. If you zero in on a problem or subject, you give it your full attention.\nMany of the other major daily newspapers have not really zeroed in on the problem...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P P n\n  = home in on


Words: zero tolerance
Meaning:
zero tol.er.ance\n   zero tolerance\n  If a government or organization has a policy of zero tolerance of a particular type of behaviour or activity, they will not tolerate it at all.\nThey have a policy of zero tolerance for sexual harassment.\n  N-UNCOUNT: oft N prep


Words: zero-emission
Meaning:
zero-emission\n  A zero-emission vehicle does not produce any dangerous gases.\n...zero-emission electric cars.\n  ADJ: ADJ n


Words: zero-sum game
Meaning:
zero-sum game\n  If you refer to a situation as a zero-sum game, you mean that if one person gains an advantage from it, someone else involved must suffer an equivalent disadvantage.\nThey believe they’re playing a zero-sum game, where both must compete for the same paltry resources.\n  N-SING


Words: zest
Meaning:
zest  zests\n1. Zest is a feeling of pleasure and enthusiasm.\nHe has a zest for life and a quick intellect.\n  N-UNCOUNT: also a N, oft N for n\n\n2. Zest is a quality in an activity or situation which you find exciting.\nLive interviews add zest and a touch of the unexpected to any piece of research.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n3. The zest of a lemon, orange, or lime is the outer skin when it is used to give flavour to something such as a cake or a drink.\nMix the rest of the olive oil with the zest and juice of the lemon...\n  N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl, usu N of n, n N


Words: zigzag
Meaning:
zig.zag\n   zigzag  zigzags  zigzagging  zigzagged   also zig-zag\n1. A zigzag is a line which has a series of angles in it like a continuous series of `W’s.\nThey staggered in a zigzag across the tarmac.\n...a zigzag pattern.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. If you zigzag, you move forward by going at an angle first to one side then to the other.\nI zigzagged down a labyrinth of alleys...\nExpertly he zigzagged his way across the field, avoiding the deeper gullies.\n  VERB: V prep, V way prep, also V


Words: zilch
Meaning:
zilch\n  Zilch means nothing. (INFORMAL)\nAt the moment these shares are worth zilch.\n  PRON\n  = nothing


Words: zillion
Meaning:
zil.lion\n   zillion  zillions\n  If you talk about a zillion people or things, you are emphasizing that there is an extremely large number of them. (INFORMAL)\nIt’s been a zillion years since I’ve seen her.\n  NUM  emphasis


Words: Zimmer frame
Meaning:
Zim.mer frame\n   Zimmer frame  Zimmer frames\n  A Zimmer frame or a Zimmer is a frame that old or ill people sometimes use to help them walk. (TRADEMARK) (BRIT; in AM, use walker)\n  N-COUNT


Words: zinc
Meaning:
zinc\n  Zinc is a bluish-white metal which is used to make other metals such as brass, or to cover other metals such as iron to stop a brown substance called rust from forming.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: zine
Meaning:
zine  zines\n  A zine is a magazine about a particular subject, written by people who are interested in that subject rather than by professional journalists.\n  N-COUNT\n  = fanzine


Words: zing
Meaning:
zing\n  If you refer to the zing in someone or something, you mean the quality that makes them lively or interesting. (INFORMAL)\nHe just lacked that extra zing...\nThere’s nothing like fresh basil to put a zing into a tomato sauce.\n  N-UNCOUNT: also a N


Words: zinger
Meaning:
zing.er\n   zinger  zingers\n  A zinger is a witty remark, or something that is lively, interesting, amusing, or impressive. (AM INFORMAL)\nThe panelists are left to compress their inquiries into one good zinger of a question...\nI thought it looked like a zinger.\n  N-COUNT


Words: Zionism
Meaning:
Zi.on.ism\n   Zionism\n  Zionism is a movement which was originally concerned with establishing a political and religious state in Palestine for Jewish people, and is now concerned with the development of Israel.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: Zionist
Meaning:
Zi.on.ist\n   Zionist  Zionists\n1. A Zionist is someone who believes in Zionism.\nHe was an ardent Zionist.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Zionist means relating to Zionism.\n...the Zionist movement.\n  ADJ: usu ADJ n


Words: zip
Meaning:
zip  zips  zipping  zipped\n1. A zip or zip fastener is a device used to open and close parts of clothes and bags. It consists of two rows of metal or plastic teeth which separate or fasten together as you pull a small tag along them. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use zipper)\nHe pulled the zip of his leather jacket down slightly.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. When you zip something, you fasten it using a zip.\nShe zipped her jeans...\nI slowly zipped and locked the heavy black nylon bags.\n  VERB: V n, V n


Words: zip code
Meaning:
zip code  zip codes\n  Your zip code is a short sequence of letters and numbers at the end of your address, which helps the post office to sort the mail. (AM; in BRIT, use postcode)\n  N-COUNT


Words: zip disk
Meaning:
zip disk zip disks\n  A zip disk is a computer disk, similar to a floppy disk but capable of storing greater amounts of data. (COMPUTING)\nZip disks could be used to store the equivalent of three music CDs.\n  N-COUNT


Words: zip drive
Meaning:
zip drive zip drives\n  A zip drive is a piece of computer equipment that you use for storing large amounts of data. (COMPUTING)\nZip drives help people to organise their important information.\n  N-COUNT


Words: zip file
Meaning:
zip file zip files\n  A zip file is a computer file containing data that has been compressed. (COMPUTING)\nWhen you download the font it may be in a compressed format, such as a zip file.\n  N-COUNT


Words: zip up
Meaning:
zip up\n1. If you zip up something such as a piece of clothing or if it zips up, you are able to fasten it using its zip.\nHe zipped up his jeans...\nMy jeans wouldn’t zip up.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V P, also V n P\n\n2. To zip up a computer file means to compress it so that it needs less space for storage on disk and can be transmitted more quickly. (COMPUTING)\nThese files have been zipped up to take up less disk space so they take less time to download.\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P, also V P n


Words: zipper
Meaning:
zip.per\n   zipper  zippers\n  A zipper is a device used to open and close parts of clothes and bags. It consists of two rows of metal or plastic teeth which separate or fasten together as you pull a small tag along them. (mainly AM; in BRIT, usually use zip)\n  N-COUNT


Words: zit
Meaning:
zit  zits\n  Zits are spots on someone’s skin, especially a young person’s. (INFORMAL)\n  N-COUNT\n  = spot


Words: zither
Meaning:
zith.er\n   zither  zithers\n  A zither is a musical instrument which consists of two sets of strings stretched over a flat box. You play the zither by pulling the strings with both hands.\n  N-COUNT


Words: zodiac
Meaning:
zo.di.ac\n   zodiac\n  The zodiac is a diagram used by astrologers to represent the positions of the planets and stars. It is divided into twelve sections, each of which has its own name and symbol. The zodiac is used to try to calculate the influence of the planets, especially on someone’s life.\n...the twelve signs of the zodiac.\n  N-SING: the N


Words: zombie
Meaning:
zom.bie\n   zombie  zombies\n1. You can describe someone as a zombie if their face or behaviour shows no feeling, understanding, or interest in what is going on around them.\nWithout sleep you will become a zombie at work.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. In horror stories and some religions, a zombie is a dead person who has been brought back to life.\n  N-COUNT


Words: zone
Meaning:
zone  zones  zoning  zoned\n1. A zone is an area that has particular features or characteristics.\nMany people have stayed behind in the potential war zone...\nThe area has been declared a disaster zone.\n...time zones.\n  N-COUNT: oft n N\n\n2. If an area of land is zoned, it is formally set aside for a particular purpose.\nThe land was not zoned for commercial purposes...\n  VERB: usu passive, be V-ed\n\n=>  zon.ing\n...the use of zoning to preserve agricultural land...\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: zonked
Meaning:
zonked\n  If someone is zonked or zonked out, they are not capable of doing anything because they are very tired, drunk, or drugged. (INFORMAL)\n  ADJ


Words: zoo
Meaning:
zoo  zoos\n  A zoo is a park where live animals are kept so that people can look at them.\nHe took his son Christopher to the zoo.\n...the penguin pool at London Zoo.\n  N-COUNT; N-IN-NAMES


Words: zoology
Meaning:
zo.ol.ogy\n   zoology\n  Zoology is the scientific study of animals.\n  N-UNCOUNT\n\n=>  zoo.logi.cal\n...zoological specimens.\n  ADJ: ADJ n\n\n=>  zo.olo.gist      zoologists\n...a renowned zoologist and writer.\n  N-COUNT


Words: zoom
Meaning:
zoom  zooms  zooming  zoomed\n1. If you zoom somewhere, you go there very quickly. (INFORMAL)\nWe zoomed through the gallery...\n  VERB: V prep/adv\n  = speed\n2. If prices or sales zoom, they increase greatly in a very short time.\nThe economy shrank and inflation zoomed...\n  VERB: V\n  = soar\n3. A zoom is the same as a zoom lens.\n  N-COUNT


Words: zoom in
Meaning:
zoom in\n  If a camera zooms in on something that is being filmed or photographed, it gives a close-up picture of it.\n...a tracking system which can follow a burglar round a building and zoom in on his face...\n  PHRASAL VERB: V P on n


Words: zoom lens
Meaning:
zoom lens  zoom lenses\n  A zoom lens is a lens that you can attach to a camera, which allows you to make the details larger or smaller while always keeping the picture clear.\n  N-COUNT


Words: zucchini
Meaning:
zuc.chi.ni\n   zucchini  zucchini  or zucchinis\n  Zucchini are long thin vegetables with a dark green skin. (mainly AM; in BRIT, usually use courgette)\n  N-VAR


Words: Zulu
Meaning:
Zulu  Zulus\n1. A Zulu is a member of a race of black people who live in Southern Africa.\n  N-COUNT\n\n2. Zulu is the language spoken by Zulus and also by many other black South Africans.\n  N-UNCOUNT


Words: zygote
Meaning:
zy.gote\n   zygote  zygotes\n  A zygote is an egg that has been fertilized by sperm, and which could develop into an embryo. (TECHNICAL)\n  N-COUNT


