[widow] See: GOLF WIDOW.

[wiener roast] or [hot dog roast] {n.} A party where frankfurters are cooked and eaten over an outdoor fire. •/For his birthday party, John had a wiener roast in his backyard./ •/Mary’s Girl Scout troop had a hot dog roast on their overnight hike./

[wig] See: BIG CHEESE or BIG WIG.

[wild] See: RUN WILD, SOW ONE’S WILD OATS.

[wildcat strike]{n.}, {informal} A strike not ordered by a labor union; a strike spontaneously arranged by a group of workers. •/The garbage collectors have gone on a wildcat strike, but the union is going to stop it./

[wild goose chase]{n. phr.} An absurd and completely futile errand. •/I was on a wild goose chase when I was sent to find a man who never really existed./

[wild pitch]{n.} A pitch in baseball that is so high, so low, or so far from the plate that the catcher cannot catch it and a base runner can move to the next base. •/The runner went to second base on a wild pitch./

[will] See: AT WILL, OF ONE’S OWN ACCORD or OF ONE’S OWN FREE WILL.

[will not hear of]{v. phr.} Will not allow or consider, refuse attention to or permission for. •/I want to go to the show tonight, but I know my mother will not hear of it./ •/Mary needs another day to finish her book report, but the teacher won’t hear of any delay./ •/John’s father told him he would not hear of his having a car./

[win] See: HEADS I WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE.

[wind] See: GET WIND OF, GOD TEMPERS THE WIND TO THE SHORN LAMB, GONE WITH THE WIND, IN THE WIND, IT’S AN ILL WIND THAT BLOWS NOBODY GOOD, SECOND WIND, STRAW IN THE WIND, TAKE THE WIND OUT OF ONE’S SAILS, THREE SHEETS IN THE WIND or THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND, THROW CAUTION TO THE WIND, WAY THE WIND BLOWS or HOW THE WIND BLOWS.

[windbag]{n.} Someone who talks too much; a boring person. •/Uncle Joe goes on and on; he is a boring windbag./

[windfall]{n.} An unexpected gift or gain of sizeable proportion. •/The unexpected retroactive pay raise was a most welcome windfall./

[window] See: GO OUT THE WINDOW.

[window dressing]{n. phr.} An elaborate exterior, sometimes designed to conceal one’s real motives. •/All those fancy invitations turned out to be nothing but window dressing./ •/All he really wanted was to be introduced to my influential father-in-law./

[wind up]{v.} 1. To tighten the spring of a machine; to make it work or run. •/Mary wound up the toy car and let it run across the room./ •/He doesn’t have to wind up his watch because it is run by a battery./ 2. To make very excited, nervous, upset. — Usually used in the past participle. •/The excitement of her birthday party got Jane all wound up so she could not sleep./ 3. {informal} To bring or come to an end; finish; stop. •/John got two hits and wound his afternoon up with a home run./ •/Before Jim knew it, he had spent all his money and he wound up broke./ •/The boys followed the path to the left and wound up where they started./ Syn.: END UP. Compare: FINISH OFF, TURN OUT(6). 4. To put (your business or personal affairs) in order; arrange; settle. •/Fred wound up his business and personal affairs before joining the Navy./ 5. To swing your arm with the ball just before pitching to a batter. •/The pitcher wound up quickly and then threw a curve./

[wing] See: CLIP ONE’S WINGS, LEFT-WING, ON THE WING, RIGHT-WING, UNDER ONE’S WING.

[win hands down]{v. phr.} To win conclusively and without external help. •/The opposition was so weak that Dan won the election hands down./

[win in a walk] or [win in a breeze] {v. phr.}, {informal} To win very easily; win without having to try hard. •/Joe ran for class president and won in a walk./ •/Our team won the game in a breeze./ Compare: HANDS DOWN.

[wink] See: FORTY WINKS, SLEEP A WINK.

[wink at]{v.} To allow and pretend not to know about (a rule or law being broken). •/John was not allowed to stay out late at night, but his parents winked at his being five minutes late./ •/A judge should never wink at any law-breaking./

[winning streak]{n.} A series of several wins one after the other. •/The team extended their winning streak to ten./

[win one’s spurs]{v. phr.} 1. In old times, to be named a knight with the right to wear little sharp spikes on your heels. •/A young squire won his spurs in battle./ 2. To win fame or honor. •/The young lieutenant won his spurs by leading an attack on enemy machine guns./ •/Edison won his spurs as an inventor while rather young./ •/He has yet to win his spurs as a big league ball player./

[win out]{v. phr.} To win after a rather protracted struggle. •/The lawsuit lasted a long time, but we finally won out./

[win over]{v. phr.} To convert to one’s position or point of view. •/The Democrats offered him a high-level executive position and thus way won him over to their side./

[wipeout]{n.} A total failure. •/The guy is so bad at his job that he is a total wipeout./

[wipe out]{v.} 1. To remove or erase by wiping or rubbing. •/The teacher wiped out with an eraser what she had written on the board./ Compare: RUB OUT. 2. {informal} To remove, kill, or destroy completely. •/The earthquake wiped out the town./ •/Doctors are searching for a cure that will wipe out cancer./ •/The Indians wiped out the soldiers who were sent to stop their attacks./ Compare: RUB OUT, STAMP OUT.

[wipe out an old score] See: SETTLE A SCORE.

[wipe the floor with] or [wipe up the floor with] See: MOP THE FLOOR WITH.

[wire] See: ACROSS THE WIRE, DOWN TO THE WIRE, PULL STRINGS or PULL WIRES.

[wise] See: GET WISE, PENNY WISE AND POUND FOOLISH, PUT WISE, THE WISER.

[wisecrack]{n.} A joke or witty remark usually made at someone else’s expense. •/The comedians kept up a steady stream of wisecracks./

[wise guy]{n. phr.}, {informal} A person who acts as if he were smarter than other people; a person who jokes or shows off too much •/Bill is a wise guy and displeases others by what he says./

[wise up to]{v. phr.}, {slang} To finally understand what is really going on after a period of ignorance. •/Joe immediately quit his job when he wised up to what was really going on./

[wish on]{v.} 1. To use as a lucky charm while making a wish. •/Mary wished on a star that she could go to the dance./ •/Bob wished on his lucky rabbit’s foot that he could pass the test./ 2. or [wish off on] {informal} To get rid of (something unwanted) by passing it on to someone else. •/Martha did not like to do the dishes and wished the job on to her little sister./ •/Tom got a very ugly tie for his birthday and when Billy’s birthday came, Tom wished the tie off on Billy./

[wit] See: AT ONE’S WITS' END, KEEP ONE’S HEAD or KEEP ONE’S WITS ABOUT ONE, SCARE OUT OF ONE’S WITS.

[witch-hunt]{n. phr.} A hysterical movement during which people are persecuted for having views (political or religious) considered different or unpopular. •/During the McCarthy era many innocent Americans were accused of being Communists, as Republican patriotism deteriorated into a witch-hunt./

[with a free hand] See: FREE HAND.

[with a grain of salt] or [with a pinch of salt] See: TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT.