wishbone

2310 I

formal) to want to do sth; to want sth to happen # M

(         ) ; *1^ (        )• : [V] You may stay until

morning, if you wish. £q ft BM- jft ft IM — jl # ft ft Mo 0 Td rather not talk now. ’ ‘(Just) as you wish. ’ “M ” 0 [V to inf] This

course is designed for people wishing to update their computer skills.         AM

65 o ol wish to speak to the manager. o I don’t wish (= I don’t mean) to be rude, but could you be a little quieter?

0 [VNN] She could not believe that he wished her harm. M A ffift.tn ilfligft#!#o O [VN to inf] He was not sure whether he wished her to stay or go. f&iftft/ftflfeft 3 [V] ~ (for sth) to think very hard that you want sth, especially sth that can only be achieved by good luck or magic ;    : She

shut her eyes and wished for him to get better. M Ift ±

0 If you wish really hard, maybe you'll get what you want. ft i$ft Mo 0 It’s no use wishing for the impossible. £Aftftfi65fftif llf£^A:£t65o o He has everything he could possibly wish for. #,ft is $11? 65 -WM MftkfPftTTp 4 to say that you hope that sb will be happy, lucky, etc. #1; #£ ® : [VNN] I wished her a happy birthday.     0        0 Wish me luck! Iftflc

Xi*?is^E! O [VN] We wish them both well in their retire­ment.   m I wish!

(informal) used to say that sth is impossible or very unlikely, although you wish it were possible [0 ® iu lit ( ffi A ft 6g$ftAftt8 ) EEE3 if only: ‘You’ll have finished by tomorrow.’ ‘I wish!’ “j/T'ft XIAAj&To,, ” “f0®£(Ult;! ” lirnvj ,wish sth a'way to try to get rid of sth by wishing it did not exist M. ft M M h ££!]&; # 'wish sb/sth on sb (informal) (used in negative sentences jfi          to want sb to have sth

unpleasant *j| it •••        ) : I wouldn’t wish

something like that on my worst enemy. HP#*

A, fmftllft!lth3fM#65ft„

noun 1 [C] ~ (to do sth) | ~ (for sth) a desire or a feeling that you want to do sth or have sth ® M;          : She

expressed a wish to be alone.    -'lAiello 0

He had no wish to start a fight. Ilk A ^ MW... 0 I can understand her wish for secrecy. f^Tft ^65® 0 0 His dearest wish (= what he wants most of all) is to see his grandchildren again. ftkM A 65 JSMUi: ftAJEftft B65?'hft #Xo 2 [C] a thing that you want to have or to happen *J[ H 65 % M; # H 65 ft: to carry out sb’s wishes AJ1^A65®11 0 I’m sure that you will get your wish. 11ft ifo ft- ft i® ft iA 0          0 She married

against her parents’ wishes. Miilf 51# 65 USMMta 7 ft Ao — see also death wish 3 [C] an attempt to make sth happen by thinking hard about it, especially in stories when it often happens by magic ® ; ft®, : Throw some money in the fountain and make a wish. ft ft. S ^ $5, ft A IS o o The genie granted him three wishes. 1ft A #1 ft- Ik A M A -A A' ® 0 o The prince’s wish came true. i ft 65 H M A M T o 4 wishes [pi.] ~ (for sth) used especially in a letter or card to say that you hope that sb will be happy, well or successful ( ft ft ‘Mft^ft65 )M, Mf§: We all send our best wishes for the future. ffc j|] IP ft A ft ^ IM Me 65 fit II „ 0 Give my good wishes to the family.   o

With best wishes (= for example, at the end of a letter)

) IT»TMI if wishes were .horses, beggars would/might ’ride (saying) wishing for sth does not make it happen H ft ft iE f# Ifc ft; IS M ft If ft ft A your wish is my com'mand (humorous) used to say that you are ready to do whatever sb asks you to do l$T Eft’ll M. the wish is father to the 'thought (saying) we believe a thing because we want it to be true

wish-bone /'wijbaun; NAmE -boun/ noun a V-shaped bone between the neck and breast of a chicken, duck, etc. When the bird is eaten, this bone is sometimes pulled apart by two people, and the person who gets the larger part can make a wish. X#, #0®# ( -^lftWA#^a^|B]65 ft®)

GRAMMAR POINT

wish

After the verb wish in sense 1, a past tense is always used in a that clause. $5iS] wish XN\ Iff [H65 that lift)& jiff]Mft W: Do you wish (that) you had a better job? ft#§lftftj£f!? 65Xftn%? In more formal English, especially in NAmE, many people use were after I, he, she, it instead of was. ^ ]gIE^65MTft,

ft ^ Aft I. he. she. it Zfcft were, fflftft was: I wish he were here tonight. KJH

ft^ft&JLMftTo

.wishful 'thinking noun [U] the belief that sth that you want to happen is happening or will happen, although this is actually not true or very unlikely ft5ftft$l®M65 ; -•ftBfi®: I’ve got a feeling that Alex likes me, but that might just be wishful thinking, ^eft—jtiLffl MiMo         -ftit[®;65Sft0

'wishing well noun a well that people drop a coin into and make a wish (         ) ft®ft

'wish list noun (informal) all the things that you would like to have, or that you would like to happen

wishy-washy /'wiji woft; NAmE -wo:Ji; -wafti/ adj. (informal, disapproving) 1 not having clear or firm ideas or beliefs (    ) MM8I&65, ft'/f M65, ftM

S65: a wishy-washy liberal ftjg^65 i A ±Xft 2 not bright in colour ( M ft ) ft; 65 , fA 65 : a wishy-washy blue ?A?A653£&

wisp /wisp/ noun ~ (of sth) 1 a small, thin piece of hair, grass, etc.       ^#65 ) ft^,          ftlfc

2 a long thin line of smoke or cloud (  z?#65 )

wispy /'wispi/ adj. consisting of small, thin pieces; not thick-*§^65; -mm 65; iAA65; 65: wispy hair/clouds          O a wispy beard

mm

wisteria /wi'stiaria; NAmE -'stir-/ (also wis-taria /wi'stearia; NAmE -'ster-/) noun [U] a climbing plant with bunches of pale purple or white flowers that hang down

wistful /'wistfl/ adj. thinking sadly about sth that you would like to have, especially sth in the past that you can no longer have 65;    ( ft E ft ft f g X ft A ) 'ife

Mftft65: a wistful smile f^^65M^ wist-fuMy /-fali/ adv.: She sighed wistfully. Ml ft it M 0 0 ‘If only I had known you then,’ he said wistfully. iRftfcftTo flfe|o]ft%i^it0 wist ful ness noun [U] wit /wit/ noun 1 [U, sing.] the ability to say or write things that are both clever and amusing fa

mmmfj; m®; «:

to have a quick/sharp/

dry/readywitt&mm;         fg^IE^65ftit;

o a woman of wit and intelligence ftSMfi, ® B. 65 ~k ft 0 a book full of the wit and wisdom of his 30 years in politics — ftftftftk 30 M 65 ft 2 [C] a person who has the ability to say or write things that are both clever and amusing ft it 65 A; fHHi ffif£65A: a. well-known wit and racon­teur          jt>i^ft^65i!iiftAft 3 wits [pi.] your

ability to think quickly and clearly and to make good decisions MM A; Miff ft; A®; I? ft: He needed all his wits to find his way out.    ftl&o 0

The game was a long battle of wits. & ^       li ft: B'f I«] 65

ftH? o 0 Kate paused and gathered her wits.

oa chance to pit your wits against (= compete with, using your intelligence) our quiz champion ft ft # 65 ft0 M ft m\

65#1 h 4 -witted (in adjectives   having the

type of intelligence mentioned ft • • • H? It 65; A® • 65: a quick-witted group of students — ^ A ®       65 ^ *fE

5 [U] - to do sth the intelligence or good sense to know what is the right thing to do (,IE$jft ®t65 ) lb ft , ftn ft;   : At least you had the wit to ask for help, f^®

5^ 2E j§i inN ill ^ >fc 0 o It should not be beyond the wit