2314
with emotion. M „ 0 [VN] Don’t wobble
the table—I’m
trying to write. £'1 IS M X,
2 [V +adv./prep.] to go in a
particular direction while moving from side to side in an unsteady way — M ~*JI
J&X: He wobbled, off on his bike. f&MM
MMi&Mit S ff X T 0 3
[V] to hesitate or lose confidence about
doing sth $C ft X Yesterday the president
showed the
first signs of wobbling over the issue. X A &
m noun 1 [usually
sing.] a slight unsteady movement from side to side fyzfc; MM: The
handlebars developed a wobble, & p- M . $& M M,Tro 2 a moment
when you
hesitate or lose
confidence about sth Jif
M: The team is experiencing a mid-season wobble,
At A
wobble-board /‘wDblboid; NAmE 'wa:blbo:rd/ noun a musical
instrument consisting of a piece of board which is shaken to produce low
sounds, originally played by Australian Aborigines M 'SfrM (
$i$», mm#)
wob bly /'wnbli; NAmE'waibli/ adj., noun
■
adj. (informal) 1
moving in an unsteady way from side
to side MM&X M M MM : a chair
with a wobbly leg - 0
a wobbly tooth zjtn$iS <> He’s
stiZZ a bit wobbly
after the operation (= not able to stand firmly). i^T 2 not firm
or confident M if
; XXI &X X S ft fg H771 shaky : the wobbly singing of the choir
0® i# %£ X ® fix) ffc X o The evening got off to a wobbly start. X B&A ^ X £h X l«Mio
■
noun ITSlTn throw a 'wobbly (BrE, informal) to suddenly become
very angry or upset
wodge /wod3; NAmE wa:d3/ noun ~ (of
sth) (BrE,
informal) a large
piece or amount of sth A ; A *£; Aift: a thick wodge of ten-pound notes
woe /wau; NAmE wou/ noun (old-fashioned or humorous)
1
woes [pi ] the troubles
and problems that sb has
fn]M; 0t>H: financial
woes 0 Thanks
for listening to my
woes, iff it ®S n/f X
X W
2
[U] great unhappiness AXi: X
A HTI
MISERY: a tale of woe ICT1 ,woe
be'tide
sb I 'woe
to sb (formal or humorous) a phrase that is
used to warn sb that there will be trouble for them if they do sth or do not do
sth ( IS IU W o' ^ A # # ffl ) •••#^•3®^: Woe betide anyone who
gets in her way! ,woe is
‘me!
exclamation (old use or humorous) a phrase that is used to say that you are very unhappy !
woe-be-gone /'waubignn;
NAmE 'woubigoin; -gain/
adj. (formal) looking very sad (
Mff ) iSN&fg, ^
H'Srjj&fril HT1 miserable: a woebegone expression
\mm:m
woe ful /'W0ufl; NAmE 'woufl/ adj. 1 [usually before
noun] very bad or serious; that you disapprove of ff||W;
f* MW; M. W cm deplorable : She displayed a woeful
ignorance of the rules.
AX 0 2 (literary or formal) very sad ,tv[#Xj; Vtik W: a woeful face
ttf?iWffi?L o woeful tales of broken romances mmm ►
woe-ful-ly /-fall/ adv.
wog
/wog; NAmE wa:g/ noun 1 (BrE, taboo, slang) a very offensive
word for a person who does not have white skin M 0 ft- ( M # & k
# W H ) 2 (AustralE,
taboo, slang) an
offensive word for a person from southern Europe or whose parents came from
southern Europe ) 3 (AustralE, informal) an
illness, usually one that is not very serious ; >j\ ^: A flu wog struck, X &
wog-gle
/'wngl; NAmE 'waigl/ noun a ring of leather
or other material used by scouts
to hold the ends of a scarf in
place around the neck ( W ) rfj i£
Jf,
wok /wDk; NAmE wa:k/ noun (from Chinese) a large pan shaped
like a bowl, used for cooking food, especially Chinese food HX — picture c> pan
woke pt of WAKE
woken pp of wake
wolds /wauldz;
NAmE wouldz/
noun
[pi.] used in the names of places in
SM
wolf /wulf/ noun, verb
m noun (pi. wolves /wulvz/) a large wild animal of the dog
family, that lives and hunts in groups : a pack of wolves — firm keep the 'wolf from the door (informal) to have enough money to avoid
going hungry; to stop sb feeling hungry M M 0'; P throw sb to the ’wolves to leave sb to be roughly
treated or criticized without trying to help or defend them ^---XI^^MXM; MAXIi a wolf in sheep’s clothing a person who seems to be
friendly or harmless but is really an enemy MU XA W3& — more at cry v., LONE
■ verb [VN] ~ sth (down) (informal) to eat food very quickly,
especially by putting a lot of it in your mouth at once A P Jfe'&
wolf-hound /'wulfhaund/
noun a very
large tall dog with long hair and long legs, originally used for hunting wolves
A: an Irish wolfhound X X
3HA
wolf ish /'wulfiJV adj. (formal) like a wolf M fl : wolfish
yellow eyes 0 (figurative) a
wolfish
grin (= showing sexual
interest in sb) 11%.
'wolf
whistle noun a whistle
with a short rising note and a long falling note, used by sb, usually a man, to
show that they find sb else attractive, especially sb passing in the street -f&ffi-t fa !t$Z
in A fit! ) :
She was fed up with the builders’ wolf whistles each morning.
itkpAP ^► 'wolf-whistle verb [V, VN]
wolves pi. of WOLF
woman /'woman/
noun (pi.
women /'wimin/)
1
[C] an adult
female human ^ ^ A A ; IQ# : men,
women and children M A, AAfflJLJloa 24-year-old woman * 24 O I prefer to see a woman doctor.
# M it ~k
IS i ^M # b 2
[U] female humans in general A A; A A: (informal)
She’s all woman! (= has qualities that are typical of women) A A0
3 [C] (in compounds fa % # is]) a woman who comes
from the place
mentioned or whose job or interest is connected with the thing mentioned A j=J
••• (
) $)A~T: an
Englishwoman M~AAo a businesswoman AiA o a Congresswoman AiA w. 0 a
horsewoman A
W o note at gender 4 [C] a female worker, especially one who works
with her hands ( A ) AX: We used to have a woman to do the
cleaning, ft ft] i1 & At ^ {v A X fT 13 X A. ? 5 [sing.]
(old-fashioned) a rude way of addressing a
female person in an angry or important way ( ft A A ftfl Uf )
$MA Be quiet, woman! AfA !
6
[C] (sometimes
disapproving) a wife or sexual partner §g X ; A UU A ; Atllf: He’s got a
new woman in his life, ftb X tS X X # T — X A A „ — see also fallen
WOMAN,
KEPT WOMAN, OTHER WOMAN be your
own 'man/'woman to act or think independently,
not following others or being ordered A d X: Working for
herself meant that she could be her own woman. MXX ft M # M fb^ S X ?
— more at heart,
hell,
HONEST,
MAN /?., PART n , POSSESSED, SUBSTANCE, WORLD
woman-hood
/'wumonhud/
aoun [U] (formal) 1 the
state of being a woman, rather than a girl A X A T W-J He
watched his daughters grow to womanhood, fife if# S 3^AJUMA:A!&A7o 2 women in
general ( ) i3A: the womanhood of
this country
A — compare manhood
woman-ish /'womanij/ adj. (disapproving) (especially of a
man A fe M X) behaving
in a way that is more suitable for a woman; more suitable for women than men
He has a
womanish
manner. ffe^^SM^XAA0 b a womanish
novel Attdnji
woman iz ing (BrE also -is-ing) /'womanaizirj/
noun [U] (disapproving) the fact of having
sexual relationships