| wat | n. | Buddhist temple (in parts of Southeast Asia) | ||
| water-cart | n. | vehicle consisting of a barrel or tank on wheels, used primarily to water streets, though sometimes used to provide water for consumption | ||
| wattle | v. | fleshy lobe hanging down from neck or head of certain fowl | ||
| wayward | adj. | driven by willful deviation from norms to gratify one’s own desires | ||
| weasand | n. | esophagus; trachea; throat | archaic | |
| ween | v. | to think, believe, conjecture | ||
| weft | n. | crosswise threads over and under which other threads (the warp) are drawn to make cloth or rugs | ||
| weir | n. | small dam in a stream; fence or net in waterway for catching fish | ||
| welk | v. | to fade, to wilt, to wither | obsolete | |
| welkin | n. | the arc of heaven, the firmament, the sky | ||
| well-found | adj. | well-equipped, furnished with necessary supplies, etc. | ||
| welting | n. | ridge, wale; strengthening seam with one edge of leather folded over the other | ||
| Weltschmerz | n. | world-weariness, sorrowful depression over the state of the world and one’s portion in life | ||
| wen | n. | benign sebaceous cystic tumor | ||
| wend | v. | to go or to proceed in a certain direction; to flow, to run, to move | ||
| weskit | n. | waistcoat, vest | ||
| wether | n. | castrated sheep or goat | ||
| whang | n. | thong, strip of hide or leather | ||
| wharfinger | n. | person in charge of a wharf | ||
| whatnot | n. | stand with shelves for displaying small items; non-specified thing | ||
| wheal | n. | small, reddened swelling of the skin, usually circular and often accompanied with burning or itching | ||
| wheeze | n. | whistling sound of difficult breathing; comic gag or old joke frequently used or repeated | ||
| whelm | v. | to overturn; to overcome; to submerge, to engulf | ||
| whence | adv. | from what place?; from what source or cause? | ||
| wherry | n. | light rowboat | ||
| whilere | adv. | some time ago, formerly | archaic | |
| whilom | adj. | former; (adv.) at one time | ||
| whin | n. | 1 | gorse, furze | |
| whin | n. | 2 | hard dark rock | |
| whinge | v. | to whine, to complain | British | |
| whipster | n. | know-it-all, smart aleck | ||
| whirlicue | n. | merry-go-round | ||
| whither | adv. | to where? to what place?; to what end? | ||
| whitlow | n. | infection of the tip of the finger or toe, usually suppurating | ||
| Whitsunday | n. | Sunday seven weeks after Easter, Holy Day celebrating descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; Pentecost | ||
| whoozit | n. | thing, whatchamacallit; person | ||
| whyever | adv. | why; for what reason | ||
| whyfor | adv. | for what reason | informal | |
| wicket | n. | small door or opening, often placed in or beside a larger door, for use when the larger entrance is closed | ||
| widdershins | adv. | in a direction opposite to the usual, the wrong way; in a direction opposite to the sun’s course through the sky (also withershins) | ||
| wideawake | n. | black or brown felt hat with wide brim and lowish crown, Quaker hat | ||
| widow’s peak | n. | prominent point in center of the hairline, esp. in receding hairline of older men | idiom | |
| williwaw | n. | savage squall off cragged coasts in near-polar waters | ||
| wily beguily | n. | crafty person caught by their own trickery | obsolete | |
| wimple | n. | medieval head covering for women formed from cloth over the head draped around the neck | ||
| windlestraw | n. | grass used for plaiting or making ropes | British | |
| windrow | n. | row of hay or other such product laid out for drying | ||
| winkle | v. | prise or dig from confined place | ||
| winklepickers | n. | shoes with long pointed toe | ||
| winsome | adj. | charming, innocently inspiring and engaging |
