[voice] See: AT THE TOP OF ONE'S VOICE, GIVE VOICE.
[voice box] <n.> The part of the throat where the sound of your voice is made; the larynx. * /Mr. Smith's voice box was taken out in an operation, and he could not talk after that./
[voiceprint] <n.>, <technological>, <colloquial> The graphic pattern derived from converting an individual's voice into a visible graph used by the police for identification purposes, much as fingerprints. * /They have succeeded in identifying the murderer by using a voiceprint./
[volcano] See: SIT ON A VOLCANO.
[volume] See: SPEAK VOLUMES.
[vote a straight ticket] <v. phr.> To not differentiate one's ballot according to individual names and posts, but to vote for all candidates for all positions of the same party. * /"I never have time.to study the ballot in detail," Marie said, "and so I tend to vote a straight Republican ticket."/
[vote in] <v. phr.> To elevate to the status of "Law of the Land" by special or general ballot. * /Congress has finally voted in the Brady Law that requires that prospective gun owners wait a special period of time before making their purchase./
[vote one out] <v. phr.> To terminate one's elected office by casting a negative vote about that person (judge, congressman, etc.), mostly so that someone else might occupy the same position. * /Congressman Smith was voted out last November in favor of Congresswoman Bradley./
W
[wade in] or [wade into] <v.>, <informal> 1. To go busily to work. * /The house was a mess after the party, but Mother waded in and soon had it clean again./ 2. To attack. * /When Bill had heard Jim's argument, he waded in and took it apart./ * /Jack waded into the boys with his fists flying./
[wade through] <v. phr.> To read through something long and laborious. * /It took John six months to wade through Tolstoy's War and Peace in the original Russian./
[wag] See: TONGUES TO WAG or TONGUES WAG.
[wagon] See: FIX SOMEONE'S WAGON, HITCH ONE'S WAGON TO A STAR, JUMP ON THE BAND WAGON, OFF THE WAGON, ON THE WAGON.
[wag one's chin] See: BEAT ONE'S GUMS, CHEW THE FAT, CHEW THE RAG, SHOOT THE BREEZE.
[wait] See: LIE IN WAIT.
[wait at table] or [wait on table] or [wait table] <v. phr.> To serve food. * /Mrs. Lake had to teach her new maid to wait on table properly./ * /The girls earn spending money by waiting at table in the school dining rooms./
[waiting list] <n.> A list of persons waiting to get into something (as a school). * /The nursery school enrollment was complete, so the director put our child's name on the waiting list./ * /The landlord said there were no vacant apartments available, but that he would put the Rogers' name on the waiting list./
[waiting room] <n. phr.> The sitting area in a doctor's, lawyer's, accountant's, etc. office, or in a hospital, or other workplace, where people wait their turn. * /Some doctor's offices have elegantly furnished waiting rooms with magazines, newspapers, and coffee for the patients./
[wait on] or [wait upon] <v.> 1. To serve. * /Sue has a summer job waiting on an invalid./ * /The clerk in the store asked if we had been waited upon./ 2. <formal> To visit as a courtesy or for business. * /We waited upon the widow out of respect for her husband./ * /John waited upon the President with a letter of introduction./ 3. To follow. * /Success waits on hard work./
[wait on hand and foot] <v. phr.> To serve in every possible way; do everything for (someone). * /Sally is spoiled because her mother waits on her hand and foot./ * /The gentlemen had a valet to wait on him hand and foot./ Compare: HAND AND FOOT.
[wait on table] See: WAIT AT TABLE.
[wait up] <v. phr.> To not go to bed until a person one is worried about comes home (said by parents and marriage partners). * /My mother always waited up for me when I went out as a young student./ * /She always waits up for her husband when he's out late./
[wait upon] See: WAIT ON.
[wake] See: IN THE WAKE OF.
[walk] See: WIN IN A WALK.
[walk all over] See: WALK OVER.
[walk a tightrope] <v. phr.> To be in a dangerous or awkward situation where one cannot afford to make a single mistake. * /"When we landed on the moon in 1969," Armstrong explained, "we were walking a tightrope till the very end."/
[walk away with] or [walk off with] <v.> 1. To take and go away with; take away; often: steal. * /When Father went to work, he accidentally walked off with Mother's umbrella./ * /How can a thief walk off with a safe in broad daylight?/ 2. To take, get, or win easily. * /Jim walked away with all the honors on Class Night./ * /Our team walked off with the championship./
[walking dictionary] <n. phr.> A person highly knowledgeable in matters of language use. * /If you want to know what "serendipity" means, ask my Uncle Fred. He is a professor of English and is also a walking dictionary./
[walking encyclopedia] <n. phr.> A polymath; a person very well versed in a number of different disciplines. * /My uncle is a veritable walking encyclopedia when it comes to the history of World War II./ Contrast: WALKING DICTIONARY.
[walking papers] or [walking orders] also [walking ticket] <n.>, <informal> A statement that you are fired from your job; dismissal. * /The boss was not satisfied with Paul's work and gave him his walking papers./ * /George is out of work. He picked up his walking ticket last Friday./
[walk off with] See: WALK AWAY WITH.
[walk of life] <n. phr.> Way of living; manner in which people live. * /Many rich people have yachts; people in their walk of life can afford them./ * /The banker did not want his son to marry a girl in a different walk of life./ * /People from every walk of life enjoy television./ Compare: THE TRACKS.
[walk on air] <v. phr.>, <informal> To feel happy and excited. * /Sue has been walking on air since she won the prize./ * /His father's compliment left Jed walking on air./ Compare: ON CLOUD NINE, ON TOP OF THE WORLD.
[walk on eggs] <v. phr.> To act with utmost caution due to being in a precarious position. * /Tom has been walking on eggs ever since he started working for a new boss in Cincinnati./
[walk out] <v.> 1. To go on strike. * /When the company would not give them higher pay, the workers walked out./ 2. To leave suddenly; especially to desert. * /He didn't say he wasn't coming back; he just walked out./ - Often used informally with "on". * /The man walked out on his wife and children./ Compare: LEAVE FLAT, LEAVE IN THE LURCH.
[walk over] or [walk all over] or [step all over] <v. phr.> <informal> To make (someone) do whatever you wish; make selfish use of; treat like a slave; impose upon. * /Jill is so friendly and helpful that people walk all over her./ * /We wanted the man's business, so we let him step all over us./ Compare: TAKE ADVANTAGE OF.
[walk the chalk] or [walk the chalk line] or [walk the chalk mark] To act exactly as you are supposed to; behave properly; obey. * /That new teacher really makes the students walk the chalk./ * /In some classes the students play and talk, but Mr. Parker makes them walk the chalk./ * /That theater owner wants his place to be orderly, and if boys and girls don't walk the chalk, he puts them out./ (From the fact that sailors used to be asked to walk a chalk line along the deck of the ship to prove they were not drunk.) Compare: TOE THE MARK.
[walk the floor] <v. phr.> To walk one direction and then the other across the floor, again and again; pace. * /Mr. Black walked the floor, trying to reach a decision./ * /The sick baby had his mother walking the floor all night./ * /Mrs. Black's toothache hurt so much that she got up and walked the floor./
[walk the plank] <v. phr.> 1. To walk off a board extended over the side of a ship and be drowned. * /The pirates captured the ship and forced the crew to walk the plank./ 2. <informal> To resign from a job because someone makes you do it. * /When a new owner bought the store, the manager had to walk the plank./
[wall] See: BACK TO THE WALL, BEAT ONE'S HEAD AGAINST A WALL, CLIMB THE WALL, FORWARD WALL, HANDWRITING ON THE WALL, HOLE-IN-THE-WALL, STONE WALL or BRICK WALL, TO THE WALL.
[wallflower] <n.> A girl who has to sit out dances because nobody is asking her to dance. * /"I used to be a wallflower during my high school days," Valerie complained, "but my luck changed for better once I got into college."/
[wallop] See: PACK A PUNCH or PACK A WALLOP.
[walls have ears] Sometimes one's most confidential conversations are overheard. * /"Be careful what you say," he whispered. "Remember that walls have ears."/
[want ad] <n.> A small advertisement on a special page in a newspaper that offers employment opportunities and merchandise. * /"You want a temporary job?" he asked the recent arrival in town. "Go and look at the want ads!"/
[war] See: COLD WAR, TUG OF WAR.
[war baby] <n.>, <informal> A person born during a war. * /War babies began to increase college enrollments early in the 1960s./ * /The war babies forced many towns to build new schools./
[ward off] <v. phr.> To deflect; avert. * /Vitamin C is known to ward off the common cold./
[warmer] See: BENCH WARMER.