Search the Dictionary

To weave; to fabricate. [R. & Poetic.] Nares. While doth he mischief warp. Sternhold.

ar of the verb be, in the indicative mood, imperfect tense; -- now used only in solemn or poetical style. See Was.

Water; a body of water. [Poetic] "Deep drank Lord Marmion of the wave." Sir W. Scott. Build a ship to save thee from the flood, I 'll furnish thee with fresh wave, bread, and wine. Chapman.

Weapons, collectively; as, an array of weaponry. [Poetic]

To think; to imagine; to fancy. [Obs. or Poetic] Spenser. Milton. I have lost more than thou wenest. Chaucer. For well I ween, Never before in the bowers of light Had the form of an earthly fay been seen. J. R. Drake. Though never a dream the roses sent Of science or love's compliment, I ween they smelt as sweet. Mrs.…

rmed from were, with the ending -t, after the analogy of wast. Now used only in solemn or poetic style.

king questions regarding either persons or things; as, what is this what did you say what poem is this what child is lost What see'st thou in the ground Shak. What is man, that thou art mindful of him Ps. viii. 4. What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! Matt. viii. 27.

A contraction of what-ever; -- used in poetry. "Whate'er is in his way." Shak.

A contraction of whatsoever; -- used in poetry. Shak.

Wherever; -- a contracted and poetical form. Cowper.

Wheresoever. [Poetic] "Wheresoe'er they rove." Milton.

Formerly; once; of old; erewhile; at times. [Obs. or Poetic] Spenser. Whilom, as olde stories tellen us, There was a duke that highte Theseus. Chaucer.

A whim; a freak; a capricious notion, a fanciful or odd conceit. "The whimsies of poets and painters." Ray. Men's folly, whimsies, and inconstancy. Swift. Mistaking the whimseys of a feverish brain for the calm revelation of truth. Bancroft.

wheels, That whirled the prophet up at Chebar flood. Milton. The passionate heart of the poet is whirl'd into folly. Tennyson.

ved with a whirl, as preparatory for a blow, or to augment the force of it; -- applied by poets to the cestus of ancient boxers. The whirlbat and the rapid race shall be Reserved for Cæsar. Dryden.

Swift; nimble; agile; strong and active. [Obs. or Poetic] 'T is full wight, God wot, as is a roe. Chaucer. He was so wimble and so wight. Spenser. They were Night and Day, and Day and Night, Pilgrims wight with steps forthright. Emerson.

Not tame, domesticated, or cultivated; wild. [Poetic] "Wilding flowers." Tennyson. The ground squirrel gayly chirps by his den, And the wilding bee hums merrily by. Bryant.

To beat with wings, or as with wings.[Poetic] Now on the polar winds; then with quick fan Winnows the buxom air. Milton.

chiefly in the first person sing. present tense, I wis. See the Note under Ywis. [Obs. or Poetic] "Howe'er you wis." R. Browning. Nor do I know how long it is (For I have lain entranced, I wis). Coleridge.

t or humor; good at repartee; droll; facetious; sometimes, sarcastic; as, a witty remark, poem, and the like. "Honeycomb, who was so unmercifully witty upon the women." Addison.