17 PHRASE You say what about a particular person or thing when you ask someone to explain why they have asked you about that person or thing. □ 'This thing with the Corbett woman.'—'Oh, yeah. What about her?'
18 PHRASE You say what have you at the end of a list in order to refer generally to other things of the same kind. [VAGUENESS ] □ So many things are unsafe these days–milk, cranberry sauce, what have you. □ My great-grandfather made horseshoes and nails and what have you.
19 PHRASE You say what if at the beginning of a question when you ask about the consequences of something happening, especially something undesirable. □ What if this doesn't work out?
20 PHRASE If you know what's what , you know the important things that need to be known about a situation. □ You have to know what's what and when to draw the line. □ You should come across the river with us. Then you will really see what's what.
21 what's more → see more USAGE what
Don’t use ‘what’ when you are asking about one of a small number of people or things. For example, if someone has hurt their finger, don’t say to them ‘
what|ev|er ◆◆◇ / h wɒte və r /
1 CONJ You use whatever to refer to anything or everything of a particular type. □ Franklin was free to do pretty much whatever he pleased. □ When you're older I think you're better equipped mentally to cope with whatever happens. □ He's good at whatever he does. ● DET Whatever is also a determiner. □ Whatever doubts he might have had about Ingrid were all over now.
2 CONJ You use whatever to say that something is the case in all circumstances. □ We shall love you whatever happens, Diana. □ People will judge you whatever you do. □ She runs about 15 miles a day every day, whatever the weather.
3 ADV [n ADV ] You use whatever after a noun group in order to emphasize a negative statement. [EMPHASIS ] □ There is no evidence whatever that competition in broadcasting has ever reduced costs. □ I have nothing whatever to say.
4 PRON You use whatever to ask in an emphatic way about something which you are very surprised about. [EMPHASIS ] □ Whatever can you mean?
5 CONJ You use whatever when you are indicating that you do not know the precise identity, meaning, or value of the thing just mentioned. [VAGUENESS ] □ I thought that my upbringing was 'normal', whatever that is.
6 PHRASE You say or whatever to refer generally to something else of the same kind as the thing or things that you have just mentioned. [INFORMAL ] □ They tried to get me to play piano, clarinet or whatever, but agreed to buy me the guitar.
7 CONVENTION You say ' whatever you say ' to indicate that you accept what someone has said, even though you do not really believe them or do not think it is a good idea. [FEELINGS ] □ 'We'll go in your car, Billy.'—'Whatever you say.'
8 PHRASE You say whatever you do when giving advice or warning someone about something. [EMPHASIS ] □ Whatever you do, don't lose your sense of humour.
what|evs / h wɒte vz/ ADV Whatevs is a rude way of saying 'whatever', and shows that the speaker does not respect what someone has just said to them. [INFORMAL ] □ 'If you don't hurry, we'll go without you.'—'Yeah, whatevs.'
what|not / h wɒ tnɒt/ PHRASE People sometimes say ' and whatnot ' or ' or whatnot ' after mentioning one or more things, to refer in a vague way to other things which are similar. [INFORMAL , SPOKEN , VAGUENESS ] □ The women were there in their jeans and T-shirts and overalls and whatnot. □ The council can send messages or letters or whatnot in Spanish.
what's / h wɒ ts/ What's is the usual spoken form of 'what is' or 'what has', especially when 'has' is an auxiliary verb.
whats|her|name / h wɒ tsə r ne I m/ also whatsername PRON You say whatshername instead of a woman's name when you cannot remember it or are trying to remember it. [SPOKEN ] □ That's the thing that whatshername gave me.
whats|his|name / h wɒ ts I zne I m/ also whatsisname PRON You say whatshisname instead of a man's name when you cannot remember it or are trying to remember it. [SPOKEN ] □ …the new junior minister, whatshisname, Donald Sinclair.
whats|it / h wɒ ts I t/ (whatsits ) N‑VAR You use whatsit instead of a noun or name which you cannot remember or which you do not want to say because it is rude. [SPOKEN ] □ We wanted to be here early in case the whatsit, maintenance supervisor had forgotten.
what|so|ev|er / h wɒ tsoʊe və r / ADV [n ADV ] You use whatsoever after a noun group in order to emphasize a negative statement. [EMPHASIS ] □ My school did nothing whatsoever in the way of athletics. □ I don't think they'll have any idea how I'm feeling. None whatsoever.
wheat / h wiː t/ (wheats )
1 N‑VAR Wheat is a cereal crop grown for food. Wheat is also used to refer to the grain of this crop, which is usually ground into flour and used to make bread. □ …farmers growing wheat, corn, or other crops. □ …wheat flour.
2 to separate the wheat from the chaff → see chaff
wheat|germ / h wiː tdʒɜː r m/ also wheat germ N‑UNCOUNT Wheatgerm is the middle part of a grain of wheat which is rich in vitamins and is often added to other food.
whee|dle / h wiː d ə l/ (wheedles , wheedling , wheedled ) VERB If you say that someone wheedles , you mean that they try to persuade someone to do or give them what they want, for example by saying nice things that they do not mean. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V ] Cross decided to beg and wheedle a bit. □ He managed to wheedle his way into the offices. □ [V n + out of/from ] …an opportunity to wheedle more money out of Wilson. [Also V n]