Here, you will find idioms that start with the letter W.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |
| J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R |
| S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z |
Examples of Idioms Starting with W
A Word To The Wise: a brief bit of advice or a quick explanation that an intelligent person should find sufficient without more details.
Out of Wedlock: to not be marrried; a child born out of wedlock has unmarried parents.
The Whole Kit and Caboodle: the whole of something; every single part.
Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop: to wait for the other shoe to drop means to wait for an expected and inevitable event to occur, most often a negative one.
Walk On Eggshells: to behave in a very cautious or careful manner to avoid upsetting someone.
Warm Up: to prepare to do something; to build enthusiasm in a crowd; to prepare someone to accept something; etc.
Wash Your Hands of (Someone or Something): to refuse to accept responsibility for it or to disassociate yourself from it; to renounce something or someone; to disavow something; etc.
Waste One’s Breath: to speak in vain; to say something that is sure to be ignored.
Watch Like a Hawk: to observe someone very closely; to carefully and vigilantly watch someone, especially to make sure they do not do anything wrong.
Watch Your Mouth: a way of telling someone ‘you should not have said that,’ with the implication that they should not speak that way in the future, primarily used by parents to their children.
Water Off a Duck’s Back, like: usually applied to criticism or insults, to say that something is like water off a duck’s back means that it does not affect someone at all and that they do not appear to notice or care.
Water Under The Bridge: something that is in the past, cannot be changed and should not be considered important or worth being concerned or worried about.
Wax Lyrical About Something: to talk about something in an excited, enthusiastic, and sentimental way; to speak poetically about something.
Wet Blanket: a person who discourages other people from having fun or from being enthusiastic; someone who spoils other people’s fun by their negative attitude; a boring and miserable person who doesn’t enjoy things and doesn’t like other people to enjoy things.
What (why, who how, where) On Earth: an expression of great surprise that something could ever happen or exist.
What in Tarnation: an exclamation of surprise, disbelief, irritation, anger, or indignation.
What the Fuck: a rude expression of irritation, surprise, disbelief, indignation, or anger; a way of asking why or what angrily; a way of accepting something while expressing indifference, similar to ‘why not?’.
What’s the Catch?: what is the problem, disadvantage, drawback, etc. in an otherwise good situation.
What’s the Damage?: a way of asking how much the bill for something is; sometimes this expression is used to refer to general trouble or misfortune.
When Hell Freezes Over: never; not at all.
When it Comes to Something: as for something, in regards to something, speaking of something, when a situation involves something.
When Push Comes to Shove: when all the easy solutions haven’t worked and something must be done about a problem; when things become so bad that you are forced to make a decision, do something difficult, or solve a problem; the crucial point when a problem or situation must be confronted; etc.
When the Cat’s Away, the Mice Will Play: a proverbial saying that means when the person in charge or authority is not present, people will take advantage of their newfound freedom to behave as they please, and thus will disregard and break the rules.
When the Chips are Down: when times are bad; during a bad situation; more specifically refers to when a crucial action must be taken to ensure a favorable outcome.
When the Going Gets Tough (The Tough Get Going): when a situation becomes difficult or unpleasant; when it becomes much harder to continue or to make any progress.
White as a Ghost: to be very pale or white in the face due to shock or illness; also used to describe a very pale skin tone due to lack of sun exposure.
White Elephant: an unwanted, useless, and troublesome possession or item that is too expensive or too much work to maintain and which is not worth the effort.
Who Cares?: I don’t care; it doesn’t matter to me; it doesn’t bother me; I am not interested (in something).
Whole New Ball Game, a: a completely changed situation or set of circumstances.
Whole Shebang: everything; all the elements of something; every thing that is included in something; the entire affair; the complete situation.
Wild Goose Chase: a pointless, foolish and futile search or pursuit that is bound to result in failure.
Wipe the Floor with Someone: to inflict a humiliating and thorough defeat on someone; to have an overwhelming victory.
With Flying Colors: with easy and outstanding success; to succeed at something extremely well.
Without Further Ado: without more talk, activity, ceremony, etc.
Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: a person who appears to be friendly and pleasant but is hiding the fact that they are an enemy; an enemy disguised as a friend; a person who is dangerous but pretends to be harmless and friendly; etc.
Work One’s Fingers To the Bone: to work extremely hard for a prolonged period of time.
Worried Sick (about someone or something): to be very worried or anxious.
Worried to Death: to be extremely worried or anxious.
Worth Its Weight in Gold: something that is very valuable or very useful; to be very good; excellent; the best of its type.
Wouldn’t Hurt A Fly: an expression describing someone as very gentle and harmless to the point where they would never hurt or upset anyone.
Wrap Yourself in the Flag: to make an excessive show of your patriotism, especially for political ends.
Writer’s Block: being temporarily unable to think of something to write; something in the mind that acts as a ‘mental block’ preventing a writer from creating a new piece of writing.
Writing On the Wall: a warning or sign that something unpleasant or unfortunate is going to happen.
Wrong Side of the Tracks, the: the poorer side of town; the part of town where people live who are considered of a lower social class.