Chapter Widow bird to Wild of W by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

Wifelike
(Wife"like`) a. Of, pertaining to, or like, a wife or a woman. " Wifelike government." Shak.

Wifely
(Wife"ly), a. [AS. wiflic.] Becoming or life; of or pertaining to a wife. "Wifely patience." Chaucer.

With all the tenderness of wifely love.

Dryden.

Wig
(Wig) n. [Abbreviation from periwig.]

1. A covering for the head, consisting of hair interwoven or united by a kind of network, either in imitation of the natural growth, or in abundant and flowing curls, worn to supply a deficiency of natural hair, or for ornament, or according to traditional usage, as a part of an official or professional dress, the latter especially in England by judges and barristers.

2. An old seal; — so called by fishermen.

Wig tree. (Bot.) See Smoke tree, under Smoke.

Wig
(Wig) v. t. [imp. & p. p. Wigged ; p. pr. & vb. n. Wigging ] To censure or rebuke; to hold up to reprobation; to scold. [Slang]

Wigan
(Wig"an) n. A kind of canvaslike cotton fabric, used to stiffen and protect the lower part of trousers and of the skirts of women's dresses, etc.; — so called from Wigan, the name of a town in Lancashire, England.

Wigeon
(Wi"geon) n. (Zoöl.) A widgeon. [R.]

Wigg
(Wigg Wig), n. [Cf. D. wegge a sort of bread, G. weck, orig., a wedge-shaped loaf or cake. See Wedge.] A kind of raised seedcake. "Wiggs and ale." Pepys.

Wigged
(Wigged) a. Having the head covered with a wig; wearing a wig.

Wiggery
(Wig"ger*y) n.

1. A wig or wigs; false hair. [R.] A. Trollope.

2. Any cover or screen, as red-tapism. [R.]

Fire peels the wiggeries away from them [facts.]

Carlyle.

Wiggle
(Wig"gle) v. t. & i. [Cf. Wag, v. t., Waggle.] To move to and fro with a quick, jerking motion; to bend rapidly, or with a wavering motion, from side to side; to wag; to squirm; to wriggle; as, the dog wiggles his tail; the tadpole wiggles in the water. [Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U. S.]

Wiggle
(Wig"gle), n. Act of wiggling; a wriggle. [Colloq.]

Wiggler
(Wig"gler) n. (Zoöl.) The young, either larva or pupa, of the mosquito; — called also wiggletail.

Wigher
(Wig"her) v. i. [Cf. G. wiehern, E. whine.] To neigh; to whinny. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

Wight
(Wight) n. Weight. [Obs.]

Wight
(Wight), n. [OE. wight, wiht, a wight, a whit, AS. wiht, wuht, a creature, a thing; skin to D. wicht a child, OS. & OHG. wiht a creature, thing, G. wicht a creature, Icel. vætt a wight, vætt a whit, Goth. waíhts, waíht, thing; cf. Russ. veshche a thing. . Cf. Whit.]