Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

wist|ful /w I stfʊl/ ADJ Someone who is wistful is rather sad because they want something and know that they cannot have it. □ [+ about ] I can't help feeling slightly wistful about the perks I'm giving up.

wit /w I t/ (wits )

1 N‑UNCOUNT Wit is the ability to use words or ideas in an amusing, clever, and imaginative way. □  Boulding was known for his biting wit.

2 N‑COUNT If you describe someone as a wit , you mean that they have the ability to use words or ideas in an amusing, clever, and imaginative way. □  Holmes was gregarious, a great wit, a man of wide interests.

3 N‑SING If you say that someone has the wit to do something, you mean that they have the intelligence and understanding to make the right decision or take the right action in a particular situation. □  The information is there and waiting to be accessed by anyone with the wit to use it.

4 N‑PLURAL [usu poss N ] You can refer to your ability to think quickly and cleverly in a difficult situation as your wits . □  She has used her wits to progress to the position she holds today.

5 N‑PLURAL You can use wits in expressions such as frighten someone out of their wits and scare the wits out of someone to emphasize that a person or thing worries or frightens someone very much. [EMPHASIS ] □  You scared us out of our wits. We heard you had an accident.

6 PHRASE If you have your wits about you or keep your wits about you, you are alert and ready to act in a difficult situation. □  Travellers need to keep their wits about them.

7 PHRASE If you say that you are at your wits' end , you are emphasizing that you are so worried and exhausted by problems or difficulties that you do not know what to do next. [EMPHASIS ] □  We row a lot and we never have time on our own. I'm at my wits' end.

8 PHRASE If you pit your wits against someone, you compete against them in a test of knowledge or intelligence. □  He has to pit his wits against an adversary who is cool, clever and cunning.

9 PHRASE To wit is used to indicate that you are about to state or describe something more precisely. [LITERARY ] □  The Oracle's advice was sound, to wit: 'Nothing in excess.'

witch /w I tʃ/ (witches )

1 N‑COUNT In fairy stories, a witch is a woman, usually an old woman, who has evil magic powers. Witches often wear a pointed black hat, and have a pet black cat.

2 N‑COUNT A witch is a man or woman who claims to have magic powers and to be able to use them for good or bad purposes.

witch|craft /w I tʃkrɑːft, -kræft/ N‑UNCOUNT Witchcraft is the use of magic powers, especially evil ones.

wi tch doc|tor (witch doctors ) also witch-doctor N‑COUNT A witch doctor is a person in some societies, for example in Africa, who is thought to have magic powers which can be used to heal people.

wi tch ha|zel N‑UNCOUNT Witch hazel is a liquid that you put on your skin if it is sore or damaged, in order to help it to heal.

wi tch-hunt (witch-hunts ) N‑COUNT A witch-hunt is an attempt to find and punish a particular group of people who are being blamed for something, often simply because of their opinions and not because they have actually done anything wrong. [DISAPPROVAL ]

witchy /w I tʃi/ or witch-like ADJ A witchy person looks or behaves like a witch. Witchy things are associated with witches. □  My great-grandmother was old and witchy looking.

with ◆◆◆ /w I ð, w I θ/ In addition to the uses shown below, with is used after some verbs, nouns and adjectives in order to introduce extra information. With is also used in most reciprocal verbs, such as 'agree' or 'fight', and in some phrasal verbs, such as 'deal with' and 'dispense with'. 1 PREP If one person is with another, they are together in one place. □  With her were her son and daughter-in-law. □  She is currently staying with her father at his home.