Oxford Business English Dictionary for Learners of English

,white 'elephantnoun [c, usually sing.] a thing that is useless and no longer needed, although it may cost a lot of money to keep it: The new office block has become an expensive white elephant.

white goods noun [pi.] (Commerce) large pieces of electrical equipment in the home: a manufacturer of washing machines and other white goods brown goods, grey goods

white knightnoun [c]{Finance) a person or an organization that rescues a company from being bought by another company at too low a price: Л white knight could come along and make a more friendly offer. -> black knight,

grey knight

White 'Pagesnoun [pi., u] in the US and some other countries, the part of a telephone book that has white pages and gives a list of individuals and companies with their telephone numbers, arranged in alphabetical order. It has no advertising. Yellow Pages

'white salenoun [c] (especially AmF)(Commerce) an occasion when a shop/store sells goods at a much lower price than usual, originally a sale of sheets, cloths, etc. for the home (linen)

'whizz-kid (AmE spelling usually whiz kid) noun [c] ^informal)

a person who is very good and successful at sth, especially at a young age О a computer/financial/technical whizz-kid

.whole-[29] life adjective [only before noun] (Accounting; insurance) lasting until a person dies or until a product can no longer be used: a whole-life insurance policy (= one that pays a sum of money when the person insured dies) о The software calculates the whole-life cost of a vehicle. О whole-life assurance/insurance/policies ♦ whole-life cost/costing

verb [+ obj]

to sell goods in large quantities to businesses, so that they can be sold again to make a profit: 60% of the fruit is wholesaled, о They import tea and wholesale it to retail stores. -> retail ► 'wholesaling noun [u]: Their core business is the wholesaling of health-care products to pharmacists, о a wholesaling business

wholesale bank noun [c] a bank that provides services for other banks and large businesses and not to individual customers or small businesses ►.wholesale 'banking noun [u]

wholesale co operative noun [c](Commerce) a cooperative that buys goods in large quantities to sell to the cooperatives that own it and to others

'wholesale price (also 'trade price) noun [c](Commerce) the price that a retailer (= a business that sells goods to the public) pays for goods from a manufacturer or wholesaler -> retail price

wholesaler /'h8ulseil8(r); AmE 'houl-/ noun [C] (Commerce) a person or a business that buys goods in large quantities and sells them to businesses, so they can be sold again to make a profit: fruit and vegetable wholesalers -> retailer

See note at supply chain

wholly- owned adjective used to describe a company whose shares are all owned by another company: The company will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Life.

.wide area 'network = wan

widget /'wid3it/ noun [C] (informal)

used to refer to any small device that you do not know the name of: lots of different widgets to customize your car о I had to pull some kind of widget to make the machine work.

(Manufacturing) a product that does not exist, used as an example of the typical product of a manufacturer, especially when accounting or financial processes are being explained: Calculate the total cost per widget.