adj. Wet through and through; soaked; dripping. •/He was
wringing wet because he was caught in the rain without an umbrella./ •/He
was wringing wet after working in the fields in the hot sun./
[write home about]
{v. phr.} To become especially enthusiastic or
excited about; boast about. — Often used after "to". •/Mary’s trip to the
World’s Fair was something to write home about./ •/Joe did a good enough
job of painting but it was nothing to write home about./ •/"That was a
dinner worth writing home about!" said Bill coming out of the restaurant./
[write off]
{v. phr.} 1. To remove (an amount) from a business record;
cancel (a debt); accept as a loss. •/If a customer dies when he owes the
store money, the store must often write it off./ Compare: CHARGE OFF. 2. To
accept (a loss or trouble) and not worry anymore about it; forget. •/Mr.
Brown had so much trouble with the new TV set that he finally wrote it off and
bought a new one./ •/Jim’s mistake cost him time and money, but he wrote it
off to experience./ Compare: CHARGE OFF(2). Contrast: CHALK UP(2). To say
that (something) will fail or not be good; believe worthless. •/Just because
the boys on the team are young, don’t write the team off./ Compare: COUNT
OUT.
[write-off]
{n.} A loss. •/This last unfortunate business venture of
ours is an obvious write-off./
[writer’s cramp]
{n.} Pain in the fingers or hand caused by too much
writing. •/Holding your pencil too tightly for too long often gives you
writer’s cramp./ Often used humorously to stress the idea that you have been
doing a lot of writing./ •/By the time Mary finished her Christmas cards she
complained of writer’s cramp./
[writer’s block]
{n. phr.} A condition of being unable to write; a
period when the words just won’t come. •/One of the more common problems
writers occasionally experience is a writer’s block that may last a shorter or
a longer time./ •/They say that the reason for Ernest Hemingway’s suicide
was a severe and seemingly endless writer’s block./
[write-up]
{n.} A report or story in a newspaper or magazine. •/There
was a write-up of the accident in the newspaper./ •/I read an interesting
write-up about the President in a new magazine./
[write up]
{v.} 1. To write the story of; describe in writing; give a
full account of. •/Reporters from many newspapers are here to write up the
game./ •/The magazine is writing up the life of the President./ 2. To put
something thought or talked about into writing; finish writing (something).
•/John took notes of what the teacher said in class and he wrote them up when
he got home./ •/The author had an idea for a story when he saw the old
house, and he wrote it up later./
[writing]
or [handwriting on the wall]{n. phr.}, {literary} A
warning; a message of some urgency. •/"This nuclear plant is about to
explode, I think," the chief engineer said. "We’d better get out of here in a
hurry, the handwriting is on the wall."/