| wait on + | serve, service (a table) | Each waitress waits on three different tables in the restaurant. |
| wait up | not sleep because you are waiting for something or someone | Don’t wait up. |
| wait up for + | not sleep because you are waiting for someone or something | Let’s wait up for Mary to see how her date went. |
| wake * up + | awaken someone | The car alarm woke me up at 6:00 in the morning. |
| wake up | awaken | Wake up. It’s time to get ready for work. |
| wash up | clean oneself | Make sure you wash up before dinner. |
| wash * up + | clean | If we work together, we can wash the kitchen up in a few minutes. |
| watch out | be careful | Watch out – there’s a rattlesnake! |
| watch out for + | be careful of | Watch out for snakes while you are hiking in the desert. |
| wear off | disappear after a period of time | The affects of the medicine will wear off after a few hours. |
| wear * out | use until something is not useable anymore | If you wear the same shoes everyday, you’ll wear them out. |
| wear * out | cause to be very tired | Her three kids wore me out. |
| wind up + | finish (inf.) | If he doesn’t get his act together, he is going to wind up in jail. |
| wind * up + | tighten the spring of a watch or similar machine | He wound up the toy dog and set it on the floor. |
| wind * up + | cause an animal or a child to behave wildly | The kids always get wound up when Uncle Henry comes over. |
| wipe * out + | massacre or destroy | The tidal wave wiped out the small fishing village. |
| wipe * out | cause to be very tired | After surfing all day, I was completely wiped out. |
| work * out + | solve | I hope you two can work out your problems. |
| work out | exercise | I work out three times a week at the fitness center. |
| work out | be successful | I am glad your new catering business is working out. |
| write * down + | record | Write down the directions so you don’t forget them. |
| write * out + | write down every word or letter | He wrote out the lyrics so I could understand what the singer was saying. |
| write * up + | prepare a report | He wrote up a business proposal in order to get a loan. |
