Common Phrasal Verbs Starting with W | Learn English

33 Common Phrasal Verbs Starting with W

Published on: June 17, 2026 | English-learning resource for W-initial phrasal verbs.

Phrasal verbs starting with W are very common in everyday English. Below you will find 33 common phrasal verbs starting with W, each with a short example sentence in English.

1. Wait around – wait for a long time
   Example: I had to wait around for two hours.
2. Wait on – serve someone (in a restaurant)
   Example: The waiter waited on us.
3. Wait up – stay awake late
   Example: Don't wait up for me; I'll be late.
4. Wake up – stop sleeping
   Example: She wakes up at 7 a.m.
5. Walk out – leave a relationship suddenly
   Example: He walked out of the marriage.
6. Walk in – enter a room
   Example: He walked in my room.
7. Ward off – prevent something harmful
   Example: She drank tea to ward off a cold.
8. Warm up – make something warmer; prepare for exercise
   Example: Warm up your coffee before you drink it.
9. Wash away – carry off by water
   Example: The flood washed away the bridge.
10. Wash down – drink something with food
    Example: He washed down the pills with water.
11. Wash out – stop an event because of rain
    Example: The game was washed out.
12. Wash up – wash hands or dishes
    Example: Please wash up before dinner.
13. Waste away – become weak from illness
    Example: He wasted away after the disease.
14. Watch out – be careful
    Example: Watch out for the car.
15. Watch out for – be warned about something
    Example: Watch out for thieves.
16. Water down – make something weaker
    Example: They watered down the argument.
17. Wean off – stop a bad habit gradually
    Example: The doctor weaned him off smoking.
18. Wear down – reduce strength over time
    Example: The stress wore her down.
19. Wear in – make something comfortable by using
    Example: I need to wear in these shoes.
20. Wear off – lose effect gradually
    Example: The pain finally wore off.
21. Wear out – become damaged from use; make tired
    Example: These shoes are worn out.
22. Weed out – remove unwanted people or things
    Example: They weeded out the bad candidates.
23. Weigh down – make someone feel stressed
    Example: Problems weighed him down.
24. Weigh in – join a discussion
    Example: She weighed in with her opinion.
25. Weigh up – consider good and bad points
    Example: I need to weigh up the options.
26. Whip into – create strong emotions
    Example: The speaker whipped the crowd into excitement.
27. Whip up – create strong feelings
    Example: He whipped up anger in the crowd.
28. Win back – get something back after losing it
    Example: She won back his trust.
29. Win over – get someone to support you
    Example: They tried to win over the voters.
30. Wind down – reduce activity gradually
    Example: Let's wind down the meeting.
31. Wind up – end something; end up somewhere
    Example: They wound up the meeting early.
32. Wipe away – remove by wiping
    Example: She wiped away her tears.
33. Wipe out – completely destroy or eliminate
    Example: The storm wiped out the village.

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