Pronunciations (13)
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/waɪ̯/
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[waɪ̯]
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/waː/
Pronunciation notes
- General-South-African
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/wa̝ː/
Pronunciation notes
- Multicultural-London-English
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/ʍaɪ̯/
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[ʍaɪ̯]
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[w̥aɪ̯]
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/ʍae̯/
Pronunciation notes
- Scotland
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[ʍae̯]
Pronunciation notes
- Scotland
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/ʍaː/
Pronunciation notes
- Southern-US
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[ʍaː]
Pronunciation notes
- Southern-US
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[w̥aː]
Pronunciation notes
- Southern-US
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ʍaɪ
Adverb
For what cause, reason, or purpose. Introducing a complete question.
Usage- interrogative
- not-comparable
- Examples
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Why is the door open?
Why is the sky blue?
Why did you do that?
More examples (3)
I don’t know why he did that.
Tell me why the moon changes phase.
Why do you have a map of the world?
For what cause, reason, or purpose. Introducing a complete question. With a negative, used rhetorically to make a suggestion.
Usage- interrogative
- not-comparable
- Examples
-
Why don't we eat here?
Why don't you ask her out for dinner?
For what cause, reason, or purpose. Introducing a verb phrase (bare infinitive clause).
Usage- interrogative
- not-comparable
- Examples
-
Why spend money on something you already get for free?
Why not tell him how you feel?
For what cause, reason, or purpose. Introducing a noun or other phrase.
Usage- interrogative
- not-comparable
- Examples
-
Why him? Why not someone taller?
For which cause, reason, or purpose.
Usage- not-comparable
- relative
- Examples
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Tell me the reason why you left.
That's the reason why I did that.
The cause, reason, or purpose for which.
Usage- not-comparable
- Examples
-
That is why the sky is blue.
Why most of us volunteer is that we need some fresh air.
More examples (1)
Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.
Noun
Reason.
- Examples
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I know the how, but not the why.
A good article will cover the who, the what, the when, the where, the why and the how.
I don't want to know the whys or the wherefores of your decision.
More examples (1)
Within months of leaving, she became the new owner of Dream Body Recovery in Miami, which has three rooms that can accommodate up to six clients. “Being a part of this journey with other ladies, knowing how it changed my life, that’s my why,” she told me.
Interjection
An exclamation used to express pleasant or unpleasant mild surprise, indignation, or impatience.
Usage- Dated
- Literary
- Examples
-
Why, that’s ridiculous!
Why, how kind of you!
More examples (3)
Why yes, that’s true.
VVhy Child, I tell thee if I vvas thy Mmother I ſhould not diſovvn thee; Don't you ſee I am as kind to you as if I vvas your Mother?
Suddenly she put her hand out to feel Helen, and felt the pin curlers. “Why, you’ve got curlers on!”
Verb
To ask (someone) the question "why?".
Usage- Intransitive
- Transitive
- Examples
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Why indeed? But once you start whying, there's no end to it.
Noun
A young heifer.
Usage- Yorkshire
- Obsolete
- Examples
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At two years old, also, the HEIFERS - provincially, “whies,” are generally put to the bull.
Noun
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase ‘the whys and wherefores’
- Synonyms