W

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does W mean? 

• W (noun)
  The noun W has 4 senses:

1. a heavy grey-white metallic element; the pure form is used mainly in electrical applications; it is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite

2. the cardinal compass point that is a 270 degrees

3. a unit of power equal to 1 joule per second; the power dissipated by a current of 1 ampere flowing across a resistance of 1 ohm

4. the 23rd letter of the Roman alphabet

  Familiarity information: W used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• W (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A heavy grey-white metallic element; the pure form is used mainly in electrical applications; it is found in several ores including wolframite and scheelite

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Synonyms:

atomic number 74; tungsten; W; wolfram

Hypernyms ("W" is a kind of...):

metal; metallic element (any of several chemical elements that are usually shiny solids that conduct heat or electricity and can be formed into sheets etc.)

Holonyms ("W" is a substance of...):

scheelite (a mineral used as an ore of tungsten)

iron manganese tungsten; wolframite (a mineral consisting of iron and manganese tungstate in crystalline form; the principal ore of tungsten; found in quartz veins associated with granitic rocks)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The cardinal compass point that is a 270 degrees

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Synonyms:

due west; W; west; westward

Hypernyms ("W" is a kind of...):

cardinal compass point (one of the four main compass points)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A unit of power equal to 1 joule per second; the power dissipated by a current of 1 ampere flowing across a resistance of 1 ohm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

W; watt

Hypernyms ("W" is a kind of...):

power unit (a measure of electric power)

Meronyms (parts of "W"):

milliwatt (a unit of power equal to one thousandth of a watt)

Holonyms ("W" is a part of...):

kilowatt; kW (a unit of power equal to 1000 watts)

H.P.; horsepower; HP (a unit of power equal to 746 watts)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The 23rd letter of the Roman alphabet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

double-u; W

Hypernyms ("W" is a kind of...):

alphabetic character; letter; letter of the alphabet (the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech)

Holonyms ("W" is a member of...):

Latin alphabet; Roman alphabet (the alphabet evolved by the ancient Romans which serves for writing most of the languages of western Europe)

 Context examples 

BikDD binds with greater affinity to anti-apoptotic proteins bcl-2, bcl-xl, bcl-w and Mcl-1 and is more potent than wild-type Bik.

(C-VISA BikDD:Liposome, NCI Thesaurus)

I know the w’y, I do, to myke myself uppreci-yted.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

This allele, which encodes apoptosis regulator Bcl-W protein, is involved in apoptotic regulation.

(BCL2L2 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Inhibition of these apoptosis suppressors prevents their binding to the apoptotic effectors Bax and Bak proteins, thereby triggering apoptotic processes in cells overexpressing Bcl-2, Bcl-XL, and Bcl-w.

(Navitoclax, NCI Thesaurus)

Miss W. calls me the child of good fortune.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Mr. W. had better have come here, and Miss W. too.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The team used the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii to measure the motions of 10 giant groupings of stars called globular clusters in the galaxy.

(Dark Matter Goes Missing in Oddball Galaxy, NASA)

A conjugate vaccine of meningococcal polysaccharide used for active immunization against invasive meningococcal disease caused by Neisseria meningiditis serogroups A, C, Y, and W-135.

(Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccine MCV4, NCI Thesaurus)

A proprietary adjuvant, applicable for water-in-oil (W/O; 30/70 v/v) vaccine emulsion, with potential immunoadjuvant activity.

(Montanide ISA 720, NCI Thesaurus)

An water-in-oil (w/o) emulsion with immunomoadjuvant activity.

(Montanide ISA 51 VG, NCI Thesaurus)