16-letter words containing a, c, t, w
- lost-wax process — a process of investment casting in which a refractory mold is built up around a pattern of wax and then baked so as to melt and drain off the wax.
- low-carbon steel — steel containing between 0.04 and 0.25 per cent carbon
- luck of the draw — the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities: With my luck I'll probably get pneumonia.
- mackinaw blanket — a thick woolen blanket, often woven with bars of color, formerly used in the northern and western U.S. by Indians, loggers, etc.
- maintenance crew — a group of people who work together to keep a road, building, vehicle, or machine in good condition by regularly checking it and repairing it when necessary
- molecular weight — the average weight of a molecule of an element or compound measured in units once based on the weight of one hydrogen atom taken as the standard or on 1/16 (0.0625) the weight of an oxygen atom, but after 1961 based on 1/12 (0.083) the weight of the carbon-12 atom; the sum of the atomic weights of all the atoms in a molecule. Abbreviation: mol. wt.
- multi-way branch — switch statement
- new commonwealth — a term used esp in the latter part of the 20th century in Britain to describe countries in the British Commonwealth that became independent after World War II
- nuncupative will — a will made by the oral and unwritten declaration of the testator, valid only in special circumstances.
- of it own accord — If something happens of its own accord, it seems to happen by itself, without anyone making it happen.
- one-way function — (cryptography, mathematics) A function which is easy to compute but whose inverse is very difficult to compute. Such functions have important applications in cryptography, specifically in public-key cryptography. See also: trapdoor function.
- optical tweezers — a laser device used to study, manipulate, or trap a microscopic object, as a microorganism or cell, with nanometer precision.
- packet switching — a method of efficient data transmission whereby the initial message is broken into relatively small units, or packets, that are routed independently and subsequently reassembled.
- packet-switching — a method of efficient data transmission whereby the initial message is broken into relatively small units, or packets, that are routed independently and subsequently reassembled.
- powerpc platform — (architecture, standard) (PPCP, PReP - PowerPC Reference Platform, formerly CHRP - Common Hardware Reference Platform) An open system standard, designed by IBM, intended to ensure compatibility among PowerPC-based systems built by different companies. The PReP standard specifies the PCI bus, but will also support ISA, MicroChannel and PCMCIA. PReP-compliant systems will be able to run the Macintosh OS, OS/2, WorkplaceOS, AIX, Solaris, Taligent and Windows NT. IBM systems will (of course) be PReP-compliant. Apple's first PowerPC Macintoshes will not be compliant, but future ones may be.
- pure watercolour — water-soluble pigment, applied in transparent washes and without the admixture of white pigment in the lighter tones
- secondary growth — an increase in the thickness of the shoots and roots of a vascular plant as a result of the formation of new cells in the cambium.
- showcase project — a project designed to attract attention and show off the abilities of the people involved in it
- sir isaac newton — Sir Isaac, 1642–1727, English philosopher and mathematician: formulator of the law of gravitation.
- software package — bundle of files to execute computer program
- subsistence wage — the lowest wage upon which a worker and his or her family can survive
- the commonwealth — the government in England under the Cromwells and Parliament from 1649 to 1660
- the wheel blacks — the international wheelchair rugby football team of New Zealand
- to cut both ways — If you say that something cuts both ways, you mean that it can have two opposite effects, or can have both good and bad effects.
- tobacco hornworm — the larva of a hawk moth, Manduca sexta, having a hornlike structure at its posterior end and feeding on the leaves of tobacco and other plants of the nightshade family.
- torricelli's law — the law that states that the speed of flow of a liquid from an orifice is equal to the speed that it would attain if falling freely a distance equal to the height of the free surface of the liquid above the orifice.
- twin-carburettor — (of an engine) having two carburettors
- twin-lens camera — a camera having two separately mounted lenses coordinated to eliminate parallax errors or for making stereoscopic photographs.
- two-pot screamer — a person easily influenced by alcohol
- twofold purchase — a purchase using a double standing block and a double running block so as to give a mechanical advantage of four or five, neglecting friction, depending on whether the hauling is on the standing block or the running block.
- walking distance — distance that can easily be walked
- walrus moustache — a long thick moustache drooping at the ends
- ward christensen — (person) The inventor of XMODEM and of the BBS. Ward did physics in college and programmed mainframes for IBM. Ward and friend Randy Suess set up their BBS on first on 1978-02-16 in Chicago. It ran on an S-100 computer with 64k RAM and two single-sided 8" 250kB diskettes.
- washington, d. c — Booker T(aliaferro) [boo k-er tol-uh-ver] /ˈbʊk ər ˈtɒl ə vər/ (Show IPA), 1856–1915, U.S. reformer, educator, author, and lecturer.
- washington, d.c. — Booker T(aliaferro) [boo k-er tol-uh-ver] /ˈbʊk ər ˈtɒl ə vər/ (Show IPA), 1856–1915, U.S. reformer, educator, author, and lecturer.
- watch one's step — a movement made by lifting the foot and setting it down again in a new position, accompanied by a shifting of the weight of the body in the direction of the new position, as in walking, running, or dancing.
- watch this space — Journalists write 'Watch this space' in order to indicate in an informal way that they will be giving more information about something in the future.
- water chinquapin — an American lotus, Nelumbo lutea, having pale-yellow flowers and an edible seed.
- waterless cooker — a tight-lidded kitchen utensil in which food can be cooked using only a small amount of water or only the juices emitted while cooking.
- way of the cross — stations of the cross.
- weak interaction — the interaction between elementary particles and the intermediate vector bosons that carry the weak force from one particle to another.
- weather forecast — meteorological prediction
- well-appreciated — to be grateful or thankful for: They appreciated his thoughtfulness.
- well-articulated — made clear or distinct: articulated sounds.
- well-compensated — to recompense for something: They gave him ten dollars to compensate him for his trouble.
- west valley city — city in NC Utah, near Salt Lake City: pop. 109,000
- western sandwich — a sandwich with a western omelet for a filling.
- whatchamacallits — Plural form of whatchamacallit.
- whole-tone scale — a scale progressing entirely by whole tones, as C, D, E, F♯, G♯, A♯, C.
- win the exchange — to win a rook in return for a bishop or knight