17-letter words containing a, i, r, s, w
- washington square — a short novel (1881) by Henry James.
- weapons inspector — a person who inspects a country's weapons
- weather satellite — meteorological satellite.
- weather-resistant — resisting the effects of severe weather, as rain or cold: weather-resistant cloth for topcoats.
- wedding breakfast — meal served at wedding reception
- weeping lovegrass — any grass of the genus Eragrostis, as E. curvula (weeping lovegrass) and E. trichodes (sand lovegrass) cultivated as forage and ground cover.
- welfare economics — a branch of economics concerned with improving human welfare and social conditions chiefly through the optimum distribution of wealth, the relief or reduction of unemployment, etc.
- western australia — a state in W Australia. 975,920 sq. mi. (2,527,635 sq. km). Capital: Perth.
- westminster abbey — a Gothic church in London, England.
- wheatstone bridge — a circuit for measuring an unknown resistance by comparing it with known resistances.
- wild sarsaparilla — a low plant, Aralia nudicaulis, of the ginseng family, native to eastern North America, having a single, long-stalked, compound leaf and a ball-like cluster of greenish-yellow flowers.
- william shoemaker — William Lee ("Willie") 1931–2003, U.S. jockey.
- williams syndrome — an abnormality in the genes involved in calcium metabolism, resulting in learning difficulties
- wimshurst machine — a device for the production of electric charge by electrostatic induction, consisting of two oppositely rotating glass or mica disks carrying metal strips upon which charges are induced and subsequently removed by contact with metallic combs.
- winding staircase — long set of spiral stairs
- windscreen washer — a small nozzle on the bonnet of a motor vehicle, from which jets of water are squirted electronically onto the windscreen to help clean it
- wireless operator — a radio operator
- wood preservative — a coating applied to timber as a protection against decay, insects, weather, etc
- working substance — a substance, usually a fluid, that undergoes changes in pressure, temperature, volume, or form as part of a process for accomplishing work.
- wring one's hands — If someone wrings their hands, they hold them together and twist and turn them, usually because they are very worried or upset about something. You can also say that someone is wringing their hands when they are expressing sorrow that a situation is so bad but are saying that they are unable to change it.
- yellow journalism — a color like that of egg yolk, ripe lemons, etc.; the primary color between green and orange in the visible spectrum, an effect of light with a wavelength between 570 and 590 nm.
- zebra swallowtail — a swallowtail butterfly, Papilio marcellus, having black and greenish-white stripes on the wings.