12-letter words containing a, n, s, w
- stefan's law — the principle that the energy radiated per second by unit area of a black body at thermodynamic temperature T is directly proportional to T4. The constant of proportionality is the Stefan constant, equal to 5.670400 × 10–8 Wm–2 K–4
- stellar wind — the radial outflow of ionized gas from a star.
- stone-washed — Stone-washed jeans are jeans which have been specially washed with small pieces of stone so that when you buy them they are fairly pale and soft.
- stonewalling — the act of stalling, evading, or filibustering, especially to avoid revealing politically embarrassing information.
- subway train — a train that runs on an underground railway
- sunshine law — a law requiring a government agency to open its official meetings and records to the general public.
- swainishness — loutishness
- swap trading — a contract in which the parties to it exchange liabilities on outstanding debts in trading
- sweat glands — one of the minute, coiled, tubular glands of the skin that secrete sweat.
- sweet almond — the nutlike kernel of the fruit of either of two trees, Prunus dulcis (sweet almond) or P. dulcis amara (bitter almond) which grow in warm temperate regions.
- sweet marten — the European pine marten, Martes martes : trapped for its fur and now greatly reduced in number.
- sweet orange — a globose, reddish-yellow, bitter or sweet, edible citrus fruit.
- swimming cap — A swimming cap is a rubber cap which you wear to keep your hair dry when you are swimming.
- swine plague — hemorrhagic septicemia of hogs, caused by the bacterium Pasteurella suiseptica, characterized by an accompanying infection of pneumonia.
- swiss-german — of or relating to a person from German-speaking Switzerland
- tapioca snow — snow pellets.
- the lowlands — a low generally flat region of central Scotland, around the Forth and Clyde valleys, separating the Southern Uplands from the Highlands
- time-wasting — causing someone to spend time doing something that is unnecessary or does not produce any benefit
- unanswerable — not capable of being answered; not having a known or discoverable answer: an unanswerable question.
- underdrawers — an undergarment for the lower part of the body, typically covering at least part of the legs. Compare drawer (def 2).
- unshadowable — not able to be shadowed
- unwashedness — the quality or state of being unwashed
- urban sprawl — the uncontrolled spread of urban development into neighboring regions.
- verner's law — the statement by K. Verner of a regularity behind some apparent exceptions in the Germanic languages to Grimm's law, namely, that Proto-Germanic voiceless fricatives became voiced when between voiced sounds if the immediately preceding vowel was not accented in Proto-Indo-European.
- vienna woods — Wienerwald.
- wackyparsing — (Internet, slang) present participle of wackyparse.
- wagon master — wagon boss.
- wainscotings — Plural form of wainscoting.
- wainscotting — paneling or woodwork with which rooms, hallways, etc., are wainscoted.
- waistcoating — a fabric for making waistcoats.
- wait and see — If you tell someone to wait and see, you tell them that they must be patient or that they must not worry about what is going to happen in the future because they have no control over it.
- waiting list — a list of persons waiting, as for reservations, appointments, living accommodations, or admission to a school.
- waking hours — Your waking hours are the times when you are awake rather than asleep.
- walk on eggs — the roundish reproductive body produced by the female of certain animals, as birds and most reptiles, consisting of an ovum and its envelope of albumen, jelly, membranes, egg case, or shell, according to species.
- walk spanish — to advance or travel on foot at a moderate speed or pace; proceed by steps; move by advancing the feet alternately so that there is always one foot on the ground in bipedal locomotion and two or more feet on the ground in quadrupedal locomotion.
- walking bass — (in jazz piano) a left-hand accompaniment consisting of a continuous rhythm of four beats to the measure, usually with a repetitive melodic pattern.
- walking fish — any of various fishes able to survive and move about for short periods of time on land, as the mudskipper or climbing perch.
- walking shoe — a sturdy comfortable shoe worn by hillwalkers, etc
- walkingstick — a stick used for walking
- wapsipinicon — a river in E Iowa, flowing SE to the Mississippi River. 255 miles (410 km) long.
- wardian case — a type of terrarium having a top and sides of glass.
- warehouseman — a person who stores goods for others for pay.
- warehousemen — Irregular plural form of warehouseman.
- warning shot — gunshot fired into the air
- warning sign — sth that indicates danger
- warrant sale — a sale of someone's personal belongings or household effects that have been seized to meet unpaid debts
- wash drawing — a watercolor painting executed by applying a series of monochrome washes one over the other.
- washfountain — a large, usually circular wash basin, as in an industrial plant, in which a spray of water activated by foot pedal allows several workers to wash simultaneously.
- washing line — cord for hanging laundry to dry
- washing soda — sodium carbonate (def 2).