20-letter words containing a, n, w

hardware handshaking — (communications) A technique for regulating the flow of data across an interface by means of signals carried on separate wires. A common example is the RTS (Request to Send) and CTS (Clear to Send) signals on an EIA-232 serial line. The alternative, software handshaking, uses two special characters inserted into the data stream to carry the same information.
have come a long way — If you say that someone or something has come a long way, you mean that they have developed, progressed, or become very successful.
hawaii-standard-time — Alaska-Hawaii time.
hazard warning lamps — Hazard warning lamps are flashing lamps on each corner of a vehicle that are used to show the position of the vehicle if there has been a breakdown or an accident.
helmeted guinea fowl — the common guinea fowl in its wild state.
heston and isleworth — a former borough, now part of Hounslow, in SE England, near London.
holy water sprinkler — morning star (def 2).
how about something? — what is your wish, opinion, or information concerning something (or someone)?
how are you keeping? — how are you?
human growth hormone — somatotropin. Abbreviation: hGH.
hurricane-force wind — a wind, not necessarily a hurricane, having a speed of more than 72 miles per hour (32 m/sec): the strongest of the winds.
imported currantworm — the larva of any of several insects, as a sawfly, Nematus ribesii (imported currantworm) which infests and feeds on the leaves and fruit of currants.
in contact (with sb) — If you are in contact with someone, you regularly meet them or communicate with them.
indicated horsepower — the horsepower of a reciprocating engine as shown by an indicator record. Abbreviation: ihp, IHP.
junior featherweight — a boxer weighing up to 122 pounds (54.9 kg), between bantamweight and featherweight.
king's-pawn openings — a class of chess openings in which the pawn in front of the king is advanced two squares on the first move.
knock-down, drag-out — characterized by great violence, harshness, animosity, etc.
know all the answers — be opinionated
knowledge management — data technology
law of contradiction — the law that a proposition cannot be both true and false or that a thing cannot both have and not have a given property.
law of large numbers — the theorem in probability theory that the number of successes increases as the number of experiments increases and approximates the probability times the number of experiments for a large number of experiments.
law of superposition — Geology. a basic law of geochronology, stating that in any undisturbed sequence of rocks deposited in layers, the youngest layer is on top and the oldest on bottom, each layer being younger than the one beneath it and older than the one above it.
law-and-order issues — issues concerning law and social conventions
lead with one's chin — to act so imprudently as to invite disaster
little kanawha river — a river in NW West Virginia, flowing N and NW to the Ohio River. 160 miles (257 km) long.
llanfairpwllgwyngyll — a village in NW Wales, in SE Anglesey: reputed to be the longest place name in Great Britain when unabbreviated; means: St Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near the rapid whirlpool of Llandysilio of the red cave
llywelyn ap gruffudd — died 1282, prince of Wales (1258–82): the only Welsh ruler to be recognized as such by the English
llywelyn ap iorwerth — called Llywelyn the Great. died 1240, prince of Gwynedd, N Wales (1194–1238), who extended his rule over most of Wales
look homeward, angel — a novel (1929) by Thomas Wolfe.
madwoman of chaillot — a satirical comedy (1945) by Jean Giraudoux.
medical underwriting — Medical underwriting is the use of medical or health status information in the evaluation of an applicant for life or health insurance.
microcrystalline wax — Microcrystalline wax is a wax used as a stiffening agent and as a coating agent for tablets and capsules.
microwave background — a background of microwave electromagnetic radiation with a black-body spectrum discovered in 1965, understood to be the thermal remnant of the big bang with which the universe began
minkowski space-time — a four-dimensional space in which three coordinates specify the position of a point in space and the fourth represents the time at which an event occurred at that point
neighbourhood warden — a person employed by a local authority to patrol residential areas and deal with antisocial behaviour
network transparency — (networking) A feature of an operating system or other service which lets the user access a remote resource through a network without having to know if the resource is remote or local. For example NFS allow users to access remote files as if they were local files.
new democratic party — the Canadian social democratic party formed in 1961
new england theology — Calvinism as modified and interpreted by the descendants of the Puritans in New England, especially Jonathan Edwards, becoming the dominant theology there from about 1730 to 1880.
new jerusalem church — a sect founded in 1787, based on Swedenborgianism
new siberian islands — an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, off the N mainland of Russia, in the Sakha Republic. Area: about 37 555 sq km (14 500 sq miles)
new zealand fur seal — an Australasian seal, Arctocephalus forsteri
newcastle-under-lyme — a town in W central England, in Staffordshire. Pop: 74 427 (2001)
no two ways about it — If you say that there are no two ways about it, you are emphasizing that there is no doubt at all about a particular situation or about how it should be interpreted.
northern white cedar — any of several chiefly coniferous trees valued for their wood, especially Chamaecyparis thyoides, of the eastern U.S., or Thuja occidentalis (northern white cedar) of northeastern North America.
norwegian forest cat — a breed of long-haired cat with a long bushy tail and a long mane
not put a foot wrong — If you never put a foot wrong, you never make any mistakes.
not worth the candle — not worth the price or trouble entailed (esp in the phrase the game's not worth the candle)
old man of the woods — an edible, mild-tasting mushroom, Strobilomyces floccopus, occurring in coniferous woodlands of eastern North America.
on one's own account — If you take part in a business activity on your own account, you do it for yourself, and not as a representative or employee of a company.
on the drawing board — in the planning stage

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