14-letter words containing a, t, w, e
- stock watering — the creation of more new shares in a company than is justified by its assets
- straw mattress — bed padding filled with straw
- straw-coloured — If you describe something, especially hair, as straw-coloured, you mean that it is pale yellow.
- street railway — a company that operates streetcars or buses.
- sturgeon's law — "Ninety percent of everything is crap". Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud." Oddly, when Sturgeon's Law is cited, the final word is almost invariably changed to "crap". Compare Ninety-Ninety Rule. Though this maxim originated in SF fandom, most hackers recognise it and are all too aware of its truth.
- swallow-tailed — having a deeply forked tail like that of a swallow, as various birds.
- sweated labour — workers forced to work in poor conditions for low pay
- sweet and sour — Sweet and sour is used to describe Chinese food that contains both a sweet flavour and something sharp or sour such as lemon or vinegar.
- sweet marjoram — any of several aromatic herbs belonging to the genus Origanum, of the mint family, especially O. majorana (sweet marjoram) having leaves used as seasoning in cooking.
- sweet-and-sour — cooked with sugar and vinegar or lemon juice and often other seasonings.
- swing the lead — to malinger or make up excuses
- take away from — detract
- take one's way — to go on a journey; travel
- tangata whenua — the indigenous Māori people of a particular area of New Zealand or of the country as a whole
- telegraph wire — a wire that transmits telegraph and telephone signals
- ten years' war — a popular insurrection in Cuba (1868–78) against Spanish rule.
- test the water — If you test the water or test the waters, you try to find out what reaction an action or idea will get before you do it or tell it to people.
- the all whites — the former name for the international soccer team of New Zealand
- the last straw — If an event is the last straw or the straw that broke the camel's back, it is the latest in a series of unpleasant or undesirable events, and makes you feel that you cannot tolerate a situation any longer.
- the lower paid — people who do not earn a lot of money
- the phoney war — a period of apparent calm and inactivity, esp the period at the beginning of World War II
- the real world — if you talk about the real world, you are referring to the world and life in general, in contrast to a particular person's own life, experience, and ideas, which may seem untypical and unrealistic
- the unknowable — the ultimate reality that underlies all phenomena but cannot be known
- the waste land — a poem (1922) by T. S. Eliot.
- the whim-whams — an uneasy, nervous feeling; the jitters
- the wool trade — the business of buying and selling wool, formerly very important in Britain, Australia etc
- theater of war — the entire area in which ground, sea, and air forces may become directly employed in war operations, including the theater of operations and the zone of interior.
- theatre of war — the area of air, sea and land that is directly involved in war
- there's no way — If you say there's no way that something will happen, you are emphasizing that you think it will definitely not happen.
- three-way bulb — a light bulb that can be switched to three successive degrees of illumination.
- throw a wrench — If someone throws a wrench or throws a monkey wrench into a process, they prevent something happening smoothly by deliberately causing a problem.
- titanium white — a pigment used in painting, consisting chiefly of titanium dioxide and noted for its brilliant white color, covering power, and permanence.
- to draw breath — If you do not have time to draw breath, you do not have time to have a break from what you are doing.
- to sweat blood — If you say that someone sweats blood trying to do something, you are emphasizing that they try very hard to do it.
- to win the day — If a particular person, group, or thing wins the day, they win a battle, struggle, or competition. If they lose the day, they are defeated.
- tower of babel — an ancient city in the land of Shinar in which the building of a tower (Tower of Babel) intended to reach heaven was begun and the confusion of the language of the people took place. Gen. 11:4–9.
- trade-weighted — (of exchange rates) weighted according to the volume of trade between the various countries involved
- traffic warden — officer who monitors parking, etc.
- trench warfare — combat in which each side occupies a system of protective trenches.
- trumpeter swan — a large, pure-white, wild swan, Cygnus buccinator, of North America, having a sonorous cry: once near extinction, the species is now recovering.
- tuckaway table — a table having a support folding into one plane and a tilting or drop-leaf top.
- tunbridge ware — decorative wooden ware, including tables, trays, boxes, and ornamental objects, produced especially in the late 17th and 18th centuries in Tunbridge Wells, England, with mosaiclike marquetry sawed from square-sectioned wooden rods of different natural colors.
- twelfth-grader — (in the US) a pupil in the twelfth-grade
- two-horse race — a competition, election, etc, in which there are only two teams or candidates with a chance of winning
- two-name paper — commercial paper having more than one obligor, usually a maker and endorser, both of whom are fully liable.
- two-way street — an arrangement or a situation involving reciprocal obligation or mutual action
- unlawful entry — clandestine, forced, or fraudulent entry into a premises, without the permission of its owner or occupant
- unpraiseworthy — not worthy of praise
- unwatchfulness — the quality or state of being unwatchful
- vegetable wool — the fine, soft, curly hair that forms the fleece of sheep and certain other animals, characterized by minute, overlapping surface scales that give it its felting property.