17-letter words containing a, t, w, e
- law of the jungle — a system or mode of action in which the strongest survive, presumably as animals in nature or as human beings whose activity is not regulated by the laws or ethics of civilization.
- lewis with harris — the northernmost island of the Hebrides, in NW Scotland. 825 sq. mi. (2135 sq. km).
- lie in wait (for) — to wait so as to catch after planning an ambush or trap (for)
- light heavyweight — a boxer or other contestant intermediate in weight between a middleweight and a heavyweight, especially a professional boxer weighing up to 175 pounds (80 kg).
- longitudinal wave — a wave in which the direction of displacement is the same as the direction of propagation, as a sound wave.
- lower paleolithic — See under Paleolithic.
- make the worst of — to be pessimistic about
- mann-whitney test — a statistical test of the difference between the distributions of data collected in two experimental conditions applied to unmatched groups of subjects but comparing the distributions of the ranks of the scores
- manual typewriter — a keyboard machine, operated entirely by hand, for writing mechanically in characters resembling print
- maxwell equations — equations developed by James Clerk Maxwell (1831–79) upon which classical electromagnetic theory is based
- may/might as well — If you say that you might as well do something, or that you may as well do it, you mean that you will do it although you do not have a strong desire to do it and may even feel slightly unwilling to do it.
- mayflower compact — an agreement to establish a government, entered into by the Pilgrims in the cabin of the Mayflower on November 11, 1620.
- mercy otis warren — Earl, 1891–1974, U.S. lawyer and political leader: chief justice of the U.S. 1953–69.
- message switching — store and forward
- metabolic pathway — biochemistry: sequence of reactions within a cell or organism
- minion of the law — a policeman.
- mount fairweather — a mountain in W North America, on the border between Alaska and British Columbia. Height: 4663 m (15 300 ft)
- multilateral well — A multilateral well is a well that has more than one branch radiating from the main wellbore.
- network marketing — a marketing strategy in which sales representatives of a company recruit other salespeople and earn commissions on their own sales and on the sales made by their team: Use your personal relationships to be successful in network marketing.
- new age traveller — New Age travellers are people who live in tents and vehicles and travel from place to place, and who reject many of the values of modern society.
- new england aster — a tall composite plant, Aster novae-angliae, of the northeastern U.S., the flowers of which have lavender to deep-purple rays.
- new orleans style — a style of jazz developed in New Orleans early in the 20th century, influenced by blues, ragtime, marching band music, and minstrelsy and marked by polyphonic group improvisation.
- new scotland yard — See under Scotland Yard (def 1).
- newcastle disease — a rapidly spreading virus-induced disease of birds and domestic fowl, as chickens, marked by respiratory difficulty, reduced egg production and, in chicks, paralysis.
- newfoundland time — a form of civil time observed on the island of Newfoundland, one and one-half hours later than Eastern time and a half hour later than Atlantic time.
- newspaper cutting — clipping from a news publication
- ninety-day wonder — an officer commissioned in a branch of the armed forces after an unusually short training period, especially after a three-months officers' training course during World War II.
- north-wall hammer — a type of ice axe that has a hammer as part of its head
- northwest passage — a ship route along the Arctic coast of Canada and Alaska, joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
- norwegian current — an ocean current formed from the terminus of the North Atlantic Current, flowing N along the Norwegian coast into the Barents Sea.
- observation tower — lookout, observation point
- off one's own bat — If someone does something off their own bat, they do it without anyone else suggesting it.
- on the wrong tack — a short, sharp-pointed nail, usually with a flat, broad head.
- one-time password — (security) (OTP) A security system that requires a new password every time a user authenticates themselves, thus protecting against an intruder replaying an intercepted password. OTP generates passwords using either the MD4 or MD5 hashing algorithms. The equivalent term "S/Key", developed by Bellcore, is a trademark of Telcordia Technologies, so the name OTP is used increasingly. See RFC 1760 - "The S/KEY One-Time Password System" and RFC 1938 - "A One-Time Password System".
- out at the elbows — the bend or joint of the human arm between upper arm and forearm.
- pacific northwest — the region of North America lying north of the Columbia River and west of the Rockies
- parliamentary law — the body of rules, usages, and precedents that governs proceedings of legislative and deliberative assemblies.
- peak viewing time — the time at which the largest numbers of the population are watching television
- pebbleweave cloth — an irregularly textured material made from twisted yarn
- play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- powder metallurgy — the art or science of manufacturing useful articles by compacting metal and other powders in a die, followed by sintering.
- power of attorney — a written document given by one person or party to another authorizing the latter to act for the former.
- private ownership — the fact of being owned by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public body
- quality newspaper — a more serious newspaper which gives detailed accounts of world events, as well as reports on business, culture, and society
- quantum cell wire — (electronics, computing) (Or "quantum wire", "binary wire") Quantum cells arranged in a line to carry signals. Adjacent cells with the same orientation are at a low energy state and a change of orientation at one end of a quantum wire propagates along the wire, transmitting a signal. However, unlike conventional wire, since only the orientation of charge pairs changes, no current flows. Circuits created using quantum cell wires are referred to as Quantum-dot Wireless Digital Circuits, see quantum dot, Quantum-dot Cellular Automata.
- quick on the draw — having fast reflexes
- radioactive waste — the radioactive by-products from the operation of a nuclear reactor or from the reprocessing of depleted nuclear fuel.
- railway timetable — a list of railway journeys arranged according to the time when they begin and end
- read-write memory — a type of computer memory that you can write to as well as read from
- ready and waiting — If you want to emphasize that a person is properly prepared for something, or that something can now be used, you can say that they are ready and waiting.