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17-letter words containing a, w, l, s

  • new lease on life — a contract renting land, buildings, etc., to another; a contract or instrument conveying property to another for a specified period or for a period determinable at the will of either lessor or lessee in consideration of rent or other compensation.
  • 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.
  • out at the elbows — the bend or joint of the human arm between upper arm and forearm.
  • peloponnesian war — a war between Athens and Sparta, 431–404 b.c., that resulted in the transfer of hegemony in Greece from Athens to Sparta.
  • play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
  • quality newspaper — a more serious newspaper which gives detailed accounts of world events, as well as reports on business, culture, and society
  • russian wolfhound — borzoi.
  • scentless mayweed — a similar and related plant, Matricaria maritima, with scentless leaves
  • schwedler's maple — a variety of the Norway maple, Acer platanoides schwedleri, producing red leaves that subsequently turn green.
  • second balkan war — Balkan War (def 2).
  • self-acknowledged — widely recognized; generally accepted: an acknowledged authority on Chinese art.
  • sidesaddle flower — a pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
  • sidewall sampling — Sidewall sampling is the process of taking a sample from the wall of the borehole.
  • slap on the wrist — a sharp blow or smack, especially with the open hand or with something flat.
  • slings and arrows — Slings and arrows are unpleasant things that happen to you and that are not your fault.
  • small waved umber — a brownish geometrid moth, Horisme vitalbata, that is cryptically marked to merge with tree bark
  • social networking — the development of social and professional contacts; the sharing of information and services among people with a common interest.
  • social notworking — the practice of spending time unproductively on social networking websites, esp when one should be working
  • software platform — a major piece of software, as an operating system, an operating environment, or a database, under which various smaller application programs can be designed to run.
  • spanish civil war — the civil war in Spain 1936–39.
  • squaw huckleberry — deerberry.
  • stonewall jackson — Andrew ("Old Hickory") 1767–1845, U.S. general: 7th president of the U.S. 1829–37.
  • strawberry blonde — woman: with reddish fair hair
  • swaddling clothes — cloth for wrapping around a baby
  • swash plate motor — a collar or face plate on a shaft that is inclined at an oblique angle to the axis of rotation and converts reciprocating motion to rotation
  • sword of damocles — Damocles (def 2).
  • tell its own tale — to be self-evident
  • tennessee warbler — a North American wood warbler, Vermivora peregrina, having a gray head, a greenish back, and white underparts.
  • the final whistle — a blast on a referee's whistle to indicate that a game is over
  • the lower animals — relatively simple or primitive animals and not mammals or vertebrates
  • the lower mammals — relatively simple or primitive mammals
  • the new jerusalem — the de facto capital of Israel (recognition of this has been withheld by the United Nations), situated in the Judaean hills: became capital of the Hebrew kingdom after its capture by David around 1000 bc; destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 bc; taken by the Romans in 63 bc; devastated in 70 ad and 135 ad during the Jewish rebellions against Rome; fell to the Arabs in 637 and to the Seljuk Turks in 1071; ruled by Crusaders from 1099 to 1187 and by the Egyptians and Turks until conquered by the British (1917); centre of the British mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, when the Arabs took the old city and the Jews held the new city; unified after the Six Day War (1967) under the Israelis; the holy city of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Pop: 693 200 (2003 est)
  • the twelve tables — the earliest code of Roman civil, criminal, and religious law, promulgated in 451–450 bc
  • the whole shebang — The whole shebang is the whole situation or business that you are describing.
  • three-strikes law — a law that mandates a life sentence to a felon convicted for the third time.
  • tiger swallowtail — a yellow swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus, of eastern North America, having the forewings striped with black.
  • tilt at windmills — to cause to lean, incline, slope, or slant.
  • to steal the show — If you say that someone steals the show, you mean that they get a lot of attention or praise because they perform better than anyone else in a show or other event.
  • twelve patriarchs — any of the sons of Jacob ((the twelve patriarchs),) from whom the tribes of Israel were descended.
  • unlawful assembly — a meeting of three or more people with the intent of carrying out any unlawful purpose
  • wade-giles system — a system of Romanization of Chinese, devised by Sir Thomas Francis Wade (1818–95) and adapted by Herbert Allen Giles (1845–1935), widely used in representing Chinese words and names in English, especially before the adoption of pinyin.
  • wage-price spiral — a situation in which wage and price increases drive each other upward and cause inflation
  • walk on eggshells — to be very cautious or diplomatic for fear of upsetting someone
  • wall street crash — the dramatic collapse of share prices on the New York Stock Exchange in October 1929, an important factor in the early stages of the Depression
  • walleye surfperch — a common black and silvery surfperch (Hyperprosopon argenteum) found off the coast of California
  • wallis and futuna — French overseas territory in the South Pacific, northeast of the Fiji Islands: it consists of two groups of islands (Wallis Islands and Futuna Islands): c. 106 sq mi (275 sq km); pop. 14,000
  • wallowa mountains — a mountain range in NE Oregon. Highest peak, Sacajawea Peak, 9838 feet (2999 meters).
  • wang laboratories — (body)   Computer manufacturer, known for their office automation products and the Wang PC. Quarterly sales $208M, profits $3M (Aug 1994).
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