17-letter words containing a, w, o, r, l
- law of trichotomy — the property that for natural numbers a and b , either a is less than b , a equals b , or a is greater than b .
- learned borrowing — a word or other linguistic form borrowed from a classical language into a modern language.
- lee harvey oswald — Lee Harvey, 1939–63, designated by a presidential commission to be the lone assassin of John F. Kennedy.
- lie in wait (for) — to wait so as to catch after planning an ambush or trap (for)
- lincoln's sparrow — a North American sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, having a buff breast with black streaks.
- low-hanging fruit — the fruit that grows low on a tree and is therefore easy to reach
- lower paleolithic — See under Paleolithic.
- manpower planning — a procedure used in organizations to balance future requirements for all levels of employee with the availability of such employees
- mayflower compact — an agreement to establish a government, entered into by the Pilgrims in the cabin of the Mayflower on November 11, 1620.
- middle low german — Low German of the period c1100–c1500.
- narrow-shouldered — having shoulders which do not extend very far from the neck; not broad-shouldered
- 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).
- non-manual worker — a person whose job involves the use of their mind, rather than the use of their hands or physical strength
- north-wall hammer — a type of ice axe that has a hammer as part of its head
- orange flower oil — neroli oil.
- parallelogram law — Mathematics, Physics. a rule for adding two vectors, as forces (parallelogram of forces) by placing the point of application of one at the point of origin of the other and obtaining their sum by constructing the line connecting the two remaining end points, the sum being the diagonal of the parallelogram whose adjacent sides are the two vectors.
- 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.
- powder metallurgy — the art or science of manufacturing useful articles by compacting metal and other powders in a die, followed by sintering.
- rainbow coalition — a political grouping together by several minority parties
- reading knowledge — the ability to read a language, but not speak it
- revolutionary war — American Revolution.
- right-to-work law — a state law making it illegal to refuse employment to a person for the sole reason that he or she is not a union member.
- roll with a punch — to move in the same direction as a punch thrown at one so as to lessen its force
- rough-legged hawk — a large hawk, Buteo lagopus, of the Northern Hemisphere, that feeds chiefly on small rodents.
- russian wolfhound — borzoi.
- second balkan war — Balkan War (def 2).
- sidesaddle flower — a pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
- 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.
- 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.
- strawberry blonde — woman: with reddish fair hair
- 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).
- the lower animals — relatively simple or primitive animals and not mammals or vertebrates
- the lower mammals — relatively simple or primitive mammals
- tiger swallowtail — a yellow swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus, of eastern North America, having the forewings striped with black.
- to play with fire — If you say that someone is playing with fire, you mean that they are doing something dangerous that may result in great harm for them and cause many problems.
- wang laboratories — (body) Computer manufacturer, known for their office automation products and the Wang PC. Quarterly sales $208M, profits $3M (Aug 1994).
- water tube boiler — a boiler for generating steam by passing water in tubes (water tubes) through flames and hot gases.
- water-tube boiler — a boiler for generating steam by passing water in tubes (water tubes) through flames and hot gases.
- wave-cut platform — a flat surface at the base of a cliff formed by erosion by waves
- wearable computer — a small computer that is worn or carried on the body; a wearable computing device: a wrist-worn wearable computer with a head-mounted display.
- weeping lovegrass — any grass of the genus Eragrostis, as E. curvula (weeping lovegrass) and E. trichodes (sand lovegrass) cultivated as forage and ground cover.
- welfare economics — a branch of economics concerned with improving human welfare and social conditions chiefly through the optimum distribution of wealth, the relief or reduction of unemployment, etc.
- well-demonstrated — to make evident or establish by arguments or reasoning; prove: to demonstrate a philosophical principle.
- well-photographed — a picture produced by photography.
- william shoemaker — William Lee ("Willie") 1931–2003, U.S. jockey.