17-letter words containing a, w
- guinea-hen flower — checkered lily.
- gulf war syndrome — a group of symptoms occurring in some Gulf War veterans, most commonly including headache and memory loss, muscle pain, skin disorders, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments, possibly caused by exposure to chemical weapons, vaccines, infectious diseases, or other factors.
- hardware platform — a group of compatible computers that can run the same software.
- hardware register — (hardware, system administration) (Or "hardware log") A list of all hardware, both internal and external, that is attached to a particular computer.
- harvey wallbanger — a screwdriver cocktail topped with Galliano.
- have it both ways — to try to get the best of a situation, argument, etc, by chopping and changing between alternatives or opposites
- have no words for — to be incapable of describing
- hawking radiation — the emission of particles by a black hole. Pairs of virtual particles in the intense gravitational field around a black hole may live long enough for one to move outward when the other is pulled into the black hole, making it appear that the black hole is emitting radiation
- highways engineer — a civil engineer trained and specialized in the planning, construction, maintenance, etc of highways and roads
- hoare powerdomain — powerdomain
- how the land lies — the prevailing conditions or state of affairs
- how's-your-father — sexual intercourse
- hurricane warning — a storm warning given for winds with speeds exceeding 63 knots (72 mph, 32 m/sec) when the source of the winds is a tropical cyclone.
- i will/can manage — You say 'I can manage' or 'I'll manage' as a way of refusing someone's offer of help and insisting on doing something by yourself.
- i wouldn't say no — You use 'I wouldn't say no' to indicate that you would like something, especially something that has just been offered to you.
- illinois waterway — a waterway system in N Illinois made up of canals and rivers connecting Lake Michigan in Chicago with the Mississippi River. 336 miles (541 km) long.
- immigrant workers — people who work in a country they arrived to in order to settle there
- in the family way — a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not: the traditional family. a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for: a single-parent family.
- in/with regard to — You can use with regard to or in regard to to indicate the subject that is being talked or written about.
- indian strawberry — a plant, Duchesnea indica, of the rose family, native to India, having yellow flowers and inedible fruit resembling strawberries.
- international law — the body of rules that nations generally recognize as binding in their conduct toward one another.
- into one's barrow — suited to one's interests or desires
- inward investment — Inward investment is the investment of money in a country by companies from outside that country.
- isherwood framing — a system for framing steel vessels in which light, closely spaced, longitudinal frames are connected by heavy, widely spaced transverse frames with deep webs.
- japanese knotweed — Mexican bamboo.
- japanese wisteria — a wisteria, Wisteria floribunda, of Japan, having violet, violet-blue, pink, red, or white flowers, grown in the U.S. as an ornamental.
- jehovah's witness — A Jehovah's Witness is a member of a religious organization which accepts some Christian ideas and believes that the world is going to end very soon.
- julian of norwich — ?1342–?1413, English mystic and anchoress: best known for the Revelations of Divine Love describing her visions
- kawasaki syndrome — a syndrome, usually afflicting children, characterized by high fever, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, rashes, irritated eyes and mucous membranes, etc. with possible damage to the cardiovascular system
- kennesaw mountain — a mountain in N Georgia, near Atlanta: battle 1864. 1809 feet (551 meters).
- king george's war — a war (1744–48) waged by England and its colonies against France, constituting the North American phase of the War of the Austrian Succession.
- king philip's war — the war (1675–76) between New England colonists and a confederation of Indians under their leader, King Philip.
- know only by name — to be familiar with the name of but not know personally
- knowledgeableness — The state, quality, or measure of being knowledgeable; wisdom.
- ladies-in-waiting — plural of lady-in-waiting.
- lake of the woods — Eldrick [el-drik] /ˈɛl drɪk/ (Show IPA), ("Tiger") born 1975, U.S. professional golfer.
- lake waikaremoana — a lake in the North Island of New Zealand in a dense bush setting. Area: about 55 sq km (21 sq miles)
- lake winnipegosis — a lake in S Canada, in W Manitoba. Area: 5400 sq km (2086 sq miles)
- law of reflection — the principle that when a ray of light, radar pulse, or the like, is reflected from a smooth surface the angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence, and the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the normal to the surface at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
- law of refraction — the principle that for a ray, radar pulse, or the like, that is incident on the interface of two media, the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is equal to the ratio of the velocity of the ray in the first medium to the velocity in the second medium and the incident ray, refracted ray, and normal to the surface at the point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 dawns on sb — If light dawns on you, you begin to understand something after a period of not being able to understand it.
- 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).
- lincoln's sparrow — a North American sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, having a buff breast with black streaks.
- longitudinal wave — a wave in which the direction of displacement is the same as the direction of propagation, as a sound wave.