17-letter words containing c, w, e
- shower attachment — a device fixed to taps to make a shower
- social networking — the development of social and professional contacts; the sharing of information and services among people with a common interest.
- south west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- south-west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- spring cankerworm — the striped, green caterpillar of any of several geometrid moths: a foliage pest of various fruit and shade trees, as Paleacrita vernata (spring cankerworm) and Alsophila pometaria (fall cankerworm)
- squaw huckleberry — deerberry.
- stonewall jackson — Andrew ("Old Hickory") 1767–1845, U.S. general: 7th president of the U.S. 1829–37.
- swaddling clothes — cloth for wrapping around a baby
- sweating sickness — a febrile epidemic disease that appeared in the 15th and 16th centuries: characterized by profuse sweating and frequently fatal in a few hours.
- sweet mock orange — the syringa, Philadelphus coronarius.
- sword and sorcery — a genre of literature and film, usually set in days of old with magic as well as sword fighting
- sword of damocles — Damocles (def 2).
- teaching software — computer software for use in providing online education
- technical drawing — the study and practice, esp as a subject taught in school, of the basic techniques of draughtsmanship, as employed in mechanical drawing, architecture, etc
- the water carrier — the constellation Aquarius, the 11th sign of the zodiac
- the witching hour — the hour at which witches are supposed to appear, usually midnight
- to show your face — If you show your face somewhere, you go there and see people, although you are not welcome, are rather unwilling to go, or have not been there for some time.
- to 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.
- top-security wing — a wing of a prison, mental hospital, etc that has a very high level of precautions against escape
- touch a raw nerve — If you say that you have touched a nerve or touched a raw nerve, you mean that you have accidentally upset someone by talking about something that they feel strongly about or are very sensitive about.
- turn of the screw — a short novel (1898) by Henry James.
- turn-down service — In a hotel, a turn-down service is the preparation of a room for a guest to sleep in by slightly turning back the comforter on the bed, turning down the lights, and so on.
- twelve patriarchs — any of the sons of Jacob ((the twelve patriarchs),) from whom the tribes of Israel were descended.
- verticillium wilt — a disease affecting many temperate-climate plants in hot weather, caused by soil-inhabiting fungi of the genus Verticillium and characterized by wilt, dulling or yellowing of leaf color, and withering near the base.
- wage-price spiral — a situation in which wage and price increases drive each other upward and cause inflation
- walk a chalk line — to behave with strict propriety or obedience
- 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
- war correspondent — a reporter or commentator assigned to send news or opinions directly from battle areas.
- warehouse receipt — a receipt for goods placed in a warehouse.
- warehousing costs — the costs involved in storing goods in a warehouse
- warm-up exercises — preparatory exercises done to warm up the muscles
- warsaw convention — a multilateral treaty on aviation set up chiefly to limit air carriers' liability to passengers and shippers on international flights in the event of an accident.
- wave-cut platform — a flat surface at the base of a cliff formed by erosion by waves
- weapons inspector — a person who inspects a country's weapons
- 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.
- wedding reception — party after a marriage
- 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-accommodated — to do a kindness or a favor to; oblige: to accommodate a friend by helping him move to a new apartment.
- well-accomplished — completed; done; effected: an accomplished fact.
- well-acknowledged — widely recognized; generally accepted: an acknowledged authority on Chinese art.
- well-woman clinic — a health-service clinic for preventive monitoring, health education, and advice for women
- western red cedar — an arborvitae, Thuja plicata, of western North America, grown as an ornamental.
- white blood cells — any of various nearly colorless cells of the immune system that circulate mainly in the blood and lymph and participate in reactions to invading microorganisms or foreign particles, comprising the B cells, T cells, macrophages, monocytes, and granulocytes.
- white book cd-rom — (hardware, standard) A more open CD-ROM standard than Green Book CD-ROM. All films mastered on CD-ROM after March 1994 use White Book. Like Green Book, it is ISO 9660 compliant, uses mode 2 form 2 addressing and can only be played on a CD-ROM drive which is XA (Extended Architecture) compatible. White book CDs are labelled "Video CD".
- wild service tree — either of two European trees, Sorbus domestica, bearing a small, acid fruit that is edible when overripe, or S. torminalis (wild service tree) bearing a similar fruit.
- willow flycatcher — a North American flycatcher, Empidonax alnorum, of alder thickets and other moist areas, that has greenish-brown upper parts and whitish underparts and is almost indistinguishable except by voice from E. traillii (willow flycatcher)
- wimshurst machine — a device for the production of electric charge by electrostatic induction, consisting of two oppositely rotating glass or mica disks carrying metal strips upon which charges are induced and subsequently removed by contact with metallic combs.
- winchester bushel — a unit of dry measure containing 4 pecks, equivalent in the U.S. (and formerly in England) to 2150.42 cubic inches or 35.24 liters (Winchester bushel) and in Great Britain to 2219.36 cubic inches or 36.38 liters (Imperial bushel) Abbreviation: bu., bush.
- winding staircase — long set of spiral stairs