22-letter words containing d, o, w, e
- sell sb down the river — If someone sells you down the river, they betray you for some personal profit or advantage.
- the end of the rainbow — If you say that something is at the end of the rainbow, you mean that people want it but it is almost impossible to obtain or achieve.
- the great leap forward — the attempt by the People's Republic of China in 1959–60 to solve the country's economic problems by labour-intensive industrialization
- to be knocked sideways — If you are knocked sideways by something, it makes you feel very surprised, confused, or upset.
- to be mixed up with sb — if you are mixed up with someone, usually someone that other people disapprove of, you are emotionally or sexually involved with them
- to bend over backwards — If you say that someone is bending over backwards to be helpful or kind, you are emphasizing that they are trying very hard to be helpful or kind.
- to cast your net wider — If you cast your net wider, you look for or consider a greater variety of things.
- to draw someone's fire — If you draw fire from someone, you cause them to shoot at you, for example because they think that you are threatening them.
- to drown one's sorrows — If you say that someone is drowning their sorrows, you mean that they are drinking alcohol in order to forget something sad or upsetting that has happened to them.
- to fall by the wayside — If a person or plan falls by the wayside, they fail or stop before they complete what they set out to do.
- to get/be carried away — If you get carried away or are carried away, you are so eager or excited about something that you do something hasty or foolish.
- to have had a good war — to have made the most of the opportunities presented to one during wartime
- to swallow one's pride — If you swallow your pride, you decide to do something even though you think it will cause you to lose some respect.
- to twiddle your thumbs — If you say that someone is twiddling their thumbs, you mean that they do not have anything to do and are waiting for something to happen.
- van der waals equation — an equation of state relating the pressure, volume, and absolute temperature of a gas, taking into account the finite size of the molecules and the attractive force between them.
- wardour street english — affectedly archaic speech or writing
- was not born yesterday — is not gullible or foolish
- what can/do you expect — You can say 'What can you expect?' or 'What do you expect?' to emphasize that there is nothing surprising about a situation or a person's behaviour, especially if you find this disappointing.
- what/how/why the devil — When you want to emphasize how annoyed or surprised you are, you can use an expression such as what the devil, how the devil, or why the devil.
- white-throated sparrow — a common North American finch, Zonotrichia albicollis, having a white patch on the throat and a black and white striped crown.
- whitworth screw thread — a thread form and system of standard sizes, proposed by Whitworth in 1841 and adopted as standard in the U.K., having a flank angle of 55° and a rounded top and foot
- wi-fi protected access — (networking, security) (WPA) A security scheme for wireless networks, developed by the networking industry in response to the shortcomings of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). WPA uses Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) encryption and provides built-in authentication, giving security comparable to VPN tunneling with WEP, with the benefit of easier administration and use.
- windsor and maidenhead — (since 1917) a member of the present British royal family. Compare Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (def 1).
- would sooner/'d sooner — If you say that you would sooner do something or you'd sooner do it, you mean that you would prefer to do it.
- wrong end of the stick — a complete misunderstanding of a situation, explanation, etc
- yellow-shafted flicker — a North American woodpecker C. auratus, which has a yellow undersurface to the wings and tail
- your neck of the woods — Someone or something that is from your neck of the woods is from the same part of the country as you are.