17-letter words containing d, r, a, w, n
- nervous breakdown — (not in technical use) any disabling mental disorder requiring treatment.
- new england aster — a tall composite plant, Aster novae-angliae, of the northeastern U.S., the flowers of which have lavender to deep-purple rays.
- new england range — a plateau in New South Wales in SE Australia, in the Great Dividing Range, rising to 5000 feet (1524 meters).
- new scotland yard — See under Scotland Yard (def 1).
- nine days' wonder — an event or thing that arouses considerable but short-lived interest or excitement.
- ninety-day wonder — an officer commissioned in a branch of the armed forces after an unusually short training period, especially after a three-months officers' training course during World War II.
- of its own accord — If something happens of its own accord, it seems to happen by itself, without anyone making it happen.
- one-time password — (security) (OTP) A security system that requires a new password every time a user authenticates themselves, thus protecting against an intruder replaying an intercepted password. OTP generates passwords using either the MD4 or MD5 hashing algorithms. The equivalent term "S/Key", developed by Bellcore, is a trademark of Telcordia Technologies, so the name OTP is used increasingly. See RFC 1760 - "The S/KEY One-Time Password System" and RFC 1938 - "A One-Time Password System".
- pressure drawdown — Pressure drawdown is the difference between the reservoir pressure and the flowing wellbore pressure, which drives fluids from the reservoir into the wellbore.
- prusso-danish war — a war of 1864 between Prussia and Denmark by which Denmark lost Schleswig-Holstein.
- put in a word for — to make favourable mention of (someone); recommend
- quick on the draw — having fast reflexes
- reading knowledge — the ability to read a language, but not speak it
- ready and waiting — If you want to emphasize that a person is properly prepared for something, or that something can now be used, you can say that they are ready and waiting.
- russian wolfhound — borzoi.
- second balkan war — Balkan War (def 2).
- secondary rainbow — a faint rainbow formed by light rays that undergo two internal reflections in drops of rain, appearing above the primary rainbow and having its colors in the opposite order.
- secondary winding — A secondary winding is the winding of a transformer that receives its energy by electromagnetic induction from the primary winding.
- slings and arrows — Slings and arrows are unpleasant things that happen to you and that are not your fault.
- spiny-headed worm — any of a small group of endoparasites of the phylum Acanthocephala, as larvae parasitic in insects and crustaceans and as adults in various vertebrates.
- spread your wings — if you spread your wings, you do something new and rather difficult or move to a new place, because you feel more confident in your abilities than you used to and you want to gain wider experience
- store and forward — to store (information) in a computer for later forward transmission through a telecommunication network
- straw in the wind — If you say that an incident or piece of news is a straw in the wind, you mean that it gives an indication of what might happen in the future.
- strawberry blonde — woman: with reddish fair hair
- sword and sorcery — a genre of literature and film, usually set in days of old with magic as well as sword fighting
- tanenbaum, andrew — Andrew Tanenbaum
- 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
- thermal underwear — underwear designed to retain body heat in cold temperatures.
- two-toed anteater — silky anteater.
- under the weather — the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc.
- wage differential — the difference in wages between workers with different skills in the same industry or between those with comparable skills in different industries or localities
- waiting for godot — a play (1952) by Samuel Beckett.
- war correspondent — a reporter or commentator assigned to send news or opinions directly from battle areas.
- wedding breakfast — meal served at wedding reception
- well-demonstrated — to make evident or establish by arguments or reasoning; prove: to demonstrate a philosophical principle.
- western red cedar — an arborvitae, Thuja plicata, of western North America, grown as an ornamental.
- wheatstone bridge — a circuit for measuring an unknown resistance by comparing it with known resistances.
- wide area network — a computer network that spans a relatively large geographical area.
- wide-area network — a computer network that spans a relatively large geographical area.
- williams syndrome — an abnormality in the genes involved in calcium metabolism, resulting in learning difficulties
- wind chill factor — A wind chill factor is a measure of the cooling effect of the wind on the temperature of the air.
- wind-chill factor — the apparent temperature felt on the exposed human body owing to the combination of temperature and wind speed.
- winding staircase — long set of spiral stairs
- windscreen washer — a small nozzle on the bonnet of a motor vehicle, from which jets of water are squirted electronically onto the windscreen to help clean it
- with a difference — If you describe a job or holiday, for example, as a job with a difference or a holiday with a difference, you mean that the job or holiday is very interesting and unusual.
- wring one's hands — If someone wrings their hands, they hold them together and twist and turn them, usually because they are very worried or upset about something. You can also say that someone is wringing their hands when they are expressing sorrow that a situation is so bad but are saying that they are unable to change it.