17-letter words containing f, a, w
- how's-your-father — sexual intercourse
- 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.
- 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.
- julian of norwich — ?1342–?1413, English mystic and anchoress: best known for the Revelations of Divine Love describing her visions
- lake of the woods — Eldrick [el-drik] /ˈɛl drɪk/ (Show IPA), ("Tiger") born 1975, U.S. professional golfer.
- 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 .
- lie in wait (for) — to wait so as to catch after planning an ambush or trap (for)
- low-hanging fruit — the fruit that grows low on a tree and is therefore easy to reach
- make the worst of — to be pessimistic about
- mayflower compact — an agreement to establish a government, entered into by the Pilgrims in the cabin of the Mayflower on November 11, 1620.
- minion of the law — a policeman.
- mount fairweather — a mountain in W North America, on the border between Alaska and British Columbia. Height: 4663 m (15 300 ft)
- new lease on life — a contract renting land, buildings, etc., to another; a contract or instrument conveying property to another for a specified period or for a period determinable at the will of either lessor or lessee in consideration of rent or other compensation.
- newfoundland time — a form of civil time observed on the island of Newfoundland, one and one-half hours later than Eastern time and a half hour later than Atlantic time.
- of its own accord — If something happens of its own accord, it seems to happen by itself, without anyone making it happen.
- off one's own bat — If someone does something off their own bat, they do it without anyone else suggesting it.
- open-channel flow — Open-channel flow is a liquid flow in a channel, which has a free liquid surface.
- orange flower oil — neroli oil.
- out of harm's way — If someone or something is out of harm's way, they are in a safe place away from danger or from the possibility of being damaged.
- pacific northwest — the region of North America lying north of the Columbia River and west of the Rockies
- play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- poison-arrow frog — a small, bright-colored terrestrial frog of the family Dendrobatidae, of Central and South American rain forests, that secretes a virulent poison from its skin, once used on the tips of Indian hunting arrows.
- power of attorney — a written document given by one person or party to another authorizing the latter to act for the former.
- put in a word for — to make favourable mention of (someone); recommend
- russian wolfhound — borzoi.
- sawed-off shotgun — rifle with a short barrel
- self-acknowledged — widely recognized; generally accepted: an acknowledged authority on Chinese art.
- sidesaddle flower — a pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
- software engineer — a person who writes computer programs
- 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.
- south west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- south-west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- store and forward — to store (information) in a computer for later forward transmission through a telecommunication network
- sword of damocles — Damocles (def 2).
- teaching software — computer software for use in providing online education
- the final whistle — a blast on a referee's whistle to indicate that a game is over
- 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.
- 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.
- twelfth amendment — an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1804, providing for election of the president and vice president by the electoral college: should there be no majority vote for one person, the House of Representatives (one vote per state) chooses the president and the Senate the vice president.
- unlawful assembly — a meeting of three or more people with the intent of carrying out any unlawful purpose
- unlawful wounding — an offence committed when a person maliciously wounds another person
- 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.
- waiver of premium — a provision in a policy establishing specific conditions under which the policy will be kept in force without the policyholder's being required to continue to pay premiums.
- walleye surfperch — a common black and silvery surfperch (Hyperprosopon argenteum) found off the coast of California
- wallis and futuna — French overseas territory in the South Pacific, northeast of the Fiji Islands: it consists of two groups of islands (Wallis Islands and Futuna Islands): c. 106 sq mi (275 sq km); pop. 14,000
- wars of the roses — the civil struggle between the royal house of Lancaster, whose emblem was a red rose, and the royal house of York, whose emblem was a white rose, beginning in 1455 and ending with the accession of Henry VII in 1485 and the union of the two houses.