22-letter words containing h, o, w, e
- sail close to the wind — air in natural motion, as that moving horizontally at any velocity along the earth's surface: A gentle wind blew through the valley. High winds were forecast.
- sapir-whorf hypothesis — a theory developed by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf that states that the structure of a language determines or greatly influences the modes of thought and behavior characteristic of the culture in which it is spoken.
- sb can whistle for sth — If you say that someone can whistle for a particular thing, you mean that you are not willing or able to give it to them.
- self-sustaining growth — economic growth that maintains itself without intervention
- sell sb down the river — If someone sells you down the river, they betray you for some personal profit or advantage.
- show the white feather — a symbol of cowardice.
- take one's breath away — the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.
- 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
- the-leaning-tower-pisa — a round, marble campanile in Pisa, Italy, begun in 1174 and now 17 feet (5.2 meters) out of the perpendicular in its height of 179 feet (54 meters).
- throw on the scrapheap — to discard or get rid of as useless
- to awaken to something — to become aware of something
- 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 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 have had a good war — to have made the most of the opportunities presented to one during wartime
- 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.
- to vote with your feet — If you vote with your feet, you show that you do not support something by leaving the place where it is happening or leaving the organization that is supporting it.
- to whom it may concern — salutation in a letter
- vibration white finger — a condition affecting workers using vibrating machinery, which causes damage to the blood vessels and nerves of the fingers and leads to a permanent loss of feeling
- wardour street english — affectedly archaic speech or writing
- washington court house — a city in SW Ohio.
- weigh anchor/up anchor — When the people on a boat weigh anchor or up anchor, they pull the anchor of the boat out of the water so that they can sail away.
- 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 sb/sth looks like — If you ask what someone or something looks like, you are asking for a description of them.
- 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.
- where the shoe pinches — the source of trouble, grief, difficulty, etc.
- whitchurch-stouffville — a town in SW Ontario, in S Canada, N of Toronto.
- white australia policy — an unofficial term for an immigration policy designed to restrict the entry of non-White people into Australia
- 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
- william's bon chrétien — a variety of pear that has large yellow juicy sweet fruit
- windsor and maidenhead — (since 1917) a member of the present British royal family. Compare Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (def 1).
- with egg on one's face — made to look ridiculous
- within someone's grasp — If you say that something is within someone's grasp, you mean that it is very likely that they will achieve it.
- wolfram research, inc. — (company) The company founded by Stephen Wolfram in August 1987 to develop Mathematica which was released in June 1988 for the Macintosh and is now available on over 20 platforms. The company has offices in the United Kingdom and Tokyo, Japan. E-mail: <[email protected]>.
- wolfram von eschenbach — c1170–c1220, German poet.
- 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.
- zero population growth — the maintenance of a population at a constant level by limiting the number of live births to that needed to replace the existing population.