20-letter words containing h, o, w
- to reach new heights — to become higher than ever before
- to show sb the ropes — to show someone how to do a particular job or task
- to stick in the craw — to be unacceptable or displeasing to someone
- to waste your breath — If someone says you are wasting your breath, they mean that the person you are talking to will not take any notice and so there is no point saying anything to them.
- to wear the trousers — If one person in a couple, especially the woman, wears the pants, or in British English wears the trousers, they are the one who makes all the decisions.
- to weather the storm — If someone weathers the storm, they succeed in reaching the end of a very difficult period without much harm or damage.
- to work your way swh — If you work your way somewhere, you move or progress there slowly, and with a lot of effort or work.
- tomb of the unknowns — See under Unknown Soldier.
- triple witching hour — the last hour of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on the four Fridays each year when stock options, stock index futures, and options on such futures simultaneously expire: regarded as a time of extreme volatility in trading.
- try conclusions with — to engage in an argument or contest with
- twiddle one's thumbs — to turn about or play with lightly or idly, especially with the fingers; twirl.
- twilight of the gods — Götterdämmerung.
- twisted stomach worm — stomach worm.
- under/below strength — If an army or team is under strength or below strength, it does not have all the members that it needs or usually has.
- university of hawaii — (body, education) A University spread over 10 campuses on 4 islands throughout the state. See also Aloha, Aloha Net.
- war of the rebellion — American Civil War.
- warehouse facilities — places for storing goods
- watch someone's back — the rear part of the human body, extending from the neck to the lower end of the spine.
- watering of the eyes — the formation of tears in the eyes
- webbing clothes moth — a small brown moth, Tineola biselliella, the larva of which feeds on woolens and spins a web when feeding.
- western mountain ash — a mountain ash, Sorbus sitchensis, of western North America.
- wet-bulb thermometer — a thermometer having a bulb that is kept moistened when humidity determinations are being made with a psychrometer.
- what did you do with — You can ask someone what they did with something as another way of asking them where they put it.
- what-you-may-call-it — an object or person whose name one does not know or cannot recall.
- white bush (scallop) — a variety of summer squash having a saucer-shaped white fruit, scalloped around the edges
- white people problem — a fairly minor problem, complaint, etc., associated with a relatively high standard of living; a first world problem.
- white-flowered gourd — the hard-shelled fruit of any of various plants, especially those of Lagenaria siceraria (white-flowered gourd or bottle gourd) whose dried shell is used for bowls and other utensils, and Cucurbita pepo (yellow-flowered gourd) used ornamentally. Compare gourd family.
- whole-life insurance — a type of insurance with a savings element that is guaranteed to pay out on death provided premiums have been paid as required by the policy
- whyte classification — a system for classifying steam locomotives according to the total number of wheels on the front trucks, drivers, and rear trucks, in that order. For example, a Pacific locomotive is designated as 4-6-2.
- wilson cloud chamber — cloud chamber.
- with a grain of salt — to season with salt.
- with a pinch of salt — without wholly believing; sceptically
- with all one's heart — Anatomy. a hollow, pumplike organ of blood circulation, composed mainly of rhythmically contractile smooth muscle, located in the chest between the lungs and slightly to the left and consisting of four chambers: a right atrium that receives blood returning from the body via the superior and inferior vena cavae, a right ventricle that pumps the blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs for oxygenation, a left atrium that receives the oxygenated blood via the pulmonary veins and passes it through the mitral valve, and a left ventricle that pumps the oxygenated blood, via the aorta, throughout the body.
- with all one's might — If you do something with all your might, you do it using all your strength and energy.
- with one's eyes open — the organ of sight, in vertebrates typically one of a pair of spherical bodies contained in an orbit of the skull and in humans appearing externally as a dense, white, curved membrane, or sclera, surrounding a circular, colored portion, or iris, that is covered by a clear, curved membrane, or cornea, and in the center of which is an opening, or pupil, through which light passes to the retina.
- with one's eyes shut — with great ease, esp as a result of thorough familiarity
- with/in reference to — You use with reference to or in reference to in order to indicate what something relates to.
- without detriment to — If something happens without detriment to a person or thing, it does not harm or damage them.
- without prejudice to — If you take an action without prejudice to an existing situation, your action does not change or harm that situation.
- woman of the streets — a prostitute; streetwalker.
- worcestershire sauce — a sharp sauce made with soy, vinegar, spices, etc., originally made in Worcester, England.
- working relationship — a relationship with a colleague, boss or employee
- writer to the signet — (in Scotland) a member of an ancient society of solicitors, now having the exclusive privilege of preparing crown writs
- yellow-breasted chat — an American warbler, Icteria virens, having a yellow throat and breast and greenish-brown upper parts and noted for imitating the songs of other species.
- you know what i mean — You can use expressions such as you know what I mean and if you know what I mean to suggest that the person listening to you understands what you are trying to say, and so you do not have to explain any more.
- yu-shiang whole fish — /yoo-shyang hohl fish/ An obsolete name for the Greek character gamma (extended SAIL ASCII code 9, Unicode glyph 0x0263) which with a loop in its tail looks like a little fish swimming down the page. The term is actually the name of a Chinese dish in which a fish is cooked whole (not parsed) and covered with Yu-Shiang (or Yu-Hsiang) sauce. Used primarily by people on the MIT LISP Machine, which could display this character on the screen. Tends to elicit incredulity from people who hear about it second-hand.