16-letter words containing i, n, w, a
- sir isaac newton — Sir Isaac, 1642–1727, English philosopher and mathematician: formulator of the law of gravitation.
- social darwinism — a 19th-century theory, inspired by Darwinism, by which the social order is accounted as the product of natural selection of those persons best suited to existing living conditions and in accord with which a position of laissez-faire is advocated.
- spanish windlass — a stick used as a device for twisting and tightening a rope or cable
- spit-and-sawdust — (of a pub) shabby, dirty, and basic
- spring snowflake — a European amaryllidaceous plant, Leucojum vernum, with white nodding bell-shaped flowers
- subsistence wage — the lowest wage upon which a worker and his or her family can survive
- swedenborgianism — of or relating to Emanuel Swedenborg, his religious doctrines, or the body of followers adhering to these doctrines and constituting the Church of the New Jerusalem, or New Church.
- swedish vallhund — a small sturdy dog of a Swedish breed with a long body and pricked pointed ears
- sweet almond oil — almond oil (def 1).
- swine erysipelas — erysipelas (def 2).
- swiss army knife — a small knife with blades and other tools, such as a nail file and corkscrew, all folding into the handle.
- swiss tournament — (in certain games and sports) a tournament system in which players are paired in each round according to the scores they then have, playing a new opponent each time. More players can take part than in an all-play-all tournament of the same duration
- the little woman — one's wife
- the weakest link — the person who is making the least contribution to the collective achievement of a group
- to draw the line — If you draw the line at a particular activity, you refuse to do it, because you disapprove of it or because it is more extreme than what you normally do.
- to waste no time — If you waste no time in doing something, you take the opportunity to do it immediately or quickly.
- to wine and dine — If you wine and dine, or if someone wines and dines you, you go out, for example to expensive restaurants, and spend a lot of money.
- twelvepenny nail — a nail that is 3 1/4 inches (8.25 cm) long.
- twin-carburettor — (of an engine) having two carburettors
- twin-lens camera — a camera having two separately mounted lenses coordinated to eliminate parallax errors or for making stereoscopic photographs.
- unknown quantity — mathematics: amount not known
- unlawful killing — Unlawful killing is used to refer to crimes which involve one person killing another.
- upside-down cake — a cake that is baked on a layer of fruit, then turned before serving so that the fruit is on top.
- vaughan williams — Ralph, 1872–1958, English composer.
- viewing audience — the audience reached by television
- virginia cowslip — a perennial woodland plant (Mertensia virginica) of the borage family, native to E North America and having clusters of blue or purple, bell-shaped flowers
- walking delegate — (formerly) an official appointed by a trade union to go from place to place to investigate working conditions, to ascertain whether union contracts were being fulfilled, and, sometimes, to negotiate contracts between employers and the union.
- walking distance — distance that can easily be walked
- walking dragline — a very large-capacity dragline mounted on feet or pads instead of tracks
- war of secession — American Civil War.
- ward christensen — (person) The inventor of XMODEM and of the BBS. Ward did physics in college and programmed mainframes for IBM. Ward and friend Randy Suess set up their BBS on first on 1978-02-16 in Chicago. It ran on an S-100 computer with 64k RAM and two single-sided 8" 250kB diskettes.
- warminster broom — a European shrub, Cytisus praecox, of the legume family, having yellowish-white or yellow, pealike flowers.
- warning triangle — a triangle placed by a broken-down car to warn motorists to avoid it
- washing-up water — water used for washing dishes
- washington state — the state of Washington, especially as distinguished from Washington, D.C.
- washington thorn — a dense tree, Crataegus phaenopyrum, of the rose family, native to the eastern coast of the U.S., having triangular leaves, small clusters of white flowers, and clusters of bright red fruit.
- washington, d. c — Booker T(aliaferro) [boo k-er tol-uh-ver] /ˈbʊk ər ˈtɒl ə vər/ (Show IPA), 1856–1915, U.S. reformer, educator, author, and lecturer.
- washington, d.c. — Booker T(aliaferro) [boo k-er tol-uh-ver] /ˈbʊk ər ˈtɒl ə vər/ (Show IPA), 1856–1915, U.S. reformer, educator, author, and lecturer.
- water chinquapin — an American lotus, Nelumbo lutea, having pale-yellow flowers and an edible seed.
- water-base paint — latex paint.
- weak interaction — the interaction between elementary particles and the intermediate vector bosons that carry the weak force from one particle to another.
- weatherstripping — A piece of weatherstrip material.
- weighing machine — large measuring scales
- welfare benefits — financial assistance; social security payment
- well-baby clinic — a health-service clinic for preventive monitoring, health education and advice for parents of babies
- western sandwich — a sandwich with a western omelet for a filling.
- wheel animalcule — a rotifer.
- wheelchair-bound — unable to walk through injury, illness, etc and relying on a wheelchair to move around
- white propaganda — propaganda that comes from the source it claims to come from
- white sandalwood — the fragrant heartwood of any of certain Asian trees of the genus Santalum, used for ornamental carving and burned as incense.