16-letter words containing i, r, a, w
- 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 war-disabled — those people who have been disabled by war
- tightrope walker — performer who walks on high wire
- 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.
- tomato fruitworm — corn earworm.
- torricelli's law — the law that states that the speed of flow of a liquid from an orifice is equal to the speed that it would attain if falling freely a distance equal to the height of the free surface of the liquid above the orifice.
- 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.
- up with the lark — up early in the morning
- utility software — system software that manages and optimizes the performance of hardware
- 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
- walk a tightrope — be in a precarious position
- 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 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.
- water chinquapin — an American lotus, Nelumbo lutea, having pale-yellow flowers and an edible seed.
- water lily tulip — a showy tulip, Tulipa kaufmanniana, of Turkestan, having spreading, white or pale-yellow flowers with yellow centers streaked with red.
- water-base paint — latex paint.
- waterleaf family — the plant family Hydrophyllaceae, characterized by usually hairy herbaceous plants having lobed, divided, or compound leaves, five-parted blue or white flowers, and capsular fruit, and including baby-blue-eyes, phacelia, and waterleaf.
- weak interaction — the interaction between elementary particles and the intermediate vector bosons that carry the weak force from one particle to another.
- weather advisory — advisory (def 5).
- weatherstripping — A piece of weatherstrip material.
- weighted average — a mean that is computed with extra weight given to one or more elements of the sample.
- welfare benefits — financial assistance; social security payment
- welfare services — services that provide help with people's living conditions and financial problems
- well-appreciated — to be grateful or thankful for: They appreciated his thoughtfulness.
- well-articulated — made clear or distinct: articulated sounds.
- well-illustrated — containing pictures, drawings, and other illustrations: an illustrated book.
- western sandwich — a sandwich with a western omelet for a filling.
- 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 water lily — any water lily of the genus Nymphaea, especially N. odorata, having fragrant, white flowers.
- white wood aster — a composite plant, Aster divaricatus, of North America, having flat-topped clusters of white ray flowers and growing in dry woods.
- white-haired boy — a favourite; darling
- whole nine yards — a common unit of linear measure in English-speaking countries, equal to 3 feet or 36 inches, and equivalent to 0.9144 meter.
- wide of the mark — If something such as a claim or estimate is wide of the mark, it is incorrect or inaccurate.
- willem-alexander — full name Willem-Alexander Claus George Ferdinand. born 1967, king of the Netherlands from 2013
- william bradford — Gamaliel, 1863–1932, U.S. biographer and novelist.
- willow ptarmigan — a ptarmigan, Lagopus lagopus, of arctic and subarctic regions of the New and Old Worlds, having brown, mottled plumage in summer and white plumage in winter.
- wilson's warbler — a North American warbler, Wilsonia pusilla, having yellow plumage and a black patch on top of the head.
- wind river range — a mountain range in W Wyoming, part of the Rocky Mountains. Highest peak, Gannett Peak, 13,785 feet (4202 meters).
- windchill factor — an estimated measurement of the cooling effect of air and wind, esp. when applied to the loss of body heat from exposed skin; chill factor
- windfall profits — Windfall profits are excessive profits with a non-business cause such as a natural disaster.
- windward islands — a group of islands in the SE West Indies, consisting of the S part of the Lesser Antilles: includes British, French, and independent territories.