16-letter words containing n, a, o, w
- upside-down cake — a cake that is baked on a layer of fruit, then turned before serving so that the fruit is on top.
- 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
- voluntary worker — a person who serves or acts in a specified function of their own accord and without compulsion or promise of remuneration
- war of secession — American Civil War.
- warminster broom — a European shrub, Cytisus praecox, of the legume family, having yellowish-white or yellow, pealike flowers.
- wash one's hands — to go to the lavatory
- 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.
- watch one's step — a movement made by lifting the foot and setting it down again in a new position, accompanied by a shifting of the weight of the body in the direction of the new position, as in walking, running, or dancing.
- watson-wentworth — Charles, 2nd Marquis of Rockingham [rok-ing-uh m] /ˈrɒk ɪŋ əm/ (Show IPA), 1730–82, British statesman: prime minister 1765–66, 1782.
- weak interaction — the interaction between elementary particles and the intermediate vector bosons that carry the weak force from one particle to another.
- well-compensated — to recompense for something: They gave him ten dollars to compensate him for his trouble.
- what do you know — People sometimes say 'What do you know!' when they are very surprised about something.
- 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.
- 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.
- whole-tone scale — a scale progressing entirely by whole tones, as C, D, E, F♯, G♯, A♯, C.
- wholeheartedness — fully or completely sincere, enthusiastic, energetic, etc.; hearty; earnest: a wholehearted attempt to comply.
- william hamilton — (person) A mathematician who posed Hamilton's problem.
- 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 disease — a rare hereditary disease in which copper accumulates in the brain and liver, gradually leading to tremors, muscular rigidity, kidney malfunction, and cognitive disturbances: marked by Kayser-Fleischer rings.
- wilson's warbler — a North American warbler, Wilsonia pusilla, having yellow plumage and a black patch on top of the head.
- 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.
- windowless monad — (in the philosophy of Leibniz) a monad having no direct causal or perceptual relation with any other monad.
- windowpane shell — capiz.
- wisconsin rapids — a city in central Wisconsin.
- withdrawing room — a room to withdraw or retire to; drawing room.
- within an ace of — a playing card or die marked with or having the value indicated by a single spot: He dealt me four aces in the first hand.
- woman about town — a socially active, sophisticated woman who frequents fashionable nightclubs, theaters, restaurants, etc.
- woman of letters — a woman engaged in literary pursuits, especially a professional writer.
- women's suffrage — right of adult females to vote
- woodland caribou — a variety of caribou inhabiting the bogs and forests of eastern Canada, having large, palmate antlers.
- woodland culture — a long pre-Columbian tradition characterized by the corded pottery of a hunting and later agricultural people of the eastern U.S. noted for the construction of burial mounds and other structures and dating from c1000 b.c. to a.d. 1700.
- woody nightshade — bittersweet (def 3).
- woolly manzanita — a tree or shrub, Arctostaphylos tomentosa, of the heath family, common from British Columbia to California, having broad leaves, with the underside covered with white hairs, and white flowers.
- word association — stimulation of an associative pattern by a word.
- world bank group — the collective name for the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Finance Corporation, and the International Development Association, whose headquarters are all in Washington
- worth one's salt — a crystalline compound, sodium chloride, NaCl, occurring as a mineral, a constituent of seawater, etc., and used for seasoning food, as a preservative, etc.
- writ of subpoena — a legal document commanding the attendance in court, as a witness, of the person on whom it is served, under a penalty
- wrongful trading — the act of allowing a company to continue trading when its insolvency is inevitable
- yellow archangel — a Eurasian herbaceous plant (Lamiastrum luteum) that has yellow helmet-shaped flowers: family Lamiaceae (labiates)
- yellow poinciana — royal poinciana.
- yellowfin (tuna) — a tuna (Thunnus albacares) with yellow fins and a yellow stripe on each side, important as a game and food fish and found worldwide in warm seas
- yellowstone lake — a lake in NW Wyoming, in Yellowstone National Park. 20 miles (32 km) long; 140 sq. mi. (363 sq. km).