16-letter words containing n, e, w, s, a
- shorthand writer — a person trained to write in shorthand
- sir isaac newton — Sir Isaac, 1642–1727, English philosopher and mathematician: formulator of the law of gravitation.
- spring snowflake — a European amaryllidaceous plant, Leucojum vernum, with white nodding bell-shaped flowers
- strawberry blond — reddish blond.
- 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 weakest link — the person who is making the least contribution to the collective achievement of a group
- throw oneself at — to propel or cast in any way, especially to project or propel from the hand by a sudden forward motion or straightening of the arm and wrist: to throw a ball.
- to waste no time — If you waste no time in doing something, you take the opportunity to do it immediately or quickly.
- twin-lens camera — a camera having two separately mounted lenses coordinated to eliminate parallax errors or for making stereoscopic photographs.
- upside-down cake — a cake that is baked on a layer of fruit, then turned before serving so that the fruit is on top.
- wages settlement — an agreement over wages following negotiations between workers and employers
- walking distance — distance that can easily be walked
- 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.
- wash one's hands — to go to the lavatory
- washing-up water — water used for washing dishes
- washington state — the state of Washington, especially as distinguished from Washington, D.C.
- waste management — disposal and treatment of waste
- 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.
- water-base paint — latex paint.
- 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.
- weatherstripping — A piece of weatherstrip material.
- welfare benefits — financial assistance; social security payment
- welfare payments — government benefits
- well-compensated — to recompense for something: They gave him ten dollars to compensate him for his trouble.
- western sandwich — a sandwich with a western omelet for a filling.
- 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.
- 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.
- windowless monad — (in the philosophy of Leibniz) a monad having no direct causal or perceptual relation with any other monad.
- windowpane shell — capiz.
- windward passage — a strait in the West Indies, between Cuba and Haiti. 50 miles (80 km) wide.
- wire-transferred — to transmit (money or credit) by wire transfer.
- with clean hands — innocently
- woman of letters — a woman engaged in literary pursuits, especially a professional writer.
- women's suffrage — right of adult females to vote
- woody nightshade — bittersweet (def 3).
- 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
- yellowstone lake — a lake in NW Wyoming, in Yellowstone National Park. 20 miles (32 km) long; 140 sq. mi. (363 sq. km).