16-letter words containing o, n, a, w, i
- seaside knotweed — See under knotweed.
- shakedown cruise — extortion, as by blackmail or threats of violence.
- shared ownership — (in Britain) a form of house purchase whereby the purchaser buys a proportion of the dwelling, usually from a local authority or housing association, and rents the rest
- 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.
- 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.
- spring snowflake — a European amaryllidaceous plant, Leucojum vernum, with white nodding bell-shaped flowers
- 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.
- sweet almond oil — almond oil (def 1).
- 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
- 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.
- twin-carburettor — (of an engine) having two carburettors
- unknown quantity — mathematics: amount not known
- 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
- war of secession — American Civil War.
- warminster broom — a European shrub, Cytisus praecox, of the legume family, having yellowish-white or yellow, pealike flowers.
- 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.
- weak interaction — the interaction between elementary particles and the intermediate vector bosons that carry the weak force from one particle to another.
- 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.
- 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.
- woodland caribou — a variety of caribou inhabiting the bogs and forests of eastern Canada, having large, palmate antlers.
- 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.
- 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 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