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18-letter words containing r, e, w, l

  • przewalski's horse — a wild horse, Equus caballus przevalskii, chiefly of Mongolia and Sinkiang, characterized by light yellow coloring and a stiff, upright black mane with no forelock: the only remaining breed of wild horse, it is now endangered and chiefly maintained in zoos.
  • quarter-wave plate — a crystal thin enough to cause a phase difference of 90° between the ordinary and extraordinary rays of polarized light, thereby converting circularly polarized light into plane polarized light.
  • random walk theory — the theory that the future movement of share prices does not reflect past movements and therefore will not follow a discernible pattern
  • reinvent the wheel — (jargon)   To design or implement a tool equivalent to an existing one or part of one, with the implication that doing so is silly or a waste of time. This is often a valid criticism. On the other hand, automobiles don't use wooden rollers, and some kinds of wheel have to be reinvented many times before you get them right. On the third hand, people reinventing the wheel do tend to come up with the moral equivalent of a trapezoid with an offset axle.
  • resistance welding — welding utilizing pressure and heat that is generated in the pieces to be welded by resistance to an electric current.
  • revolutionary wars — American Revolution.
  • rhode island white — one of a dual-purpose American breed of chickens having white feathers and a rose comb.
  • rosebay willowherb — a perennial onagraceous plant, Chamerion (formerly Epilobium) angustifolium, that has spikes of deep pink flowers and is widespread in open places throughout N temperate regions
  • rub shoulders with — to mix with socially or associate with
  • salem witch trials — 17th-century witchcraft case
  • schwarz inequality — Also called Cauchy's inequality. the theorem that the inner product of two vectors is less than or equal to the product of the magnitudes of the vectors.
  • self-tapping screw — a screw designed to tap its corresponding female thread as it is driven.
  • sheltered workshop — a place of employment for persons with disabilities where their rights are protected and their needs are met.
  • short-tailed shrew — a grayish-black shrew, Blarina brevicauda, common in eastern North America, that has a tail less than half the length of the body.
  • silvery spleenwort — a fern, Diplazium pycnocarpon, of eastern North America, having fronds from 20 to 30 inches (50.8 to 76.2 cm) long on yellowish-green stalks.
  • slow-motion replay — a showing again in slow motion of a sequence of action, esp of part of a sporting contest immediately after it happens
  • software backplane — (programming, tool)   A CASE framework from Atherton.
  • st. lawrence river — a river in SE Canada, flowing NE from Lake Ontario, forming part of the boundary between New York and Ontario, and emptying into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 760 miles (1225 km) long.
  • sunflower seed oil — the oil extracted from sunflower seeds, used as a salad oil, in the manufacture of margarine, etc
  • super middleweight — a boxer weighing up to 168 pounds (75.6 kg), between middleweight and light heavyweight.
  • swarm intelligence — the collective behaviour of a group of animals, esp social insects such as ants, bees, and termites, that are each following very basic rules
  • sweet vernal grass — a Eurasian meadow grass, Anthoxanthum odoratum, found throughout North America, having clusters of brownish-green flowers.
  • telford and wrekin — a unitary authority in W Central England, in Shropshire. Pop: 160 300 (2003 est). Area: 289 sq km (112 sq miles)
  • territorial waters — law: nation's boundaries
  • the bird has flown — the person in question has fled or escaped
  • think the world of — the earth or globe, considered as a planet.
  • throw in the towel — an absorbent cloth or paper for wiping and drying something wet, as one for the hands, face, or body after washing or bathing.
  • throw oneself into — 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.
  • traditional weapon — a weapon having ceremonial tribal significance, such as an assegai or knobkerrie
  • two-colour process — (in early colour photography) a method of printing which uses superimposed red and green images
  • ultralow frequency — an electromagnetic wave with a frequency between 300 and 3000 hertz. Abbreviation: ULF, ulf.
  • ultrasonic welding — the use of high-energy vibration of ultrasonic frequency to produce a weld between two components which are held in close contact
  • very low frequency — any frequency between 3 and 30 kilohertz. Abbreviation: VLF.
  • vicar of wakefield — a novel (1766) by Goldsmith.
  • wandering minstrel — travelling performer
  • watson-crick model — a widely accepted model for the three-dimensional structure of DNA, featuring a double-helix configuration for the molecule's two hydrogen-bonded complementary polynucleotide strands.
  • weak nuclear force — weak interaction
  • welwyn garden city — a town in SE England, in Hertfordshire: established (1920) as a planned industrial and residential community. Pop: 43 512 (2001)
  • western alienation — a feeling of resentment by some inhabitants of western Canada against perceived favouritism by the national government towards the eastern provinces
  • western isles pony — a breed of large pony, typically grey, with a dense waterproof coat. The only surviving variety is the Eriskay pony
  • western meadowlark — any of several American songbirds of the genus Sturnella, of the family Icteridae, especially S. magna (eastern meadowlark) and S. neglecta (western meadowlark) having a brownish and black back and wings and a yellow breast, noted for their clear, tuneful song.
  • wheelchair housing — housing designed or adapted for a chairbound person
  • where you left off — If something continues from where it left off, it starts happening again at the point where it had previously stopped.
  • whispering gallery — a space or gallery beneath a dome or broad arch in which low sounds produced at any of certain points are clearly audible at certain other distant points.
  • white trumpet lily — a lily, Lilium longiflorum, of Japan, having fragrant, pure white, trumpet-shaped flowers nearly 7 inches (18 cm) in length.
  • white-collar crime — any of various crimes, as embezzlement, fraud, or stealing office equipment, committed by business or professional people while working at their occupations.
  • wild passionflower — the maypop, Passiflora incarnata.
  • wildlife programme — (esp on television) a documentary whose subject is wild animals in their natural habitat or undomesticated fauna and flora generally
  • wildlife sanctuary — an area where wild animals and plants are protected
  • wilson's phalarope — a phalarope, Phalaropus tricolor, that breeds in the prairie regions of North America and winters in Argentina and Chile.
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