17-letter words containing r, w
- prusso-danish war — a war of 1864 between Prussia and Denmark by which Denmark lost Schleswig-Holstein.
- put in a word for — to make favourable mention of (someone); recommend
- put the screws on — a metal fastener having a tapered shank with a helical thread, and topped with a slotted head, driven into wood or the like by rotating, especially by means of a screwdriver.
- quality newspaper — a more serious newspaper which gives detailed accounts of world events, as well as reports on business, culture, and society
- quantum cell wire — (electronics, computing) (Or "quantum wire", "binary wire") Quantum cells arranged in a line to carry signals. Adjacent cells with the same orientation are at a low energy state and a change of orientation at one end of a quantum wire propagates along the wire, transmitting a signal. However, unlike conventional wire, since only the orientation of charge pairs changes, no current flows. Circuits created using quantum cell wires are referred to as Quantum-dot Wireless Digital Circuits, see quantum dot, Quantum-dot Cellular Automata.
- quick on the draw — having fast reflexes
- radioactive waste — the radioactive by-products from the operation of a nuclear reactor or from the reprocessing of depleted nuclear fuel.
- railway timetable — a list of railway journeys arranged according to the time when they begin and end
- rainbow coalition — a political grouping together by several minority parties
- read-write memory — a type of computer memory that you can write to as well as read from
- reading knowledge — the ability to read a language, but not speak it
- ready and waiting — If you want to emphasize that a person is properly prepared for something, or that something can now be used, you can say that they are ready and waiting.
- red-osier dogwood — Also called red-osier dogwood. a North American dogwood, Cornus sericea (or C. stolonifera), having red twigs and branches and white fruits.
- register of wills — (in some states of the U.S.) the official charged with the probate of wills or with the keeping of the records of the probate court.
- renaissance woman — a woman who has acquired profound knowledge or proficiency in more than one field.
- revolutionary war — American Revolution.
- richard arkwright — Sir Richard, 1732–92, English inventor of the spinning jenny.
- right-to-work law — a state law making it illegal to refuse employment to a person for the sole reason that he or she is not a union member.
- roll with a punch — to move in the same direction as a punch thrown at one so as to lessen its force
- roof of the world — Tibet, Plateau of.
- rough-legged hawk — a large hawk, Buteo lagopus, of the Northern Hemisphere, that feeds chiefly on small rodents.
- row-level locking — (database) A technique used in database management systems, where a row is locked for writing to prevent other users from accessing data being while it is being updated. Other techniques are table locking and MVCC.
- rub the wrong way — to subject the surface of (a thing or person) to pressure and friction, as in cleaning, smoothing, polishing, coating, massaging, or soothing: to rub a table top with wax polish; to rub the entire back area.
- run short/run low — If you are running short of something or running low on something, you do not have much of it left. If a supply of something is running short or running low, there is not much of it left.
- russian wolfhound — borzoi.
- saint john's wort — any of various plants or shrubs of the genus Hypericum, having yellow flowers and transparently dotted leaves.
- sanitation worker — a person employed to collect, haul away, and dispose of garbage.
- sb could do worse — If you tell someone that they could do worse than do a particular thing, you are advising them that it would be quite a good thing to do.
- scattered showers — showers that are scattered across an area, or that occur at intervals throughout the day
- schwedler's maple — a variety of the Norway maple, Acer platanoides schwedleri, producing red leaves that subsequently turn green.
- seaweed marquetry — marquetry having the form of symmetrical, foliate scrolls, as on English cabinetwork of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
- second balkan war — Balkan War (def 2).
- secondary rainbow — a faint rainbow formed by light rays that undergo two internal reflections in drops of rain, appearing above the primary rainbow and having its colors in the opposite order.
- secondary winding — A secondary winding is the winding of a transformer that receives its energy by electromagnetic induction from the primary winding.
- september weather — weather characteristic of the month of September, esp in being unpredictable as summer is ending and autumn is beginning
- settlement worker — a person who works with underprivileged people in a settlement house.
- show in (or out) — to usher into (or out of) a given place
- show sb the ropes — If you show someone the ropes, you show them how to do a particular job or task.
- shower attachment — a device fixed to taps to make a shower
- sidesaddle flower — a pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
- singer-songwriter — A singer-songwriter is someone who writes and performs their own songs, especially popular songs.
- sino-japanese war — the war (1894–95) between China and Japan over the control of Korea that resulted in the nominal independence of Korea and the Chinese cession to Japan of Formosa and the Pescadores.
- slap on the wrist — a sharp blow or smack, especially with the open hand or with something flat.
- slings and arrows — Slings and arrows are unpleasant things that happen to you and that are not your fault.
- slowly but surely — If you say that something is happening slowly but surely, you mean that it is happening gradually but it is definitely happening.
- small waved umber — a brownish geometrid moth, Horisme vitalbata, that is cryptically marked to merge with tree bark
- social networking — the development of social and professional contacts; the sharing of information and services among people with a common interest.
- social notworking — the practice of spending time unproductively on social networking websites, esp when one should be working
- software engineer — a person who writes computer programs
- software platform — a major piece of software, as an operating system, an operating environment, or a database, under which various smaller application programs can be designed to run.