15-letter words containing s, e, w, u
- south-southwest — the point on the compass midway between south and southwest.
- southeastwardly — toward the southeast
- southwestwardly — toward the southwest
- strawberry bush — an E North American shrub or small tree, Euonymus americanus, having pendulous capsules that split when ripe to reveal scarlet seeds: family Celastraceae
- subminimum wage — See example at subminimum (def 1).
- sunflower seeds — the seeds of a sunflower, which can be eaten
- sunflower state — Kansas (used as a nickname).
- take issue with — disagree with
- titius-bode law — Bode's law.
- touch base with — the bottom support of anything; that on which a thing stands or rests: a metal base for the table.
- troubled waters — a confused or chaotic state of affairs: The situation was terrible, but like many politicians he was attracted by troubled waters.
- trustworthiness — deserving of trust or confidence; dependable; reliable: The treasurer was not entirely trustworthy.
- tunbridge wells — a city in SW Kent, in SE England: mineral springs; resort.
- two-thirds rule — a former rule in the Democratic Party, effective 1832–1936, requiring a vote of at least two thirds of its national convention delegates to nominate a presidential and vice-presidential candidate.
- unanswerability — the quality of not being answerable or contestable
- university wits — a name given to an Elizabethan group of university-trained playwrights and pamphleteers, among them Robert Greene, John Lyly, Thomas Nash, and George Peele.
- unknown soldier — an unidentified soldier killed in battle and buried with honors, the tomb serving as a memorial to all the unidentified dead of a nation's armed forces. The tomb of the American Unknown Soldier, commemorating a serviceman killed in World War I, was established in the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia in 1921. In 1958, the remains of personnel of World War II and the Korean War were buried alongside the tomb (now called the Tomb of the Unknowns, ). In 1984, a serviceman of the Vietnam War was interred next to the others.
- unseaworthiness — constructed, outfitted, manned, and in all respects fitted for a voyage at sea.
- upperclasswoman — An upperclasswoman is a junior or senior student in a high school, college, or university.
- viewing figures — the number of people watching a television programme
- wallpaper music — music that is pleasant but not interesting, so people do not pay much attention to it
- walrus mustache — a thick, shaggy mustache hanging down loosely at both ends.
- water-based mud — Water-based mud is a type of drilling mud consisting mainly of water, which has additives to modify it and make it more effective.
- wee small hours — the hours just after midnight
- well-accustomed — customary; usual; habitual: in their accustomed manner.
- well-understood — simple past tense and past participle of understand.
- welsbach burner — a type of gaslight in which a mantle containing thorium and cerium compounds becomes incandescent when heated by a gas flame
- west nile virus — an illness caused by a chiefly mosquito-borne virus of the genus Flavivirus, characterized in a small percentage of infected persons by fever, headache, muscle weakness, and sometimes encephalitis or meningitis.
- western juniper — a round-headed tree, Juniperus occidentalis, of the western coast of the U.S., having scalelike leaves with a gland on the back and oval, blue-black fruit.
- wheelchair user — a person who is unable to walk through injury, illness, etc and relies on a wheelchair to move around
- white corpuscle — white blood cell.
- white mountains — a mountain range in the US, chiefly in N New Hampshire: part of the Appalachians. Highest peak: Mount Washington, 1917 m (6288 ft)
- white supremacy — the belief, theory, or doctrine that white people are inherently superior to people from all other racial groups, especially black people, and are therefore rightfully the dominant group in any society.
- whoopee cushion — a type of cushion or pillow used as a practical joke that, when sat upon, produces a loud noise resembling flatulence.
- wiener neustadt — a city in E Austria, in Lower Austria. Pop: 37 627 (2002)
- win one's spurs — a U -shaped device that slips over and straps to the heel of a boot and has a blunt, pointed, or roweled projection at the back for use by a mounted rider to urge a horse forward.
- wind instrument — a musical instrument sounded by the breath or other air current, as the trumpet, trombone, clarinet, or flute.
- winesburg, ohio — a cycle of short stories (1919) by Sherwood Anderson.
- winter purslane — a plant, Montia perfoliata, native to western North America, of the purslane family, having edible, egg-shaped leaves and clusters of small, white flowers.
- winter quarters — housing or accommodation for the winter, esp for military personnel
- wish fulfilment — (in Freudian psychology) any successful attempt to fulfil a wish stemming from the unconscious mind, whether in fact, in fantasy, or by such disguised means as sublimation
- without reserve — without reservations; fully; wholeheartedly
- women's studies — a program of studies concentrating on the role of women in history, learning, and culture.
- worcester sauce — a commercially prepared piquant sauce, made from a basis of soy sauce, with vinegar, spices, etc
- work oneself up — become overwrought
- wrongful arrest — the act of arresting someone without proper reason