17-letter words containing s, w, i, a
- into one's barrow — suited to one's interests or desires
- inward investment — Inward investment is the investment of money in a country by companies from outside that country.
- isherwood framing — a system for framing steel vessels in which light, closely spaced, longitudinal frames are connected by heavy, widely spaced transverse frames with deep webs.
- japanese wisteria — a wisteria, Wisteria floribunda, of Japan, having violet, violet-blue, pink, red, or white flowers, grown in the U.S. as an ornamental.
- jehovah's witness — A Jehovah's Witness is a member of a religious organization which accepts some Christian ideas and believes that the world is going to end very soon.
- kawasaki syndrome — a syndrome, usually afflicting children, characterized by high fever, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, rashes, irritated eyes and mucous membranes, etc. with possible damage to the cardiovascular system
- kennesaw mountain — a mountain in N Georgia, near Atlanta: battle 1864. 1809 feet (551 meters).
- king george's war — a war (1744–48) waged by England and its colonies against France, constituting the North American phase of the War of the Austrian Succession.
- king philip's war — the war (1675–76) between New England colonists and a confederation of Indians under their leader, King Philip.
- ladies-in-waiting — plural of lady-in-waiting.
- lake winnipegosis — a lake in S Canada, in W Manitoba. Area: 5400 sq km (2086 sq miles)
- lewis with harris — the northernmost island of the Hebrides, in NW Scotland. 825 sq. mi. (2135 sq. km).
- light dawns on sb — If light dawns on you, you begin to understand something after a period of not being able to understand it.
- lincoln's sparrow — a North American sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, having a buff breast with black streaks.
- mann-whitney test — a statistical test of the difference between the distributions of data collected in two experimental conditions applied to unmatched groups of subjects but comparing the distributions of the ranks of the scores
- maxwell equations — equations developed by James Clerk Maxwell (1831–79) upon which classical electromagnetic theory is based
- may/might as well — If you say that you might as well do something, or that you may as well do it, you mean that you will do it although you do not have a strong desire to do it and may even feel slightly unwilling to do it.
- mercy otis warren — Earl, 1891–1974, U.S. lawyer and political leader: chief justice of the U.S. 1953–69.
- message switching — store and forward
- nashville warbler — a North American wood warbler, Vermivora ruficapilla, having a gray head, an olive-green back, and yellow underparts.
- new lease on life — a contract renting land, buildings, etc., to another; a contract or instrument conveying property to another for a specified period or for a period determinable at the will of either lessor or lessee in consideration of rent or other compensation.
- newcastle disease — a rapidly spreading virus-induced disease of birds and domestic fowl, as chickens, marked by respiratory difficulty, reduced egg production and, in chicks, paralysis.
- newspaper cutting — clipping from a news publication
- nine days' wonder — an event or thing that arouses considerable but short-lived interest or excitement.
- observation tower — lookout, observation point
- of its own accord — If something happens of its own accord, it seems to happen by itself, without anyone making it happen.
- one-time password — (security) (OTP) A security system that requires a new password every time a user authenticates themselves, thus protecting against an intruder replaying an intercepted password. OTP generates passwords using either the MD4 or MD5 hashing algorithms. The equivalent term "S/Key", developed by Bellcore, is a trademark of Telcordia Technologies, so the name OTP is used increasingly. See RFC 1760 - "The S/KEY One-Time Password System" and RFC 1938 - "A One-Time Password System".
- pacific northwest — the region of North America lying north of the Columbia River and west of the Rockies
- peloponnesian war — a war between Athens and Sparta, 431–404 b.c., that resulted in the transfer of hegemony in Greece from Athens to Sparta.
- play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- poison-arrow frog — a small, bright-colored terrestrial frog of the family Dendrobatidae, of Central and South American rain forests, that secretes a virulent poison from its skin, once used on the tips of Indian hunting arrows.
- private ownership — the fact of being owned by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public body
- prusso-danish war — a war of 1864 between Prussia and Denmark by which Denmark lost Schleswig-Holstein.
- quality newspaper — a more serious newspaper which gives detailed accounts of world events, as well as reports on business, culture, and society
- radioactive waste — the radioactive by-products from the operation of a nuclear reactor or from the reprocessing of depleted nuclear fuel.
- renaissance woman — a woman who has acquired profound knowledge or proficiency in more than one field.
- russian wolfhound — borzoi.
- saint john's wort — any of various plants or shrubs of the genus Hypericum, having yellow flowers and transparently dotted leaves.
- sandwich compound — any of a class of organometallic compounds whose molecules have a metal atom or ion bound between two plane parallel organic rings
- sanitation worker — a person employed to collect, haul away, and dispose of garbage.
- sawatch mountains — range of the Rocky Mountains, in central Colo.: highest peak, Elbert
- 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.
- sidesaddle flower — a pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
- sidewall sampling — Sidewall sampling is the process of taking a sample from the wall of the borehole.
- 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.
- snowmass mountain — a mountain in W central Colorado, in the Elk Mountains, in the S Rocky Mountains: ski resorts. 14,092 feet (4295 meters).
- social networking — the development of social and professional contacts; the sharing of information and services among people with a common interest.