18-letter words containing s, w, i

go with the stream — to conform to the accepted standards
good samaritan law — a law that exempts from legal liability persons, sometimes only physicians, who give reasonable aid to strangers in grave physical distress.
greenhouse warming — the increase in the mean temperature of the earth attributed to the greenhouse effect
have what it takes — be able or qualified for sth
have words with sb — If one person has words with another, or if two or more people have words, they have a serious discussion or argument, especially because one has complained about the other's behaviour.
hawksbill (turtle) — a medium-sized marine turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata, family Cheloniidae) having a hawklike beak and a horny shell from which tortoise shell is obtained
homeowner's policy — a form of home insurance that provides compensation for damage, loss, or injury of property, personal belongings, or persons due to fire, theft, accidents, etc.
how the wind blows — air in natural motion, as that moving horizontally at any velocity along the earth's surface: A gentle wind blew through the valley. High winds were forecast.
in company with sb — If you feel, believe, or know something in company with someone else, you both feel, believe, or know it.
in comparison with — when compared to
in one's own right — in accordance with what is good, proper, or just: right conduct.
in one's own words — If you say something in your own words, you express it in your own way, without copying or repeating someone else's description.
in someone's power — under the control or sway of someone
in that/which case — You say in that case or in which case to indicate that what you are going to say is true if the possible situation that has just been mentioned actually exists.
in with a shout of — If you say that someone is in with a shout of achieving or winning something, you mean that they have a chance of achieving or winning it.
interest rate swap — An interest rate swap is a contract where two parties exchange the cash flow from interest rates.
inverse square law — one of several laws relating two quantities such that one quantity varies inversely as the square of the other, as the law that the illumination produced on a screen by a point source varies inversely as the square of the distance of the screen from the source.
iridescent seaweed — a red alga, Irideae cordata, found on the Pacific coast of North America, having broad, leathery, iridescent blades.
james baird weaver — James Baird, 1833–1912, U.S. politician: congressman 1879–81, 1885–89.
kawasaki's disease — a disease of children that causes a rash, fever, and swelling of the lymph nodes and often damages the heart muscle
kill with kindness — to deprive of life in any manner; cause the death of; slay. Synonyms: slaughter, massacre, butcher; hang, electrocute, behead, guillotine, strangle, garrote; assassinate.
king william's war — the war (1689–97) in which England and its American colonies and Indian allies opposed France and its Indian allies and which constituted the American phase of the War of the Grand Alliance.
kirtland's warbler — a wood warbler, Dendroica kirtlandii, breeding only in north-central Michigan and wintering in the Bahamas, bluish gray above, striped with black and pale yellow below: an endangered species.
law of mass action — the statement that the rate of a chemical reaction is proportional to the concentrations of the reacting substances.
law of segregation — the principle, originated by Gregor Mendel, stating that during the production of gametes the two copies of each hereditary factor segregate so that offspring acquire one factor from each parent.
lesser whitethroat — an Old World warbler, Sylvia curruca, having a greyish-brown plumage with a white throat and underparts
live by one's wits — the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure. Synonyms: drollery, facetiousness, waggishness, repartee.
magic switch story — Some years ago, I was snooping around in the cabinets that housed the MIT AI Lab's PDP-10, and noticed a little switch glued to the frame of one cabinet. It was obviously a homebrew job, added by one of the lab's hardware hackers (no-one knows who). You don't touch an unknown switch on a computer without knowing what it does, because you might crash the computer. The switch was labelled in a most unhelpful way. It had two positions, and scrawled in pencil on the metal switch body were the words "magic" and "more magic". The switch was in the "more magic" position. I called another hacker over to look at it. He had never seen the switch before either. Closer examination revealed that the switch had only one wire running to it! The other end of the wire did disappear into the maze of wires inside the computer, but it's a basic fact of electricity that a switch can't do anything unless there are two wires connected to it. This switch had a wire connected on one side and no wire on its other side. It was clear that this switch was someone's idea of a silly joke. Convinced by our reasoning that the switch was inoperative, we flipped it. The computer instantly crashed. Imagine our utter astonishment. We wrote it off as coincidence, but nevertheless restored the switch to the "more magic" position before reviving the computer. A year later, I told this story to yet another hacker, David Moon as I recall. He clearly doubted my sanity, or suspected me of a supernatural belief in the power of this switch, or perhaps thought I was fooling him with a bogus saga. To prove it to him, I showed him the very switch, still glued to the cabinet frame with only one wire connected to it, still in the "more magic" position. We scrutinized the switch and its lone connection, and found that the other end of the wire, though connected to the computer wiring, was connected to a ground pin. That clearly made the switch doubly useless: not only was it electrically nonoperative, but it was connected to a place that couldn't affect anything anyway. So we flipped the switch. The computer promptly crashed. This time we ran for Richard Greenblatt, a long-time MIT hacker, who was close at hand. He had never noticed the switch before, either. He inspected it, concluded it was useless, got some diagonal cutters and diked it out. We then revived the computer and it has run fine ever since. We still don't know how the switch crashed the machine. There is a theory that some circuit near the ground pin was marginal, and flipping the switch changed the electrical capacitance enough to upset the circuit as millionth-of-a-second pulses went through it. But we'll never know for sure; all we can really say is that the switch was magic. I still have that switch in my basement. Maybe I'm silly, but I usually keep it set on "more magic".
malicious wounding — the intentional violent wounding or injuring of someone
mendel's first law — the principle, originated by Gregor Mendel, stating that during the production of gametes the two copies of each hereditary factor segregate so that offspring acquire one factor from each parent.
microsloth windows — (abuse, operating system) /mi:'kroh-sloth" win"dohz/ (Or "Windoze", /win'dohz/) A derogatory term for Microsoft Windows which is so limited by bug-for-bug compatibility with mess-dos that it is agonisingly slow on anything less than a fast 486. Also called just "Windoze", with the implication that you can fall asleep waiting for it to do anything; the latter term is extremely common on Usenet. Compare X, sun-stools.
microwave spectrum — a spectrum of electromagnetic radiations whose wavelengths fall in the microwave range.
multiple ownership — ownership by several people or organizations
negative cash flow — the situation when income is less than payments
new forest disease — an infectious eye disease causing acute eye pain in cattle
on a sticky wicket — in an awkward situation
operating software — software used in the operation of a computer system, typically by performing such tasks as memory allocation, job scheduling, and input/output control
oriental scops owl — any of a group of small owls having ear tufts and a whistling call, especially Otus scops (Old World scops owl) and O. sunia (Oriental scops owl)
packet switch node — (PSN) A dedicated computer whose purpose is to accept, route and forward packets in a packet-switched network.
percussion welding — a form of resistance welding in which the required pressure is provided by a hammerlike blow.
peter tschaikowsky — Peter Ilyich [il-yich] /ˈɪl yɪtʃ/ (Show IPA), Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich.
piecewise function — a function whose definition changes depending on the value of the independent variable
plate-glass window — a window that has glass which has been formed by rolling
prerelease showing — a showing of a film before it goes on general release
presumption of law — a presumption based upon a policy of law or a general rule and not upon the facts or evidence in an individual case.
prison rustic work — rustication having a deeply pitted surface.
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.
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.

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