17-letter words containing s, w
- circassian walnut — the hard, heavy, brown or purplish wood of the English walnut
- circle the wagons — to take defensive action; prepare for an attack: from arranging a wagon train in a circular formation
- circuit switching — (communications) Communication via a single dedicated path between the sender and receiver. The telephone system is an example of a circuit switched network. The term connection-oriented is used in packet-based networks in contrast to connectionless communication or packet switching.
- classical pathway — the activation of complement by an antigen-antibody reaction. Compare alternative pathway.
- close to the wind — sailing as nearly as possible towards the direction from which the wind is blowing
- closing-down sale — a sale held to clear stock from a shop that is ceasing to operate
- cock of the woods — pileated woodpecker.
- cocktail waitress — a woman who serves in a bar or cocktail lounge
- consolidated laws — a body of laws collected together in a single codifying statute
- consumer watchdog — an organization or government agency that campaigns for consumers
- contraflow system — a system of traffic lanes whose normal direction is reversed to allow traffic to move during repairs or an accident
- costume jewellery — Costume jewellery is jewellery made from cheap materials.
- crew-neck sweater — a sweater with a crew neck
- crossover network — an electronic network in a loudspeaker system that separates the signal into two or more frequency bands, the lower frequencies being fed to a woofer, the higher frequencies to a tweeter
- cryptic crossword — a crossword where each clue is a word puzzle
- darwinian fitness — fitness (def 3).
- darwinian-fitness — health.
- dog and pony show — an elaborate sales, advertising, or publicity presentation or campaign.
- dow jones average — The Dow Jones Average is a daily measurement of stock-exchange prices, based on the average price of a selected number of securities.
- down in the dumps — If you are down in the dumps, you are feeling very depressed and miserable.
- down-at-the-heels — of a shabby, run-down appearance; seedy: He is rapidly becoming a down-at-heel drifter and a drunk.
- dress-down friday — In some companies employees are allowed to wear clothes that are less smart than usual on a Friday. This day is known as a dress-down Friday.
- due course of law — the regular administration of the law, according to which no citizen may be denied his or her legal rights and all laws must conform to fundamental, accepted legal principles, as the right of the accused to confront his or her accusers.
- dull as dishwater — water in which dishes are, or have been, washed.
- dutch west indies — a Netherlands overseas territory in the Caribbean Sea, N and NE of Venezuela; includes the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, and St. Eustatius, and the S part of St. Martin: considered an integral part of the Dutch realm. 366 sq. mi. (948 sq. km). Capital: Willemstad.
- dyer-s--greenweed — woadwaxen.
- east renfrewshire — a council area of W central Scotland, comprising part of the historical county of Renfrewshire; part of Strathclyde region from 1975 to 1996: chiefly agricultural and residential. Administrative centre: Giffnock. Pop: 89 680 (2003 est). Area: 173 sq km (67 sq miles)
- eastern townships — an area of central Canada, in S Quebec: consists of 11 townships south of the St Lawrence
- edgar watson howe — E(dgar) W(atson) 1853–1937, U.S. novelist and editor.
- explosion welding — the welding of two parts forced together by a controlled explosion
- fish out of water — any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales.
- five-spice powder — a mixture of spices used especially in Chinese cooking, usually including cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, pepper, and star anise.
- flowers of sulfur — sublimed sulfur in the form of a fine yellow powder, used in medicine chiefly to kill parasites and fungi and to treat certain skin diseases.
- follow one's nose — the part of the face or facial region in humans and certain animals that contains the nostrils and the organs of smell and functions as the usual passageway for air in respiration: in humans it is a prominence in the center of the face formed of bone and cartilage, serving also to modify or modulate the voice.
- follow the hounds — to hunt a fox, etc. on horseback with hounds
- forward contracts — Forward contracts are agreements to buy something in the future for a price that has been agreed today.
- four-letter words — any of a number of short words, usually of four letters, considered offensive or vulgar because of their reference to excrement or sex.
- furbish lousewort — any plant belonging to the genus Pedicularis, of the figwort family, as the wood betony, formerly supposed to cause lice in sheep feeding on it: one species, P. furbishiae (Furbish lousewort) of parts of Maine and New Brunswick, Canada, having finely toothed leaves and a cluster of yellow flowers, is endangered and was thought to be extinct until specimens were discovered in 1946 and again in 1976.
- garden strawberry — a plant which has white flowers and red edible fruits and is spread by runners, Fragaria ananassa
- george washington — Booker T(aliaferro) [boo k-er tol-uh-ver] /ˈbʊk ər ˈtɒl ə vər/ (Show IPA), 1856–1915, U.S. reformer, educator, author, and lecturer.
- get one's wind up — to become (or be) nervous or alarmed
- glory-of-the-snow — any of several plants belonging to the genus Chionodoxa, of the lily family, native to the Old World, having showy, blue, white, or pink flowers that bloom early in the spring.
- go by the wayside — to be put aside on account of something more urgent
- go without saying — something said, especially a proverb or apothegm.
- great awakening's — the series of religious revivals among Protestants in the American colonies, especially in New England, lasting from about 1725 to 1770.
- great vowel shift — a series of changes in the quality of the long vowels between Middle and Modern English as a result of which all were raised, while the high vowels (ē) and (o̅o̅), already at the upper limit, underwent breaking to become the diphthongs (ī) and (ou).
- great white shark — a large shark, Carcharodon carcharias, of tropical and temperate seas, known to occasionally attack swimmers.
- greater spearwort — a Eurasian ranunculaceous plant, Ranunculus lingua, which grows in wet places and has long narrow leaves and yellow flowers
- guardhouse lawyer — a person in military service, especially an inmate of a guardhouse or brig, who is or claims to be an authority on military law, regulations, and soldiers' rights.
- gulf war syndrome — a group of symptoms occurring in some Gulf War veterans, most commonly including headache and memory loss, muscle pain, skin disorders, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments, possibly caused by exposure to chemical weapons, vaccines, infectious diseases, or other factors.