17-letter words containing s, w
- twenty-four-seven — continually; constantly: They're together 24/7.
- unlawful assembly — a meeting of three or more people with the intent of carrying out any unlawful purpose
- utagawa kuniyoshi — original name Igusa Magosabwo. 1797–1861, Japanese painter and printmaker of the ukiyo-e school, best known for his prints of warriors and landscapes
- wade-giles system — a system of Romanization of Chinese, devised by Sir Thomas Francis Wade (1818–95) and adapted by Herbert Allen Giles (1845–1935), widely used in representing Chinese words and names in English, especially before the adoption of pinyin.
- wage negotiations — talks between workers and employers over rates of pay
- wage-price spiral — a situation in which wage and price increases drive each other upward and cause inflation
- waianae mountains — a mountain range in W Oahu, Hawaii. Highest peak, Mount Kaala, 4025 feet (1228 meters).
- waist measurement — a measure of the circumference of the narrowest part of a person's waist
- walk on eggshells — to be very cautious or diplomatic for fear of upsetting someone
- wall street crash — the dramatic collapse of share prices on the New York Stock Exchange in October 1929, an important factor in the early stages of the Depression
- walleye surfperch — a common black and silvery surfperch (Hyperprosopon argenteum) found off the coast of California
- wallis and futuna — French overseas territory in the South Pacific, northeast of the Fiji Islands: it consists of two groups of islands (Wallis Islands and Futuna Islands): c. 106 sq mi (275 sq km); pop. 14,000
- wallowa mountains — a mountain range in NE Oregon. Highest peak, Sacajawea Peak, 9838 feet (2999 meters).
- wang laboratories — (body) Computer manufacturer, known for their office automation products and the Wang PC. Quarterly sales $208M, profits $3M (Aug 1994).
- war correspondent — a reporter or commentator assigned to send news or opinions directly from battle areas.
- war establishment — the full wartime complement of men, equipment, and vehicles of a military unit
- wardrobe mistress — a woman in charge of keeping theatrical costumes cleaned, pressed, and in wearable condition.
- warehouse receipt — a receipt for goods placed in a warehouse.
- warehousing costs — the costs involved in storing goods in a warehouse
- warm-up exercises — preparatory exercises done to warm up the muscles
- wars of the roses — the civil struggle between the royal house of Lancaster, whose emblem was a red rose, and the royal house of York, whose emblem was a white rose, beginning in 1455 and ending with the accession of Henry VII in 1485 and the union of the two houses.
- warsaw convention — a multilateral treaty on aviation set up chiefly to limit air carriers' liability to passengers and shippers on international flights in the event of an accident.
- washing-up liquid — Washing-up liquid is a thick soapy liquid which you add to hot water to clean dirty dishes.
- washington island — an island off the Door Peninsula, NE Wisconsin, in NW Lake Michigan. 20 sq. mi. (50 sq. km).
- washington square — a short novel (1881) by Henry James.
- wastepaper basket — a standing basket for wastepaper, small items of trash, etc.
- weapons inspector — a person who inspects a country's weapons
- wear the trousers — to have control, esp in a marriage
- weather satellite — meteorological satellite.
- weather-resistant — resisting the effects of severe weather, as rain or cold: weather-resistant cloth for topcoats.
- wedding breakfast — meal served at wedding reception
- weeping lovegrass — any grass of the genus Eragrostis, as E. curvula (weeping lovegrass) and E. trichodes (sand lovegrass) cultivated as forage and ground cover.
- weigh one's words — a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning. Words are composed of one or more morphemes and are either the smallest units susceptible of independent use or consist of two or three such units combined under certain linking conditions, as with the loss of primary accent that distinguishes black·bird· from black· bird·. Words are usually separated by spaces in writing, and are distinguished phonologically, as by accent, in many languages.
- welfare economics — a branch of economics concerned with improving human welfare and social conditions chiefly through the optimum distribution of wealth, the relief or reduction of unemployment, etc.
- well-accomplished — completed; done; effected: an accomplished fact.
- well-demonstrated — to make evident or establish by arguments or reasoning; prove: to demonstrate a philosophical principle.
- well-investigated — to examine, study, or inquire into systematically; search or examine into the particulars of; examine in detail.
- welsh nationalism — the political belief that Wales should be independent
- welsh nationalist — a person who believes that Wales should be independent
- welshman's button — an angler's name for a species of caddis fly, Sericostoma personatum
- west three rivers — a town in S Quebec, in E Canada.
- western australia — a state in W Australia. 975,920 sq. mi. (2,527,635 sq. km). Capital: Perth.
- western red cedar — an arborvitae, Thuja plicata, of western North America, grown as an ornamental.
- westminster abbey — a Gothic church in London, England.
- weston-super-mare — a town and resort in SW England, in North Somerset unitary authority, Somerset, on the Bristol Channel. Pop: 78 044 (2001)
- wet one's whistle — to make a clear musical sound, a series of such sounds, or a high-pitched, warbling sound by the forcible expulsion of the breath through a small opening formed by contracting the lips, or through the teeth, with the aid of the tongue.
- what does sb know — You can use expressions such as What does she know? and What do they know? when you think that someone has no right to comment on a situation because they do not understand it.
- wheatstone bridge — a circuit for measuring an unknown resistance by comparing it with known resistances.
- whiskey rebellion — a revolt of settlers in western Pennsylvania in 1794 against a federal excise tax on whiskey: suppressed by militia called out by President George Washington to establish the authority of the federal government.
- whistler's mother — (formal name, Arrangement in Gray and Black No. 1: Portrait of the Artist's Mother) a painting (1871) by James McNeill Whistler.