16-letter words containing t, u
- victorian values — qualities considered to characterize the Victorian period, including enterprise and initiative and the importance of the family
- virtual particle — an elementary particle of transitory existence that does not appear as a free particle in a particular situation but that can transmit a force from one particle to another.
- visible spectrum — the range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation that is normally visible, from 380 to 760 nm.
- visual interface — (tool, text) (vi) /V-I/, /vi:/, *never* /siks/ A screen editor crufted together by Bill Joy for an early BSD release. vi became the de facto standard Unix editor and a nearly undisputed hacker favourite outside of MIT until the rise of Emacs after about 1984. It tends to frustrate new users no end, as it will neither take commands while expecting input text nor vice versa, and the default setup provides no indication of which mode the editor is in (one correspondent accordingly reports that he has often heard the editor's name pronounced /vi:l/). Nevertheless it is still widely used (about half the respondents in a 1991 Usenet poll preferred it), and even some Emacs fans resort to it as a mail editor and for small editing jobs (mainly because it starts up faster than the bulkier versions of Emacs). See holy wars.
- visual magnitude — Astronomy. magnitude (def 5a).
- visual-magnitude — size; extent; dimensions: to determine the magnitude of an angle.
- vitruvian scroll — a scroll forming a stylized wave pattern.
- vitruvius pollio — Marcus, flourished 1st century b.c, Roman architect, engineer, and author.
- vocabulary entry — (in dictionaries) a word, phrase, abbreviation, symbol, affix, name, etc., listed with its definition or explanation in alphabetical order or listed for identification after the word from which it is derived or to which it is related.
- voice production — the use of the voice in order to create particular effects
- voluntary helper — a person who aids or assists in a specified function of one's own accord and without compulsion or promise of remuneration
- voluntary muscle — muscle whose action is normally controlled by an individual's will; mainly skeletal muscle, composed of parallel bundles of striated, multinucleate fibers.
- voluntary school — a school that promotes specific religious beliefs and which is funded by a local education authority but was not established by the authority
- voluntary sector — the part of the economy that consists of non-profit-making organizations, as opposed to the public and private sectors
- voluntary worker — a person who serves or acts in a specified function of their own accord and without compulsion or promise of remuneration
- volunteer bureau — an agency that matches up people wishing to do voluntary work with appropriate voluntary organizations
- walrus moustache — a long thick moustache drooping at the ends
- washing-up water — water used for washing dishes
- water chinquapin — an American lotus, Nelumbo lutea, having pale-yellow flowers and an edible seed.
- water lily tulip — a showy tulip, Tulipa kaufmanniana, of Turkestan, having spreading, white or pale-yellow flowers with yellow centers streaked with red.
- week in week out — If you say that something happens week in week out, you do not like it because it happens all the time, and never seems to change.
- well thought out — produced by or showing the results of much thought: a carefully thought-out argument.
- well-articulated — made clear or distinct: articulated sounds.
- well-constructed — to build or form by putting together parts; frame; devise.
- well-functioning — the kind of action or activity proper to a person, thing, or institution; the purpose for which something is designed or exists; role.
- well-illustrated — containing pictures, drawings, and other illustrations: an illustrated book.
- well-thought-out — produced by or showing the results of much thought: a carefully thought-out argument.
- well-upholstered — (of a person) fat
- what do you know — People sometimes say 'What do you know!' when they are very surprised about something.
- wheel of fortune — wheel (def 9).
- whited sepulcher — an evil person who feigns goodness; hypocrite. Matt. 23:27.
- whited sepulchre — hypocrite
- wind instruments — a musical instrument sounded by the breath or other air current, as the trumpet, trombone, clarinet, or flute.
- wish fulfillment — gratification of desires.
- wishful thinking — interpretation of facts, actions, words, etc., as one would like them to be rather than as they really are; imagining as actual what is not.
- with due respect — with deserved esteem
- without a murmur — If someone does something without a murmur, they do it without complaining.
- without ceremony — in a casual or informal manner
- without question — If you do something without question, you do it without arguing or asking why it is necessary.
- without recourse — a qualified endorsement on such a negotiable instrument, by which the endorser protects himself or herself from liability to subsequent holders
- woman about town — a socially active, sophisticated woman who frequents fashionable nightclubs, theaters, restaurants, etc.
- woodland culture — a long pre-Columbian tradition characterized by the corded pottery of a hunting and later agricultural people of the eastern U.S. noted for the construction of burial mounds and other structures and dating from c1000 b.c. to a.d. 1700.
- worth your while — If an action or activity is worth someone's while, it will be helpful, useful, or enjoyable for them if they do it, even though it requires some effort.
- would do well to — If you say that someone would do well to do something, you mean that you advise or recommend that they do it.
- writ of subpoena — a legal document commanding the attendance in court, as a witness, of the person on whom it is served, under a penalty
- write home about — a house, apartment, or other shelter that is the usual residence of a person, family, or household.
- wrongful trading — the act of allowing a company to continue trading when its insolvency is inevitable
- wrought ironwork — decorative work in wrought iron
- yellowfin (tuna) — a tuna (Thunnus albacares) with yellow fins and a yellow stripe on each side, important as a game and food fish and found worldwide in warm seas
- your better half — If you talk about your better half or your other half you mean your wife, your husband, or the person of the opposite sex that you live with.