17-letter words containing t, w, e, r
- rub the wrong way — to subject the surface of (a thing or person) to pressure and friction, as in cleaning, smoothing, polishing, coating, massaging, or soothing: to rub a table top with wax polish; to rub the entire back area.
- sanitation worker — a person employed to collect, haul away, and dispose of garbage.
- scattered showers — showers that are scattered across an area, or that occur at intervals throughout the day
- seaweed marquetry — marquetry having the form of symmetrical, foliate scrolls, as on English cabinetwork of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
- september weather — weather characteristic of the month of September, esp in being unpredictable as summer is ending and autumn is beginning
- settlement worker — a person who works with underprivileged people in a settlement house.
- show sb the ropes — If you show someone the ropes, you show them how to do a particular job or task.
- shower attachment — a device fixed to taps to make a shower
- singer-songwriter — A singer-songwriter is someone who writes and performs their own songs, especially popular songs.
- slap on the wrist — a sharp blow or smack, especially with the open hand or with something flat.
- slowly but surely — If you say that something is happening slowly but surely, you mean that it is happening gradually but it is definitely happening.
- social networking — the development of social and professional contacts; the sharing of information and services among people with a common interest.
- software engineer — a person who writes computer programs
- software platform — a major piece of software, as an operating system, an operating environment, or a database, under which various smaller application programs can be designed to run.
- south west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- south-west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- southampton water — an inlet of the English Channel in S England
- spaghetti western — a low-budget western movie shot in Italy or Spain, usually with Italian actors and an American star.
- store and forward — to store (information) in a computer for later forward transmission through a telecommunication network
- straw in the wind — If you say that an incident or piece of news is a straw in the wind, you mean that it gives an indication of what might happen in the future.
- strawberry blonde — woman: with reddish fair hair
- strawberry tomato — the small, edible, tomato-like fruit of the plant Physalis pruinosa, of the nightshade family.
- swash plate motor — a collar or face plate on a shaft that is inclined at an oblique angle to the axis of rotation and converts reciprocating motion to rotation
- sweet mock orange — the syringa, Philadelphus coronarius.
- tanenbaum, andrew — Andrew Tanenbaum
- teaching software — computer software for use in providing online education
- technical drawing — the study and practice, esp as a subject taught in school, of the basic techniques of draughtsmanship, as employed in mechanical drawing, architecture, etc
- tennessee warbler — a North American wood warbler, Vermivora peregrina, having a gray head, a greenish back, and white underparts.
- test the water(s) — to explore a possible course of action; approach initially
- the lower animals — relatively simple or primitive animals and not mammals or vertebrates
- the lower mammals — relatively simple or primitive mammals
- the lower regions — hell
- the new jerusalem — the de facto capital of Israel (recognition of this has been withheld by the United Nations), situated in the Judaean hills: became capital of the Hebrew kingdom after its capture by David around 1000 bc; destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 586 bc; taken by the Romans in 63 bc; devastated in 70 ad and 135 ad during the Jewish rebellions against Rome; fell to the Arabs in 637 and to the Seljuk Turks in 1071; ruled by Crusaders from 1099 to 1187 and by the Egyptians and Turks until conquered by the British (1917); centre of the British mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, when the Arabs took the old city and the Jews held the new city; unified after the Six Day War (1967) under the Israelis; the holy city of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Pop: 693 200 (2003 est)
- the outside world — You can use the outside world to refer to all the people who do not live in a particular place or who are not involved in a particular situation.
- the unwritten law — the tradition that a person may avenge any insult to family integrity, as used to justify criminal acts of vengeance
- the water carrier — the constellation Aquarius, the 11th sign of the zodiac
- the winter season — the season of the year that covers the winter months
- the witching hour — the hour at which witches are supposed to appear, usually midnight
- thermal underwear — underwear designed to retain body heat in cold temperatures.
- thirty years' war — the war, often regarded as a series of wars (1618–48), in central Europe, initially involving a conflict between German Protestants and Catholics and later including political rivalries with France, Sweden, and Denmark opposing the Holy Roman Empire and Spain.
- three-strikes law — a law that mandates a life sentence to a felon convicted for the third time.
- throat sweetbread — sweetbread (def 2).
- throw the book at — a handwritten or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers.
- tiger swallowtail — a yellow swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus, of eastern North America, having the forewings striped with black.
- to do one's worst — If someone does their worst, they do everything unpleasant that they can possibly do. You can say 'do your worst' to show someone that you are not frightened of what they may do.
- to know the ropes — If you know the ropes, you know how a particular job or task should be done.
- to play with fire — If you say that someone is playing with fire, you mean that they are doing something dangerous that may result in great harm for them and cause many problems.
- to show your face — If you show your face somewhere, you go there and see people, although you are not welcome, are rather unwilling to go, or have not been there for some time.
- to test the water — If you test the water or test the waters, you try to find out what reaction an action or idea will get before you do it or tell it to people.
- to throw a wrench — If someone throws a wrench or throws a monkey wrench into a process, they prevent something happening smoothly by deliberately causing a problem.