16-letter words containing w, a, l, o
- molecular weight — the average weight of a molecule of an element or compound measured in units once based on the weight of one hydrogen atom taken as the standard or on 1/16 (0.0625) the weight of an oxygen atom, but after 1961 based on 1/12 (0.083) the weight of the carbon-12 atom; the sum of the atomic weights of all the atoms in a molecule. Abbreviation: mol. wt.
- monkey-faced owl — barn owl.
- most wanted list — an actual or supposed listing of the names of persons who are urgently being sought for a specific reason, as apprehension for an alleged crime.
- network analysis — a mathematical method of analyzing complex problems, as in transportation or project scheduling, by representing the problem as a network of lines and nodes.
- new commonwealth — a term used esp in the latter part of the 20th century in Britain to describe countries in the British Commonwealth that became independent after World War II
- new haven colony — a settlement founded in 1638 by John Davenport and Theophilus Eaton at Quinnipiac (now New Haven, Conn.).
- new orleans jazz — the jazz originating in New Orleans from about 1914; traditional jazz
- on a world scale — in a way that involves the whole world
- optical tweezers — a laser device used to study, manipulate, or trap a microscopic object, as a microorganism or cell, with nanometer precision.
- overhead railway — elevated railroad.
- pearls of wisdom — good advice, wise words
- philip of swabia — 1180?–1208, king of Germany and uncrowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire 1198–1208 (son of Frederick I).
- place of worship — religious house: church, temple
- poiseuille's law — the law that the velocity of a liquid flowing through a capillary is directly proportional to the pressure of the liquid and the fourth power of the radius of the capillary and is inversely proportional to the viscosity of the liquid and the length of the capillary.
- powerpc platform — (architecture, standard) (PPCP, PReP - PowerPC Reference Platform, formerly CHRP - Common Hardware Reference Platform) An open system standard, designed by IBM, intended to ensure compatibility among PowerPC-based systems built by different companies. The PReP standard specifies the PCI bus, but will also support ISA, MicroChannel and PCMCIA. PReP-compliant systems will be able to run the Macintosh OS, OS/2, WorkplaceOS, AIX, Solaris, Taligent and Windows NT. IBM systems will (of course) be PReP-compliant. Apple's first PowerPC Macintoshes will not be compliant, but future ones may be.
- proposal writing — Extension of Fortran for proposal writing.
- pure watercolour — water-soluble pigment, applied in transparent washes and without the admixture of white pigment in the lighter tones
- rainbow lorikeet — a small Australasian parrot, Trichoglossus haematodus, with brightly-coloured plumage
- regional network — mid-level network
- rolled paperwork — a form of decoration on small objects, such as boxes, in which a design is made up of tiny rolls of paper cut crossways and laid together: popular in the 18th and 19th centuries
- rotary lawnmower — a lawn mower with a single blade attached in the middle that rotates as the mower is moved
- royal water lily — a water lily, Victoria amazonica (or V. regia), of the Amazon River and British Guiana, having floating leaves from three to six feet (0.9 to 1.8 meters) wide, the upturned margins from two to four inches (5 to 10 cm) high, and dull crimson flowers.
- second world war — World War II.
- showy crab apple — a large Japanese bush or tree, Malus floribunda, of the rose family, having red fruit and rose-colored flowers that fade to white.
- slow metabolizer — A slow metabolizer is someone whose body is slow to break down, absorb, or use a particular substance.
- social darwinism — a 19th-century theory, inspired by Darwinism, by which the social order is accounted as the product of natural selection of those persons best suited to existing living conditions and in accord with which a position of laissez-faire is advocated.
- software library — a collection of programs that are used to develop software
- spring snowflake — a European amaryllidaceous plant, Leucojum vernum, with white nodding bell-shaped flowers
- strawberry blond — reddish blond.
- sweet almond oil — almond oil (def 1).
- teutoburger wald — a chain of wooded hills in Germany, in Westphalia: Romans defeated by German tribes a.d.
- the commonwealth — the government in England under the Cromwells and Parliament from 1649 to 1660
- the little woman — one's wife
- throw for a loop — a portion of a cord, ribbon, etc., folded or doubled upon itself so as to leave an opening between the parts.
- throw oneself at — to propel or cast in any way, especially to project or propel from the hand by a sudden forward motion or straightening of the arm and wrist: to throw a ball.
- tightrope walker — performer who walks on high wire
- to draw the line — If you draw the line at a particular activity, you refuse to do it, because you disapprove of it or because it is more extreme than what you normally do.
- to go a long way — If you say that something goes a long way towards doing a particular thing, you mean that it is an important factor in achieving that thing.
- torricelli's law — the law that states that the speed of flow of a liquid from an orifice is equal to the speed that it would attain if falling freely a distance equal to the height of the free surface of the liquid above the orifice.
- two-family house — a house designed for occupation by two families in contiguous apartments, as on separate floors.
- two-tailed pasha — a distinctive vanessid butterfly of S Europe, Charaxes jasius, having mottled brown wings with a yellow-orange margin and frilled hind edges
- twofold purchase — a purchase using a double standing block and a double running block so as to give a mechanical advantage of four or five, neglecting friction, depending on whether the hauling is on the standing block or the running block.
- utility software — system software that manages and optimizes the performance of hardware
- vegetable marrow — any of various summer squashes, as the cocozelle and zucchini.
- vegetable tallow — any of several tallowlike substances of vegetable origin, used in making candles, soap, etc., and as lubricants.
- virginia cowslip — a perennial woodland plant (Mertensia virginica) of the borage family, native to E North America and having clusters of blue or purple, bell-shaped flowers
- voluntary worker — a person who serves or acts in a specified function of their own accord and without compulsion or promise of remuneration
- walk a tightrope — be in a precarious position
- walrus moustache — a long thick moustache drooping at the ends
- waterless cooker — a tight-lidded kitchen utensil in which food can be cooked using only a small amount of water or only the juices emitted while cooking.