14-letter words containing w, a, l, s, o
- meadow salsify — a European weedy, composite plant, Tragopogon pratensis, naturalized in North America, having grasslike leaves and yellow flowers.
- new journalism — journalism containing the writer's personal opinions and reactions and often fictional asides as added color.
- norway lobster — a European lobster, Nephrops norvegicus, fished for food
- one-liner wars — (games, programming) A game popular among hackers who code in the language APL (see write-only language and line noise). The objective is to see who can code the most interesting and/or useful routine in one line of operators chosen from APL's exceedingly hairy primitive set. A similar amusement was practiced among TECO hackers and is now popular among Perl aficionados. (2 = 0 +.= T o.| T) / T <- iN where "o" is the APL null character, the assignment arrow is a single character, and "i" represents the APL iota.
- ownership flat — a flat owned by the occupier
- postnatal ward — a ward in a hospital where women and their babies are provided with medical care immediately after the birth of the baby
- propeller wash — the backwash from a propeller.
- red sandalwood — the fragrant heartwood of any of certain Asian trees of the genus Santalum, used for ornamental carving and burned as incense.
- residual power — power retained by a governmental authority after certain powers have been delegated to other authorities.
- roger williams — Ben Ames [eymz] /eɪmz/ (Show IPA), 1889–1953, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.
- sandalwood oil — extract of fragrant Asian wood
- sanitary towel — sanitary napkin.
- sb will go far — If you say that someone will go far, you mean that they will be very successful in their career.
- secondary wall — the innermost part of a plant cell wall, deposited after the wall has ceased to increase in surface area.
- seward's folly — the purchase of Alaska in 1867, through the negotiations of Secretary of State W. H. Seward.
- shallow-minded — lacking intellectual or mental depth or subtlety; superficial
- showplace home — a historic house
- snowball fight — game: throwing balls of snow
- snowflake baby — a baby born following the transfer of a surplus embryo produced during the in-vitro fertilization of one woman to the womb of another woman who was not a cell donor
- social network — a network of friends, colleagues, and other personal contacts: Strong social networks can encourage healthy behaviors.
- social welfare — social services provided by a government for its citizens.
- speak well for — to say or indicate something favorable about
- spectra yellow — a vivid yellow color.
- steal the show — to cause or allow to be seen; exhibit; display.
- straw-coloured — If you describe something, especially hair, as straw-coloured, you mean that it is pale yellow.
- sturgeon's law — "Ninety percent of everything is crap". Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud." Oddly, when Sturgeon's Law is cited, the final word is almost invariably changed to "crap". Compare Ninety-Ninety Rule. Though this maxim originated in SF fandom, most hackers recognise it and are all too aware of its truth.
- surajah dowlah — Siraj-ud-daula.
- swallow-tailed — having a deeply forked tail like that of a swallow, as various birds.
- sweated labour — workers forced to work in poor conditions for low pay
- swollen-headed — conceited
- tasmanian wolf — thylacine.
- to blow a kiss — If you blow someone a kiss or blow a kiss, you touch the palm of your hand lightly with your lips, and then blow across your hand towards the person, in order to show them your affection.
- to sweat blood — If you say that someone sweats blood trying to do something, you are emphasizing that they try very hard to do it.
- walk-in closet — a closet that is large enough to walk around in.
- walking shorts — medium to long shorts, often cut fuller than Bermuda shorts and used for walking or leisure activity.
- waltham forest — a borough of Greater London, England.
- warehouse club — A warehouse club is a large shop which sells goods at reduced prices to people who pay each year to become members of the organization that runs the shop.
- waste disposal — A waste disposal or a waste disposal unit is a small machine in a kitchen sink that chops up vegetable waste.
- watercolourist — An artist who paints watercolours.
- webliographies — Plural form of webliography.
- well-fashioned — a prevailing custom or style of dress, etiquette, socializing, etc.: the latest fashion in dresses.
- welsh mountain — a common breed of small hardy sheep kept mainly in the mountains of Wales
- west glamorgan — a county in S Wales. 315 sq. mi. (815 sq. km).
- white gasoline — unleaded and uncracked gasoline, designed especially for use in motorboats.
- william gibson — (person) Author of cyberpunk novels such as Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986), Mona Lisa Overdrive, and Virtual Light (1993). Neuromancer, a novel about a computer hacker/criminal "cowboy" of the future helping to free an artificial intelligence from its programmed bounds, won the Hugo and Nebula science fiction awards and is credited as the seminal cyberpunk novel and the origin of the term "cyberspace". Gibson does not have a technical background and supposedly purchased his first computer in 1992.
- window display — an arrangement of items in a shop window
- windsor castle — a castle in the town of Windsor in Berkshire, residence of English monarchs since its founding by William the Conqueror
- wollaston lake — a lake in NE Saskatchewan, in central Canada. About 796 sq. mi. (2062 sq. km).
- wollaston wire — extremely fine wire formed by a process (Wollaston process) in which the metal, drawn as an ordinary wire, is encased in another metal and the two drawn together, after which the outer metal is stripped off or dissolved.
- wollstonecraft — Mary (Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin) 1759–97, English author and feminist (mother of Mary Shelley).