13-letter words containing w, a, l
- nuclear waste — the radioactive by-products from the operation of a nuclear reactor or from the reprocessing of depleted nuclear fuel.
- oak wax scale — any of various small oval-shaped homopterous insects of the family Asterolecaniidae, the female members of which have their bodies embedded in a waxy mass, as in the destructive Cerococcus quercus ((oak wax scale) or (oak scale)) or covered with a waxy film.
- old norwegian — the language of Norway as spoken and written from the middle of the 12th to the end of the 14th centuries.
- one-punch law — a law prescribing punitive sentences for assault, including assault comprising a single blow
- optical crown — an optical glass of low dispersion and relatively low refractive index. It is used in the construction of lenses
- optical wedge — a wedge-shaped filter whose transmittance decreases from one end to the other: used as an exposure control device in sensitometry.
- organ whistle — a steam or air whistle in which the jet is forced up against the thin edge of a pipe closed at the top.
- ottawa euclid — Euclid
- outlaw regime — a dangerously unpredictable political regime, as of a country, state, etc, which disregards international law or diplomacy
- outlaw strike — wildcat strike.
- outwash plain — Geology. a broad, sloping landform built of coalesced deposits of outwash.
- overflow flag — overflow bit
- pair trawling — the act or practice of using two boats to trawl for fish
- paisley shawl — a shawl made from paisley fabric
- palm off with — If you say that you are palmed off with a lie or an excuse, you are annoyed because you are told something in order to stop you asking any more questions.
- parent-in-law — the father or mother of one's wife or husband.
- parker bowles — Camilla (née Shand). born 1947, became the second wife of Prince Charles in 2005; created Duchess of Cornwall and Duchess of Rothesay
- passionflower — any chiefly American climbing vine or shrub of the genus Passiflora, having showy flowers and a pulpy berry or fruit that in some species is edible.
- pearly whites — white and lustrous as a pearl.
- peninsula war — a war (1808–14) in Spain and Portugal, with British, Spanish, and Portuguese troops opposing the French.
- piers plowman — (The Vision Concerning Piers Plowman) an alliterative poem written in three versions (1360–99), ascribed to William Langland.
- play hob with — to make trouble for; interfere with and make disordered
- play on words — a pun or the act of punning.
- playwrighting — the writing of plays
- poulard wheat — a Mediterranean wheat, Triticum turgidum, grown as a forage crop in the U.S.
- power failure — electricity outage
- power loading — the act of a person or thing that loads.
- power walking — a form of exercise that involves rapid walking with arms bent and swinging naturally.
- railroad worm — the larva of a fruit fly, Rhagoletis pomonella, that burrows through apples, forming tunnels that sometimes appear on the skin as faint depressions or darkened trails: a serious pest of apples in colder regions of North America.
- railway guide — a publication containing routes and timetables for train journeys
- rat claw foot — an elongated foot having the form of a thin claw grasping a ball.
- ratchet wheel — a wheel, with teeth on the edge, into which a pawl drops or catches, as to prevent reversal of motion or convert reciprocating motion into rotatory motion.
- raw materials — Raw materials are materials that are in their natural state, before they are processed or used in manufacturing.
- rayleigh wave — a wave along the surface of a solid, elastic body, especially along the surface of the earth.
- real soon now — (jargon, humour) (RSN) A phrase used ironically when you believe an event will take a long or unknown time to occur. The term originated in SF's fanzine community, popularised by Jerry Pournelle's column in BYTE. The phrase can be used, for example, when a manager asks how long it will take you to debug some software and you have no idea. "I'll have it working Real Soon Now."
- relative wind — the velocity or direction of airflow with respect to the body it surrounds, especially an airfoil.
- royal warrant — an authorization to a tradesman to supply goods to a royal household
- safflower oil — an oil expressed or extracted fromsafflower seeds, used in cooking, as a salad oil, and as a vehicle for medicines, paints, varnishes, etc.
- salary review — the, often annual, assessment or review of the salary or paid to an employee, where decisions are taken on whether the employee's pay should be increased, etc
- salwar kameez — long tunic worn over a pair of baggy trousers
- sandwich loaf — a loaf of the type of soft white sliced bread often used to make sandwiches
- sawbuck table — a table that has X -shaped legs.
- sawdust trail — the road to conversion or rehabilitation, as for a sinner or criminal.
- scale drawing — illustration made in proportion
- scarlet woman — a sexually promiscuous woman, especially a prostitute or a woman who commits adultery.
- school of law — (in Chinese philosophy) a Neo-Confucian school asserting the existence of transcendent universals, which form individual objects from a primal matter otherwise formless.
- sedge warbler — a European songbird, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, of reed beds and swampy areas, having a streaked brownish plumage with white eye stripes: family Muscicapidae (Old World flycatchers, etc)
- seminole wars — a series of conflicts in 1818–19 between American forces under Andrew Jackson and the Seminole Indians in Spanish-controlled eastern Florida.
- serial writer — someone who writes novels, dramas, etc, presented in separate instalments at regular intervals
- shetland wool — the fine wool undercoat pulled by hand from Shetland sheep.