20-letter words containing w, a, n
- to be a warning shot — to be a warning
- to be walking on air — If you say that you are walking on air or floating on air, you mean that you feel extremely happy about something.
- to blow hot and cold — If someone blows hot and cold, they keep changing their attitude towards something, sometimes being very enthusiastic and at other times expressing no interest at all.
- to get your own back — If you get your own back on someone, you have your revenge on them because of something bad that they have done to you.
- to look high and low — If you say that you looked high and low for something, you are emphasizing that you looked for it in every place that you could think of.
- to reach new heights — to become higher than ever before
- to spread your wings — If you spread your wings, you do something new and rather difficult or move to a new place, because you feel more confident in your abilities than you used to and you want to gain wider experience.
- to stick in the craw — to be unacceptable or displeasing to someone
- townsend's solitaire — a brownish, slender-billed songbird, Myadestes townsendi, of western North America.
- travelling-wave tube — an electronic tube in which an electron beam interacts with a distributed high-frequency magnetic field so that energy is transferred from the beam to the field
- turn over a new leaf — one of the expanded, usually green organs borne by the stem of a plant.
- twelve-string guitar — an acoustic guitar having twelve strings instead of six, with each pair tuned an octave apart, and more difficult to play than the standard guitar.
- unified screw thread — a screw thread system introduced for defence equipment (1939–44), in which the thread form and pitch were a compromise between British Standard Whitworth and American Standard Sellers: adopted by the International Standards Organization
- university of hawaii — (body, education) A University spread over 10 campuses on 4 islands throughout the state. See also Aloha, Aloha Net.
- van der waals forces — weak electrostatic forces between atoms and molecules caused by transient distortions in the distribution of electrons in the interacting atoms or molecules
- wait-and-see tactics — methods of achieving what you want in a particular political situation that involve biding your time for events to run their course
- waiting in the wings — standing offstage and ready to make an entrance
- walk-in refrigerator — a refrigerated storage room, as at a butcher shop.
- walking-around money — money that is carried on the person for routine expenses and minor emergencies; pocket money.
- walton and weybridge — a city in Surrey, SE England: a London suburb.
- war of the rebellion — American Civil War.
- war production board — the board (1942–45) that supervised and regulated the production and sale of matériel essential to the logistics of World War II. Abbreviation: WPB, W.P.B.
- wardrobe malfunction — an embarrassing situation caused by the clothes a person is wearing
- warrensville heights — a city in NE Ohio.
- watch someone's back — the rear part of the human body, extending from the neck to the lower end of the spine.
- watcom international — (company) A provider of application development tools and IBM PC-based SQL database servers. Founded in 1974, Watcom initially focused on scientific and engineering markets establishing itself as a supplier of programming and information tools worldwide, serving customers in 60 countries with highly regarded products such as WATFOR-77 for mainframes, minicomputers and PCs. Since the introduction of Watcom C in 1988, the company has emerged as an industry leader in optimising compilers for 16 and 32-bit Intel-based IBM PCs. Moving into the client/server market in 1992, Watcom introduced Watcom SQL, including SQL database servers for multi-user networks and single-user stand-alone applications. The product has since been incorporated into Powersoft's PowerBuilder development environment and the Powersoft Enterprise Series. In June, 1993, Watcom launched VX*REXX, an integrated visual development environment for OS/2. In February 1994, Watcom became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Powersoft Corporation which merged with Sybase Inc. on 13 February 1995. Today the company addresses a broad range of application developers, including corporate MIS professionals, system integrators, VARs and independent software vendors. Watcom has strategic relationships with IBM, Lotus, Microsoft, Intel and Novell. Based on its academic roots, Watcom maintains a research relationship with the nearby University of Waterloo. Watcom's products include the Watcom SQL databases, Watcom C/C++, and Watcom VX*REXX 2.1. Ian McPhee is President and Chief Executive Officer, David Boswell is Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Craig Dynes is Vice President of Finance and David Yach is Vice President of Development. Headquarters: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
- watering of the eyes — the formation of tears in the eyes
- webster's dictionary — Informal. a dictionary of the English language, especially American English, such as Dictionary.com.
- weights and measures — units or standards of measurement
- western civilization — European culture, thought
- western india states — a former association of states in W India, largely on Kathiawar Peninsula.
- western mountain ash — a mountain ash, Sorbus sitchensis, of western North America.
- western roman empire — the westernmost of the two empires created by the division of the later Roman Empire, esp after its final severance from the Eastern Roman Empire (395 ad)
- westminster assembly — a convocation that met at Westminster, London, 1643–49, and formulated the articles of faith (Westminster Confession of Faith) that are accepted as authoritative by most Presbyterian churches.
- weston standard cell — a primary cell used as a standard of emf, producing 1.018636 volts: consists of a mercury anode and a cadmium amalgam cathode in an electrolyte of saturated cadmium sulphate
- wheeling and dealing — the use of different methods and contacts, often dishonestly, to achieve one's ends
- white elephant stall — a stall, usually at a fete or fundraising event, where unwanted possessions are sold
- whole-life insurance — a type of insurance with a savings element that is guaranteed to pay out on death provided premiums have been paid as required by the policy
- whyte classification — a system for classifying steam locomotives according to the total number of wheels on the front trucks, drivers, and rear trucks, in that order. For example, a Pacific locomotive is designated as 4-6-2.
- wide-angle converter — a person or thing that converts.
- william westmoreland — William Childs [chahyldz] /tʃaɪldz/ (Show IPA), 1914–2005, U.S. army officer: commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam and Thailand 1964–68.
- wilson cloud chamber — cloud chamber.
- winter olympic games — an international contest of winter sports, esp skiing, held every four years
- wintergreen barberry — a Chinese evergreen shrub, Berberis julianae, of the barberry family, having spiny leaves, dark green above, pale beneath, clusters of yellow flowers, and bluish-black fruit.
- wipe the slate clean — begin afresh
- with a grain of salt — to season with salt.
- with a pinch of salt — without wholly believing; sceptically
- with all one's heart — Anatomy. a hollow, pumplike organ of blood circulation, composed mainly of rhythmically contractile smooth muscle, located in the chest between the lungs and slightly to the left and consisting of four chambers: a right atrium that receives blood returning from the body via the superior and inferior vena cavae, a right ventricle that pumps the blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs for oxygenation, a left atrium that receives the oxygenated blood via the pulmonary veins and passes it through the mitral valve, and a left ventricle that pumps the oxygenated blood, via the aorta, throughout the body.
- with all one's might — If you do something with all your might, you do it using all your strength and energy.
- woman of easy virtue — a sexually available woman, esp a prostitute