18-letter words containing w, a, r, i, e
- st. lawrence river — a river in SE Canada, flowing NE from Lake Ontario, forming part of the boundary between New York and Ontario, and emptying into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 760 miles (1225 km) long.
- submarine sandwich — a sandwich made with a long cylindrical bread roll
- swarm intelligence — the collective behaviour of a group of animals, esp social insects such as ants, bees, and termites, that are each following very basic rules
- sweptwing aircraft — an aircraft which has wings that are swept (usually) backwards
- telford and wrekin — a unitary authority in W Central England, in Shropshire. Pop: 160 300 (2003 est). Area: 289 sq km (112 sq miles)
- territorial waters — law: nation's boundaries
- the bird has flown — the person in question has fled or escaped
- the cat's whiskers — a person or thing that is excellent or superior
- the operative word — If you describe a word as the operative word, you want to draw attention to it because you think it is important or exactly true in a particular situation.
- to bear witness to — If a person or thing bears witness to something, they show or say that it exists or happened.
- traditional weapon — a weapon having ceremonial tribal significance, such as an assegai or knobkerrie
- treaty of rijswijk — a treaty signed at Rijswijk in the Netherlands in 1697, ending the War of the Grand Alliance
- treaty of waitangi — a treaty signed in 1840 by Māori chiefs and a representative of the British Government, providing the basis for the British annexation of New Zealand
- two-minute warning — a time-out called by an official to notify both teams that two minutes remain in a half.
- two-tier financing — a form of lending in which the debt is divided into two separate parts, as in a first and second mortgage held by an individual on a single property
- ultrasonic welding — the use of high-energy vibration of ultrasonic frequency to produce a weld between two components which are held in close contact
- vicar of wakefield — a novel (1766) by Goldsmith.
- wage determination — the process of setting wage rates or establishing wage structures in particular situations
- wandering minstrel — travelling performer
- war risk insurance — life insurance for members of the armed forces.
- wardrobe assistant — a person who assists the wardrobe mistress in a theatre
- warehouse capacity — the amount of storage space in a warehouse
- warrant of fitness — a six-monthly certificate required for motor vehicles certifying mechanical soundness
- water of hydration — the portion of a hydrate that is represented as, or can be expelled as, water: now usually regarded as being in true molecular combination with the other atoms of the compound, and not existing in the compound as water.
- water on the brain — hydrocephalus.
- water stick insect — a slender sticklike flightless water bug, Ranatra linearis, that is predatory on small creatures such as water fleas
- watson-crick model — a widely accepted model for the three-dimensional structure of DNA, featuring a double-helix configuration for the molecule's two hydrogen-bonded complementary polynucleotide strands.
- weberian apparatus — (in certain fishes) a chain of small bones and ligaments connecting the inner ear with the air bladder.
- welwyn garden city — a town in SE England, in Hertfordshire: established (1920) as a planned industrial and residential community. Pop: 43 512 (2001)
- wernicke's aphasia — a type of aphasia caused by a lesion in Wernicke's area of the brain and characterized by grammatical but more or less meaningless speech and an apparent inability to comprehend speech.
- western alienation — a feeling of resentment by some inhabitants of western Canada against perceived favouritism by the national government towards the eastern provinces
- westinghouse brake — a railroad air brake operated by compressed air.
- wheelchair housing — housing designed or adapted for a chairbound person
- whispering gallery — a space or gallery beneath a dome or broad arch in which low sounds produced at any of certain points are clearly audible at certain other distant points.
- white man's burden — the alleged duty of white colonizers to care for nonwhite indigenous subjects in their colonial possessions.
- white-collar crime — any of various crimes, as embezzlement, fraud, or stealing office equipment, committed by business or professional people while working at their occupations.
- white-faced hornet — any large, stinging paper wasp of the family Vespidae, as Vespa crabro (giant hornet) introduced into the U.S. from Europe, or Vespula maculata (bald-faced hornet or white-faced hornet) of North America.
- whitewater rafting — the sport of rafting down fast-flowing rivers, esp over rapids
- whittaker chambers — Robert, 1802–71, Scottish publisher and editor.
- wild passionflower — the maypop, Passiflora incarnata.
- wildlife programme — (esp on television) a documentary whose subject is wild animals in their natural habitat or undomesticated fauna and flora generally
- wildlife sanctuary — an area where wild animals and plants are protected
- wilson's phalarope — a phalarope, Phalaropus tricolor, that breeds in the prairie regions of North America and winters in Argentina and Chile.
- winged everlasting — a bushy composite plant, Ammobium alatum, of Australia, having winged branches, javelin-shaped leaves, and white flowers.
- women at point sur — a narrative poem (1927) by Robinson Jeffers.
- women's liberation — a movement to combat sexual discrimination and to gain full legal, economic, vocational, educational, and social rights and opportunities for women, equal to those of men.
- wrangell mountains — a mountain range in SE Alaska, extending into the Yukon, Canada. Highest peak: Mount Blackburn, 5037 m (16 523 ft)
- writ of assistance — a writ issued by a superior colonial court authorizing officers of the British crown to summon aid and enter and search any premises.
- writ of attachment — a document by which a court orders the seizing of property in order to ensure satisfaction of a judgement
- writ of certiorari — certiorari.