15-letter words containing w, a, r, l
- southwestwardly — toward the southwest
- sparkling water — soda water (def 1).
- stalactite work — (in Islamic architecture) intricate decorative corbeling in the form of brackets, squinches, and portions of pointed vaults.
- starfish flower — carrion flower (def 2).
- streamline flow — the flow of a fluid past an object such that the velocity at any fixed point in the fluid is constant or varies in a regular manner.
- sunflower state — Kansas (used as a nickname).
- swallow-tanager — a tropical American bird, Tersina viridis, related to the true tanagers but with longer, swallowlike wings.
- sweetheart deal — any agreement in which a public body offers unduly favourable terms to a private company or individual
- sword swallower — performer who puts swords in throat
- sword-swallower — a performer who simulates the swallowing of swords
- talcum (powder) — a powder for the body and face made of powdered, purified talc, usually perfumed
- tall meadow rue — a meadow rue, Thalictrum polygamum.
- the lower karoo — one of the two divisions of the Karoo
- the lower ranks — people who have a low rank in a military organization
- the rule of law — the principle that no one is above the law and that everyone must follow the law
- the wherewithal — necessary funds, resources, or equipment (for something or to do something)
- thorndike's law — the principle that all learnt behaviour is regulated by rewards and punishments, proposed by Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949), US psychologist
- to draw a blank — If you draw a blank when you are looking for someone or something, you do not succeed in finding them.
- training wheels — a pair of small wheels attached one on each side of the rear wheel of a bicycle for stability while one is learning to ride.
- travelling wave — a wave carrying energy away from its source
- troubled waters — a confused or chaotic state of affairs: The situation was terrible, but like many politicians he was attracted by troubled waters.
- tweet you later — (on the Twitter website) goodbye; see you later
- twitching trail — a logging road sufficiently developed to allow the hauling of logs along it by horse or tractor.
- two-star petrol — leaded petrol that has a low octane number; inferior leaded petrol
- unanswerability — the quality of not being answerable or contestable
- upperclasswoman — An upperclasswoman is a junior or senior student in a high school, college, or university.
- upward mobility — movement from one social level to a higher one (upward mobility) or a lower one (downward mobility) as by changing jobs or marrying.
- upwardly mobile — See under vertical mobility (def 1).
- viewing gallery — an area in a building or outside for viewing an activity, the surrounding scenery, etc
- völkerwanderung — the migration of peoples, esp of Germanic and Slavic peoples into S and W Europe from 2nd to 11th centuries
- wager of battle — (in medieval Britain) a pledge to do battle for a cause, esp to decide guilt or innocence by single combat
- walk (all) over — to defeat overwhelmingly
- walk-in traffic — The walk-in traffic of a store is the number of people who choose to visit it as they pass by.
- walloon brabant — a province of central Belgium, formed in 1995 from the S part of Brabant province: densely populated and intensively farmed, with large industrial centres. Pop: 360 717 (2004 est). Area: 1091 sq km (421 sq miles)
- wallpaper music — music that is pleasant but not interesting, so people do not pay much attention to it
- wallpaper paste — an adhesive used for attaching wallpaper to a surface
- walpurgis night — (especially in medieval German folklore) the evening preceding the feast day of St. Walpurgis, when witches congregated, especially on the Brocken.
- walrus mustache — a thick, shaggy mustache hanging down loosely at both ends.
- warrantableness — Quality of being warrantable.
- water pimpernel — the brookweed.
- water pollution — the pollution of the sea and rivers
- water-repellent — having a finish that resists but is not impervious to water.
- waterfall model — (programming) A software life-cycle or product life-cycle model, described by W. W. Royce in 1970, in which development is supposed to proceed linearly through the phases of requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing (validation), integration and maintenance. The Waterfall Model is considered old-fashioned or simplistic by proponents of object-oriented design which often uses the spiral model instead. Earlier phases are sometimes called "upstream" and later ones "downstream". Compare: iterative model.
- waterford glass — fine cut or gilded glass made in Waterford, Ireland, having a slight blue cast due to the presence of cobalt.
- wearing apparel — clothing; garments.
- weather balloon — sounding balloon.
- wechsler scales — a group of intelligence tests, including the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) later revised (WAIS-R) the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) later revised (WISC-R) the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) and the Wechsler-Bellevue Scale, no longer used, all of which emphasize performance and verbal skills and give separate scores for subtests in vocabulary, arithmetic, memory span, assembly of objects, and other abilities.
- wedding planner — sb hired to organize a marriage day
- wee small hours — the hours just after midnight
- weimar republic — the German republic (1919–33), founded at Weimar.