16-letter words containing w, a, r
- on the downgrade — waning in importance, popularity, health, etc
- one with another — on average
- optical tweezers — a laser device used to study, manipulate, or trap a microscopic object, as a microorganism or cell, with nanometer precision.
- overhead railway — elevated railroad.
- part way through — mid-way; before the end
- pay-as-you-throw — denoting a system for waste collection in which households are charged according to the amount of refuse they leave
- pearls of wisdom — good advice, wise words
- place of worship — religious house: church, temple
- poor boy sweater — a snug-fitting, pullover sweater with ribbing on both the body and sleeves, worn by girls and women.
- poor white trash — white trash.
- portmanteau word — a case or bag to carry clothing in while traveling, especially a leather trunk or suitcase that opens into two halves.
- potato tuberworm — the larva of the potato moth.
- powerpc platform — (architecture, standard) (PPCP, PReP - PowerPC Reference Platform, formerly CHRP - Common Hardware Reference Platform) An open system standard, designed by IBM, intended to ensure compatibility among PowerPC-based systems built by different companies. The PReP standard specifies the PCI bus, but will also support ISA, MicroChannel and PCMCIA. PReP-compliant systems will be able to run the Macintosh OS, OS/2, WorkplaceOS, AIX, Solaris, Taligent and Windows NT. IBM systems will (of course) be PReP-compliant. Apple's first PowerPC Macintoshes will not be compliant, but future ones may be.
- private viewdata — an interactive video text system with restricted access
- proposal writing — Extension of Fortran for proposal writing.
- purchasing power — Also called buying power. the ability to purchase goods and services.
- pure watercolour — water-soluble pigment, applied in transparent washes and without the admixture of white pigment in the lighter tones
- put a foot wrong — to make a mistake
- queen anne's war — the war (1702–13) in which England and its American colonies opposed France and its Indian allies. It constituted the American phase of the War of the Spanish Succession.
- radial (arm) saw — a circular saw suspended from a pivoted horizontal arm along which it can be moved
- railway carriage — a railway coach for passengers
- rainbow lorikeet — a small Australasian parrot, Trichoglossus haematodus, with brightly-coloured plumage
- rainbow seaperch — an embiotocid fish, Hypsurus caryi, living off the Pacific coast of North America, having red, orange, and blue stripes on the body.
- raise an eyebrow — If something causes you to raise an eyebrow or to raise your eyebrows, it causes you to feel surprised or disapproving.
- raspberry sawfly — a black sawfly, Monophadnoides geniculatus, the larvae of which feed on the leaves of the raspberry and blackberry.
- rattlesnake weed — a hawkweed, Hieracium venosum, of eastern North America, whose leaves and root are thought to possess medicinal properties.
- rear-view mirror — a mirror mounted on the side, windshield, or instrument panel of an automobile or other vehicle to provide the driver with a view of the area behind the vehicle.
- rear-wheel drive — a layout in motor vehicles which places the engine at the front and the driven wheels at the rear
- redbank whiteoak — a city in S Tennessee.
- regional network — mid-level network
- renewable energy — any naturally occurring, theoretically inexhaustible source of energy, as biomass, solar, wind, tidal, wave, and hydroelectric power, that is not derived from fossil or nuclear fuel.
- rolled paperwork — a form of decoration on small objects, such as boxes, in which a design is made up of tiny rolls of paper cut crossways and laid together: popular in the 18th and 19th centuries
- rotary lawnmower — a lawn mower with a single blade attached in the middle that rotates as the mower is moved
- royal water lily — a water lily, Victoria amazonica (or V. regia), of the Amazon River and British Guiana, having floating leaves from three to six feet (0.9 to 1.8 meters) wide, the upturned margins from two to four inches (5 to 10 cm) high, and dull crimson flowers.
- savannah sparrow — a North American sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis, having brown and white plumage with a yellow stripe over each eye.
- second world war — World War II.
- secondary growth — an increase in the thickness of the shoots and roots of a vascular plant as a result of the formation of new cells in the cambium.
- seven weeks' war — the war (1866) in which Prussia, Italy, and some minor German states opposed Austria, Saxony, Hanover, and the states of southern Germany.
- seven years' war — the war (1756–63) in which England and Prussia defeated France, Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony.
- seward peninsula — a peninsula in W Alaska, on Bering Strait.
- shaft horsepower — the horsepower delivered to the driving shaft of an engine, as measured by a torsion meter. Abbreviation: shp, SHP.
- shakedown cruise — extortion, as by blackmail or threats of violence.
- shared ownership — (in Britain) a form of house purchase whereby the purchaser buys a proportion of the dwelling, usually from a local authority or housing association, and rents the rest
- sheet-web weaver — any of numerous spiders of the family Linyphiidae, characterized by a closely woven, sheetlike web.
- shorthand writer — a person trained to write in shorthand
- show cause order — a court order issued to a party in a lawsuit, directing that party to appear to give reasons why a certain action should not be put into effect by the court.
- showcase project — a project designed to attract attention and show off the abilities of the people involved in it
- showy crab apple — a large Japanese bush or tree, Malus floribunda, of the rose family, having red fruit and rose-colored flowers that fade to white.
- sir isaac newton — Sir Isaac, 1642–1727, English philosopher and mathematician: formulator of the law of gravitation.
- slow metabolizer — A slow metabolizer is someone whose body is slow to break down, absorb, or use a particular substance.