17-letter words containing w, a, s, t
- have it both ways — to try to get the best of a situation, argument, etc, by chopping and changing between alternatives or opposites
- how the land lies — the prevailing conditions or state of affairs
- how's-your-father — sexual intercourse
- i wouldn't say no — You use 'I wouldn't say no' to indicate that you would like something, especially something that has just been offered to you.
- illinois waterway — a waterway system in N Illinois made up of canals and rivers connecting Lake Michigan in Chicago with the Mississippi River. 336 miles (541 km) long.
- immigrant workers — people who work in a country they arrived to in order to settle there
- indian strawberry — a plant, Duchesnea indica, of the rose family, native to India, having yellow flowers and inedible fruit resembling strawberries.
- into one's barrow — suited to one's interests or desires
- inward investment — Inward investment is the investment of money in a country by companies from outside that country.
- japanese knotweed — Mexican bamboo.
- japanese wisteria — a wisteria, Wisteria floribunda, of Japan, having violet, violet-blue, pink, red, or white flowers, grown in the U.S. as an ornamental.
- jehovah's witness — A Jehovah's Witness is a member of a religious organization which accepts some Christian ideas and believes that the world is going to end very soon.
- kennesaw mountain — a mountain in N Georgia, near Atlanta: battle 1864. 1809 feet (551 meters).
- ladies-in-waiting — plural of lady-in-waiting.
- lake of the woods — Eldrick [el-drik] /ˈɛl drɪk/ (Show IPA), ("Tiger") born 1975, U.S. professional golfer.
- lewis with harris — the northernmost island of the Hebrides, in NW Scotland. 825 sq. mi. (2135 sq. km).
- light dawns on sb — If light dawns on you, you begin to understand something after a period of not being able to understand it.
- make the worst of — to be pessimistic about
- mann-whitney test — a statistical test of the difference between the distributions of data collected in two experimental conditions applied to unmatched groups of subjects but comparing the distributions of the ranks of the scores
- maxwell equations — equations developed by James Clerk Maxwell (1831–79) upon which classical electromagnetic theory is based
- may/might as well — If you say that you might as well do something, or that you may as well do it, you mean that you will do it although you do not have a strong desire to do it and may even feel slightly unwilling to do it.
- mercy otis warren — Earl, 1891–1974, U.S. lawyer and political leader: chief justice of the U.S. 1953–69.
- message switching — store and forward
- new england aster — a tall composite plant, Aster novae-angliae, of the northeastern U.S., the flowers of which have lavender to deep-purple rays.
- new orleans style — a style of jazz developed in New Orleans early in the 20th century, influenced by blues, ragtime, marching band music, and minstrelsy and marked by polyphonic group improvisation.
- new scotland yard — See under Scotland Yard (def 1).
- newcastle disease — a rapidly spreading virus-induced disease of birds and domestic fowl, as chickens, marked by respiratory difficulty, reduced egg production and, in chicks, paralysis.
- newspaper cutting — clipping from a news publication
- northwest passage — a ship route along the Arctic coast of Canada and Alaska, joining the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
- observation tower — lookout, observation point
- of its own accord — If something happens of its own accord, it seems to happen by itself, without anyone making it happen.
- off one's own bat — If someone does something off their own bat, they do it without anyone else suggesting it.
- one-time password — (security) (OTP) A security system that requires a new password every time a user authenticates themselves, thus protecting against an intruder replaying an intercepted password. OTP generates passwords using either the MD4 or MD5 hashing algorithms. The equivalent term "S/Key", developed by Bellcore, is a trademark of Telcordia Technologies, so the name OTP is used increasingly. See RFC 1760 - "The S/KEY One-Time Password System" and RFC 1938 - "A One-Time Password System".
- out at the elbows — the bend or joint of the human arm between upper arm and forearm.
- out of harm's way — If someone or something is out of harm's way, they are in a safe place away from danger or from the possibility of being damaged.
- pacific northwest — the region of North America lying north of the Columbia River and west of the Rockies
- play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- private ownership — the fact of being owned by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public body
- quality newspaper — a more serious newspaper which gives detailed accounts of world events, as well as reports on business, culture, and society
- radioactive waste — the radioactive by-products from the operation of a nuclear reactor or from the reprocessing of depleted nuclear fuel.
- saint john's wort — any of various plants or shrubs of the genus Hypericum, having yellow flowers and transparently dotted leaves.
- sanitation worker — a person employed to collect, haul away, and dispose of garbage.
- sawatch mountains — range of the Rocky Mountains, in central Colo.: highest peak, Elbert
- sawed-off shotgun — rifle with a short barrel
- scattered showers — showers that are scattered across an area, or that occur at intervals throughout the day
- scentless mayweed — a similar and related plant, Matricaria maritima, with scentless leaves
- seaweed marquetry — marquetry having the form of symmetrical, foliate scrolls, as on English cabinetwork of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
- september weather — weather characteristic of the month of September, esp in being unpredictable as summer is ending and autumn is beginning
- shower attachment — a device fixed to taps to make a shower
- slap on the wrist — a sharp blow or smack, especially with the open hand or with something flat.