16-letter words containing w, a, t, e
- keep pace (with) — to go at the same speed (as)
- kentucky warbler — a wood warbler, Oporornis formosus, of the U.S., olive-green above, yellow below, and marked with black on the face.
- kentucky windage — a method of correcting for windage, gravity, etc., by aiming a weapon to one side of the target instead of by adjusting the sights.
- keynote software — A company which offers software-based business contact directories for people who develop, manufacture, market, or distribute software or multimedia products. E-mail: <[email protected]> (Subject: SEND INDEX).
- knowledgeability — possessing or exhibiting knowledge, insight, or understanding; intelligent; well-informed; discerning; perceptive.
- kondratieff wave — a long business cycle of economic expansion and contraction, postulated to last about 60 years.
- law of exponents — the theorem stating the elementary properties of exponents, as the property that the product of the same bases, each raised to an exponent, is equal to the base raised to the sum of the exponents: xa ⋅ xb = xa + b .
- lawson criterion — (in a hypothetical nuclear fusion reactor) the requirement that in order for the energy produced by fusion to exceed the energy expended in causing the fusion, the product of the density of the fuel and the time during which it is confined at that density (Lawson product) must be greater than a certain number that depends on the kind of fuel used.
- lay down the law — the principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people, whether in the form of legislation or of custom and policies recognized and enforced by judicial decision.
- lesser spearwort — a Eurasian ranunculaceous plant, R. flammula, of the genus Ranunculus, which grows in wet places and has long narrow leaves and yellow flowers
- little brown bat — any of several small to medium-sized common bats of the genera Myotis and Eptesicus, found worldwide in caves, trees, and buildings, including M. lucifugus (little brown bat) and E. fuscus (big brown bat) a widespread North American species.
- littoral warfare — military combat conducted in coastal areas.
- lost-wax process — a process of investment casting in which a refractory mold is built up around a pattern of wax and then baked so as to melt and drain off the wax.
- low-carbon steel — steel containing between 0.04 and 0.25 per cent carbon
- lower palatinate — See under Palatinate (def 1).
- luck of the draw — the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities: With my luck I'll probably get pneumonia.
- mackinaw blanket — a thick woolen blanket, often woven with bars of color, formerly used in the northern and western U.S. by Indians, loggers, etc.
- maintenance crew — a group of people who work together to keep a road, building, vehicle, or machine in good condition by regularly checking it and repairing it when necessary
- man of the world — a man who is widely experienced in the ways of the world and people; an urbane, sophisticated man.
- matthew flinders — Matthew, 1774–1814, English navigator and explorer: surveyed coast of Australia.
- matthew of paris — c1200–59, English chronicler.
- minerva software — A company producing software for the Acorn Archimedes.
- molecular weight — the average weight of a molecule of an element or compound measured in units once based on the weight of one hydrogen atom taken as the standard or on 1/16 (0.0625) the weight of an oxygen atom, but after 1961 based on 1/12 (0.083) the weight of the carbon-12 atom; the sum of the atomic weights of all the atoms in a molecule. Abbreviation: mol. wt.
- most wanted list — an actual or supposed listing of the names of persons who are urgently being sought for a specific reason, as apprehension for an alleged crime.
- muddy the waters — If someone or something muddies the waters, they cause a situation or issue to seem less clear and less easy to understand.
- network analysis — a mathematical method of analyzing complex problems, as in transportation or project scheduling, by representing the problem as a network of lines and nodes.
- network database — (database) A kind of database management system in which each record type can have multiple owners, e.g. orders are owned by both customers and products. This contrasts with a hierarchical database (one owner) or relational database (no explicit owner).
- network operator — (job) A person who monitors and maintains the operation of a communications network. A network operator troubleshoots hardware (cables, routers, network switches, hubs, network adaptors), software, and transmission problems.
- new commonwealth — a term used esp in the latter part of the 20th century in Britain to describe countries in the British Commonwealth that became independent after World War II
- new frontiersman — an advocate or follower of the New Frontier, especially one in public service.
- newspaper report — a report published in a newspaper
- nightingale ward — a long hospital ward with beds on either side and the nurses' station in the middle
- nuncupative will — a will made by the oral and unwritten declaration of the testator, valid only in special circumstances.
- observation ward — a ward in a hospital where patients are monitored
- on the bandwagon — on the popular or apparently winning side, as in an election
- on the downgrade — waning in importance, popularity, health, etc
- one with another — on average
- one-way function — (cryptography, mathematics) A function which is easy to compute but whose inverse is very difficult to compute. Such functions have important applications in cryptography, specifically in public-key cryptography. See also: trapdoor function.
- optical tweezers — a laser device used to study, manipulate, or trap a microscopic object, as a microorganism or cell, with nanometer precision.
- packet switching — a method of efficient data transmission whereby the initial message is broken into relatively small units, or packets, that are routed independently and subsequently reassembled.
- packet-switching — a method of efficient data transmission whereby the initial message is broken into relatively small units, or packets, that are routed independently and subsequently reassembled.
- phillis wheatley — Phillis [fil-is] /ˈfɪl ɪs/ (Show IPA), 1753?–84, American poet, born in Africa; probably Senegal.
- 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
- pure watercolour — water-soluble pigment, applied in transparent washes and without the admixture of white pigment in the lighter tones
- rainbow lorikeet — a small Australasian parrot, Trichoglossus haematodus, with brightly-coloured plumage