18-letter words containing w, a, t, l
- jet-enamelled ware — English Worcester porcelain ware of the 18th century, transfer-printed in black.
- kirtland's warbler — a wood warbler, Dendroica kirtlandii, breeding only in north-central Michigan and wintering in the Bahamas, bluish gray above, striped with black and pale yellow below: an endangered species.
- known lazy bastard — (abuse) (KLB) A term, used among technical support staff, for a user who repeatedly asks for help with problems whose solutions are clearly explained in the documentation, and persists in doing so after having been told to RTFM. KLBs are singled out for special treatment (i.e. ridicule), especially if they have been heard to say "It's so boring to read the manual! Why don't you just tell me?". The deepest pit in Hell is reserved for KLBs whose questions reveal total ignorance of the basic concepts (e.g., "How do I make a font in Excel?", "Where do I turn on my RAM?"), and who refuse to accept that their questions are neither simple nor well-formed.
- law of gravitation — a law stating that any two masses attract each other with a force equal to a constant (constant of gravitation) multiplied by the product of the two masses and divided by the square of the distance between them.
- law of mass action — the statement that the rate of a chemical reaction is proportional to the concentrations of the reacting substances.
- law of segregation — the principle, originated by Gregor Mendel, stating that during the production of gametes the two copies of each hereditary factor segregate so that offspring acquire one factor from each parent.
- lesser whitethroat — an Old World warbler, Sylvia curruca, having a greyish-brown plumage with a white throat and underparts
- local area network — a system for linking private telecommunications equipment, as in a building or cluster of buildings.
- look the other way — look in the opposite direction
- low-start mortgage — a mortgage in which interest only is repaid for a fixed period at the outset, to make it more affordable
- lowell observatory — the astronomical observatory, situated in Flagstaff, Arizona, at which Pluto was discovered in 1930.
- lower klamath lake — See under Klamath Lakes.
- lower palaeolithic — the earliest of the three sections of the Palaeolithic, beginning about 3 million years ago and ending about 70 000 bc with the emergence of Neanderthal man
- may flower compact — an agreement to establish a government, entered into by the Pilgrims in the cabin of the Mayflower on November 11, 1620.
- mendel's first law — the principle, originated by Gregor Mendel, stating that during the production of gametes the two copies of each hereditary factor segregate so that offspring acquire one factor from each parent.
- mobility allowance — an allowance paid by the government to help people who have limited mobility
- nailed to the wall — [like a trophy] Said of a bug finally eliminated after protracted, and even heroic, effort.
- negative cash flow — the situation when income is less than payments
- now you're talking — at last you're saying something agreeable
- oriental scops owl — any of a group of small owls having ear tufts and a whistling call, especially Otus scops (Old World scops owl) and O. sunia (Oriental scops owl)
- owen stanley range — a mountain range in SE New Guinea. Highest peak: Mount Victoria, 4073 m (13 363 ft)
- peter and the wolf — a composition by Sergei Prokofiev written in 1936. It is a children's story with both music and text, spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra
- phantom withdrawal — the unauthorized removal of funds from a bank account using an automated teller machine
- pileolated warbler — either of two western subspecies of Wilson's warbler.
- plate-glass window — a window that has glass which has been formed by rolling
- pour cold water on — If someone pours cold water on a plan or idea, they criticize it so much that people lose their enthusiasm for it.
- precipitable water — the total water vapor contained in a unit vertical column of the atmosphere.
- presumption of law — a presumption based upon a policy of law or a general rule and not upon the facts or evidence in an individual case.
- quarter-wave plate — a crystal thin enough to cause a phase difference of 90° between the ordinary and extraordinary rays of polarized light, thereby converting circularly polarized light into plane polarized light.
- random walk theory — the theory that the future movement of share prices does not reflect past movements and therefore will not follow a discernible pattern
- resistance welding — welding utilizing pressure and heat that is generated in the pieces to be welded by resistance to an electric current.
- revolutionary wars — American Revolution.
- rhode island white — one of a dual-purpose American breed of chickens having white feathers and a rose comb.
- right-to-work laws — a state law making it illegal to refuse employment to a person for the sole reason that he or she is not a union member.
- salem witch trials — 17th-century witchcraft case
- schwarz inequality — Also called Cauchy's inequality. the theorem that the inner product of two vectors is less than or equal to the product of the magnitudes of the vectors.
- self-tapping screw — a screw designed to tap its corresponding female thread as it is driven.
- short-tailed shrew — a grayish-black shrew, Blarina brevicauda, common in eastern North America, that has a tail less than half the length of the body.
- slow on the uptake — slow to understand or learn
- slow-motion replay — a showing again in slow motion of a sequence of action, esp of part of a sporting contest immediately after it happens
- software backplane — (programming, tool) A CASE framework from Atherton.
- solomon rabinowitz — Solomon, Aleichem, Sholom.
- 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.
- stand/wait in line — When people stand in line or wait in line, they stand one behind the other in a line, waiting their turn for something.
- 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
- sweet vernal grass — a Eurasian meadow grass, Anthoxanthum odoratum, found throughout North America, having clusters of brownish-green flowers.
- tale of two cities — a historical novel (1859) by Dickens.
- talk between ships — TBS (def 1).
- 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