16-letter words containing w, d, o, a
- redbank whiteoak — a city in S Tennessee.
- 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
- seaside knotweed — See under knotweed.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- show-me attitude — a sceptical frame of mind
- social darwinism — a 19th-century theory, inspired by Darwinism, by which the social order is accounted as the product of natural selection of those persons best suited to existing living conditions and in accord with which a position of laissez-faire is advocated.
- strawberry blond — reddish blond.
- swamp buttonwood — the buttonbush.
- swedenborgianism — of or relating to Emanuel Swedenborg, his religious doctrines, or the body of followers adhering to these doctrines and constituting the Church of the New Jerusalem, or New Church.
- sweet almond oil — almond oil (def 1).
- teutoburger wald — a chain of wooded hills in Germany, in Westphalia: Romans defeated by German tribes a.d.
- the here and now — the present time
- to draw the line — If you draw the line at a particular activity, you refuse to do it, because you disapprove of it or because it is more extreme than what you normally do.
- to wine and dine — If you wine and dine, or if someone wines and dines you, you go out, for example to expensive restaurants, and spend a lot of money.
- traded endowment — A traded endowment is a traditional with-profits endowment policy that has been sold to a new owner part way through its term.
- two-tailed pasha — a distinctive vanessid butterfly of S Europe, Charaxes jasius, having mottled brown wings with a yellow-orange margin and frilled hind edges
- twofold purchase — a purchase using a double standing block and a double running block so as to give a mechanical advantage of four or five, neglecting friction, depending on whether the hauling is on the standing block or the running block.
- upside-down cake — a cake that is baked on a layer of fruit, then turned before serving so that the fruit is on top.
- wash one's hands — to go to the lavatory
- washington, d. c — Booker T(aliaferro) [boo k-er tol-uh-ver] /ˈbʊk ər ˈtɒl ə vər/ (Show IPA), 1856–1915, U.S. reformer, educator, author, and lecturer.
- washington, d.c. — Booker T(aliaferro) [boo k-er tol-uh-ver] /ˈbʊk ər ˈtɒl ə vər/ (Show IPA), 1856–1915, U.S. reformer, educator, author, and lecturer.
- way of the world — a comedy of manners (1700) by William Congreve.
- weather advisory — advisory (def 5).
- well-compensated — to recompense for something: They gave him ten dollars to compensate him for his trouble.
- what do you know — People sometimes say 'What do you know!' when they are very surprised about something.
- what's the odds? — what difference does it make?
- whatever sb does — You say whatever you do when giving advice or warning someone about something.
- wheelchair-bound — unable to walk through injury, illness, etc and relying on a wheelchair to move around
- white propaganda — propaganda that comes from the source it claims to come from
- white sandalwood — the fragrant heartwood of any of certain Asian trees of the genus Santalum, used for ornamental carving and burned as incense.
- white wood aster — a composite plant, Aster divaricatus, of North America, having flat-topped clusters of white ray flowers and growing in dry woods.
- white-haired boy — a favourite; darling
- whole nine yards — a common unit of linear measure in English-speaking countries, equal to 3 feet or 36 inches, and equivalent to 0.9144 meter.
- wholeheartedness — fully or completely sincere, enthusiastic, energetic, etc.; hearty; earnest: a wholehearted attempt to comply.
- wide of the mark — If something such as a claim or estimate is wide of the mark, it is incorrect or inaccurate.
- wild goose chase — a wild or absurd search for something nonexistent or unobtainable: a wild-goose chase looking for a building long demolished.
- wild-goose chase — a wild or absurd search for something nonexistent or unobtainable: a wild-goose chase looking for a building long demolished.
- william bradford — Gamaliel, 1863–1932, U.S. biographer and novelist.
- wilson's disease — a rare hereditary disease in which copper accumulates in the brain and liver, gradually leading to tremors, muscular rigidity, kidney malfunction, and cognitive disturbances: marked by Kayser-Fleischer rings.
- windchill factor — an estimated measurement of the cooling effect of air and wind, esp. when applied to the loss of body heat from exposed skin; chill factor
- windfall profits — Windfall profits are excessive profits with a non-business cause such as a natural disaster.
- windowless monad — (in the philosophy of Leibniz) a monad having no direct causal or perceptual relation with any other monad.
- windowpane shell — capiz.
- wisconsin rapids — a city in central Wisconsin.
- withdrawing room — a room to withdraw or retire to; drawing room.