12-letter words containing w, e, d, r
- outside work — work done off the premises of a business
- overcrowding — Fill (accommodations or a space) beyond what is usual or comfortable.
- overflow pdl — (jargon) The place where you put things when your pdl is full. If you don't have one and too many things get pushed, you forget something. The overflow pdl for a person's memory might be a memo pad. This usage inspired the following doggerel:
- overweighted — weighing too much or more than is considered normal, proper, etc.: overweight luggage; an overweight patient; two letters that may be overweight.
- overwithhold — to withhold too much.
- owner-driver — a person who owns the vehicle he drives
- packed tower — A packed tower is a tall distillation vessel which uses packing.
- periodic law — the law that the properties of the elements are periodic functions of their atomic numbers.
- pickerelweed — any American plant of the genus Pontederia, especially P. cordata, having spikes of blue flowers, common in shallow fresh water.
- polar wander — the movement of the earth's magnetic poles with respect to the geographic poles
- postcardware — Shareware that borders on freeware, in that the author requests only that satisfied users send a postcard of their home town or something. (This practice, silly as it might seem, serves to remind users that they are otherwise getting something for nothing, and may also be psychologically related to real estate "sales" in which $1 changes hands just to keep the transaction from being a gift.)
- powder chest — a small wooden box containing a charge of powder, old nails, scrap iron, etc., formerly secured over the side of a ship and exploded on the attempt of an enemy to board.
- powder flask — a small flask of gunpowder formerly carried by soldiers and hunters.
- powder paper — Pharmacology. charta (def 2).
- power window — Power windows are windows in a vehicle which are raised or lowered by an electric motor operated by a button or switch.
- power-driven — powered by an electric motor
- powerbuilder — (tool, database) A graphical user interface development tool from Powersoft for developing client-server database applications. It runs under MS-DOS(?) and Microsoft Windows. There are also versions for Microsoft Windows, Windows NT, Macintosh, and Unix. Applications can be built by creating windows, controls (such as listboxes and buttons), and menus within the PowerBuilder development environment. The language used to program PowerBuilder, PowerScript, is loosely based on BASIC. PowerBuilder supports programming on many database backends including Sybase and Oracle. It also has added support for ODBC database drivers. PowerBuilder also comes with a built-in database backend (WATCOM SQL 32-bit relational database).
- presweetened — already sweetened
- printed word — The printed word is the same as written word.
- provincewide — covering or available to the whole of a province
- putty powder — an abrasive consisting chiefly of stannic oxide, used for polishing hard surfaces.
- ratchet down — If something ratchets down or is ratcheted down, it decreases by a fixed amount or degree, and seems unlikely to increase again.
- reading week — university: week-long break from classes
- ready-witted — having a quick wit or intelligence.
- redwood city — a city in W California.
- reed warbler — a small Old World warbler, Acrocephalus scirpaceus, inhabiting marshy places.
- renewal date — The renewal date of an existing insurance contract is the date on which it must be renewed.
- renownedness — celebrated; famous.
- review board — panel appointed to reconsider a matter
- reward claim — a claim granted to a miner who discovered gold in a new area
- road sweeper — a person who sweeps roads
- rollaway bed — a bed on castors
- rosewood oil — a fragrant oil extracted from the wood of a South American tree, Aniba rosaeodora, and used in the manufacture of perfumes.
- ruby wedding — a fortieth wedding anniversary
- say the word — If someone says the word, they give their approval as a sign that something should start to happen.
- screw around — a metal fastener having a tapered shank with a helical thread, and topped with a slotted head, driven into wood or the like by rotating, especially by means of a screwdriver.
- screw thread — Also called worm. the helical ridge of a screw.
- second world — the world's industrialized nations other than the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.
- self-drawing — the act of a person or thing that draws.
- self-powered — (of a machine, vehicle, etc.) having a specified fuel or prime mover: a gasoline-powered engine; an engine-powered pump.
- series-wound — noting a commutator motor in which the field circuit and armature circuit are connected in series.
- shadow price — the calculated price of a good or service for which no market price exists
- sharp-witted — having or showing mental acuity; intellectually discerning; acute.
- shop steward — commerce: union rep
- short-winded — short of breath; liable to difficulty in breathing.
- side-wheeler — having a paddle wheel on each side, as a steamboat.
- slum-dweller — a person who lives in a slum.
- small wonder — (I am) hardly surprised (that)
- snow leopard — a long-haired, leopardlike feline, Panthera (Uncia) uncia, of mountain ranges of central Asia, having a relatively small head and a thick, creamy-gray coat with rosette spots: an endangered species.
- snow-covered — Snow-covered places and things are covered over with snow.