19-letter words containing w, e, i, l
- sweetheart neckline — a neckline on a woman's garment, as a dress, with a high back and a low-cut front with two curved edges resembling the conventionalized shape of a heart.
- sweetness and light — extreme or excessive pleasantness or amiability.
- switchblade (knife) — a large jackknife that snaps open when a release button on the handle is pressed
- teaching fellowship — a fellowship providing a student in a graduate school with free tuition and expenses and stipulating that the student assume some teaching duties in return.
- the whole enchilada — all of it; everything; the entirety of something
- the wolverine state — a Midwestern state in the Great Lakes area of the north central US
- tidal power station — a power station where the energy of flowing water is converted into electricity
- to be headline news — to attract a lot of attention from newspapers
- to blow the whistle — If you blow the whistle on someone, or on something secret or illegal, you tell another person, especially a person in authority, what is happening.
- to pull your weight — If you pull your weight, you work as hard as everyone else who is involved in the same task or activity.
- to wet your whistle — To wet your whistle means to have a drink.
- traveling-wave tube — an electron tube used in microwave communications systems, having an electron beam directed coaxially through a wire helix to produce amplification.
- trickle-down theory — an economic theory that monetary benefits directed especially by the government to big business will in turn pass down to and profit smaller businesses and the general public.
- unlawful possession — possession of substances or items (such as drugs or guns) for which criminal sanctions exist because they may not be legally possessed or may not be possessed under certain circumstances
- up against the wall — any of various permanent upright constructions having a length much greater than the thickness and presenting a continuous surface except where pierced by doors, windows, etc.: used for shelter, protection, or privacy, or to subdivide interior space, to support floors, roofs, or the like, to retain earth, to fence in an area, etc.
- venus of willendorf — a village in NE Austria, near Krems: site of an Aurignacian settlement where a 4½ inches (11 cm) limestone statuette (Venus of Willendorf) was found.
- wade-giles (system) — a system for transliterating Chinese ideograms into the Latin alphabet, in wide use esp. before Pinyin was adopted by the People's Republic of China in 1979
- wage-push inflation — an inflationary trend caused by wage increases that in turn cause rises in production costs and prices.
- wandering albatross — a large albatross, Diomedea exulans, of southern waters, having the plumage mostly white with dark markings on the upper parts.
- waste disposal unit — an electrically operated fitment in the plughole of a kitchen sink that breaks up food refuse so that it goes down the waste pipe
- waterglass painting — stereochromy.
- weeping golden bell — a Chinese shrub, Forsythia suspensa, of the olive family, having long, arching, pendulous, hollow branches that root at the tip in age, and golden-yellow flowers.
- welsh mountain pony — a small sturdy but graceful breed of pony used mostly for riding, originally from Wales
- wesleyan methodists — a branch of the Methodist Church in its original form
- western yellow pine — ponderosa pine.
- whistle in the dark — to make a clear musical sound, a series of such sounds, or a high-pitched, warbling sound by the forcible expulsion of the breath through a small opening formed by contracting the lips, or through the teeth, with the aid of the tongue.
- whistle in the wind — If you describe someone as whistling in the wind, you mean that they are trying unsuccessfully to change something which cannot be changed.
- white-collar worker — office employee, clerical worker
- whorled loosestrife — any of various plants belonging to the genus Lysimachia, of the primrose family, having clusters of usually yellow flowers, as L. vulgaris (garden loosestrife) or L. quadrifolia (whorled loosestrife)
- wide-angle glaucoma — open-angle glaucoma. See under glaucoma.
- wild bleeding-heart — a plant, Dicentra eximia, of the fumitory family, native to the eastern coast of the U.S., having elongated clusters of drooping, heart-shaped rose-colored or pink flowers.
- william shakespeare — William ("the Bard"; "the Bard of Avon") 1564–1616, English poet and dramatist.
- winged spindle tree — a stiff, spreading shrub, Euonymus alata, of eastern Asia, having corky-winged twigs, yellowish flowers, and purplish fruit.
- wireless local loop — (communications) (WLL, radio in the loop, RITL, fixed-radio access, FRA) Connecting subscribers to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) using radio signals instead of copper wires. The wireless link may be all or part of the connection between the subscriber and the switch. WLL includes cordless access systems, proprietary fixed radio access and fixed cellular systems.
- wireless telegraphy — Now Rare. radiotelegraphy.
- with the gloves off — (of a dispute, argument, etc) conducted mercilessly and in earnest, with no reservations
- withdrawal syndrome — a spectrum of physical and behavioral symptoms following cessation from the continuous use of an addictive drug, the character and severity of the symptoms depending upon the particular drug and the daily dose.
- world heritage site — a natural or manmade area or structure which is recognized as being of international importance and therefore deserving special protection
- world wide web worm — (web) (WWWW) One of the first automatic indexing tools for the web, being developed in September 1994 by Oliver McBryan <[email protected]> at the University of Colorado. The worm created a database of 300,000 multimedia objects which can be obtained or searched for keywords via the web.
- writing on the wall — writing done with a pen or pencil in the hand; script.
- yellowtail flounder — a righteyed flounder, Limanda ferruginea, inhabiting waters along the Atlantic coast of North America, having a yellowish tail fin and rusty-red spots on the body: once commercially important, now greatly reduced in number.
- yellowtail kingfish — a large carangid game fish, Seriola grandis, of S Australian waters