20-letter words containing w, e, l, a
- state highway patrol — a state's road traffic police
- stefan-boltzmann law — the law stating that the total energy radiated from a blackbody is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature.
- that will be the day — I look forward to that
- the (whole) ballgame — the main or decisive factor, event, etc.
- the last word in sth — If you say that something is the last word in luxury, comfort, or some other quality, you are emphasizing that it has a great deal of this quality.
- the luck of the draw — If you say that something is the luck of the draw, you mean that it is the result of chance and you cannot do anything about it.
- the whole nine yards — everything that is required; the whole thing
- to be walking on air — If you say that you are walking on air or floating on air, you mean that you feel extremely happy about something.
- townsend's solitaire — a brownish, slender-billed songbird, Myadestes townsendi, of western North America.
- travelling-wave tube — an electronic tube in which an electron beam interacts with a distributed high-frequency magnetic field so that energy is transferred from the beam to the field
- turn over a new leaf — one of the expanded, usually green organs borne by the stem of a plant.
- twelve-string guitar — an acoustic guitar having twelve strings instead of six, with each pair tuned an octave apart, and more difficult to play than the standard guitar.
- van der waals forces — weak electrostatic forces between atoms and molecules caused by transient distortions in the distribution of electrons in the interacting atoms or molecules
- walk-in refrigerator — a refrigerated storage room, as at a butcher shop.
- walking-around money — money that is carried on the person for routine expenses and minor emergencies; pocket money.
- walton and weybridge — a city in Surrey, SE England: a London suburb.
- war of the rebellion — American Civil War.
- wardrobe malfunction — an embarrassing situation caused by the clothes a person is wearing
- warehouse facilities — places for storing goods
- warrensville heights — a city in NE Ohio.
- watch sb like a hawk — If you watch someone like a hawk, you observe them very carefully, usually to make sure that they do not make a mistake or do something you do not want them to do.
- watcom international — (company) A provider of application development tools and IBM PC-based SQL database servers. Founded in 1974, Watcom initially focused on scientific and engineering markets establishing itself as a supplier of programming and information tools worldwide, serving customers in 60 countries with highly regarded products such as WATFOR-77 for mainframes, minicomputers and PCs. Since the introduction of Watcom C in 1988, the company has emerged as an industry leader in optimising compilers for 16 and 32-bit Intel-based IBM PCs. Moving into the client/server market in 1992, Watcom introduced Watcom SQL, including SQL database servers for multi-user networks and single-user stand-alone applications. The product has since been incorporated into Powersoft's PowerBuilder development environment and the Powersoft Enterprise Series. In June, 1993, Watcom launched VX*REXX, an integrated visual development environment for OS/2. In February 1994, Watcom became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Powersoft Corporation which merged with Sybase Inc. on 13 February 1995. Today the company addresses a broad range of application developers, including corporate MIS professionals, system integrators, VARs and independent software vendors. Watcom has strategic relationships with IBM, Lotus, Microsoft, Intel and Novell. Based on its academic roots, Watcom maintains a research relationship with the nearby University of Waterloo. Watcom's products include the Watcom SQL databases, Watcom C/C++, and Watcom VX*REXX 2.1. Ian McPhee is President and Chief Executive Officer, David Boswell is Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Craig Dynes is Vice President of Finance and David Yach is Vice President of Development. Headquarters: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
- western civilization — European culture, thought
- westminster assembly — a convocation that met at Westminster, London, 1643–49, and formulated the articles of faith (Westminster Confession of Faith) that are accepted as authoritative by most Presbyterian churches.
- weston standard cell — a primary cell used as a standard of emf, producing 1.018636 volts: consists of a mercury anode and a cadmium amalgam cathode in an electrolyte of saturated cadmium sulphate
- wet-bulb temperature — The wet-bulb temperature is the temperature reached by a small amount of liquid evaporating in a large amount of an unsaturated air-vapor mixture.
- wet-rice agriculture — the cultivation of rice by planting on dry land, transferring the seedlings to a flooded field, and draining the field before harvesting.
- wheeling and dealing — the use of different methods and contacts, often dishonestly, to achieve one's ends
- white bush (scallop) — a variety of summer squash having a saucer-shaped white fruit, scalloped around the edges
- white elephant stall — a stall, usually at a fete or fundraising event, where unwanted possessions are sold
- white-lipped peccary — a piglike artiodactyl mammal, Tayassu albirostris, of forests of southern North America, Central and South America: family Tayassuidae
- whole-life insurance — a type of insurance with a savings element that is guaranteed to pay out on death provided premiums have been paid as required by the policy
- whyte classification — a system for classifying steam locomotives according to the total number of wheels on the front trucks, drivers, and rear trucks, in that order. For example, a Pacific locomotive is designated as 4-6-2.
- wide-angle converter — a person or thing that converts.
- william westmoreland — William Childs [chahyldz] /tʃaɪldz/ (Show IPA), 1914–2005, U.S. army officer: commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam and Thailand 1964–68.
- wilson cloud chamber — cloud chamber.
- winter olympic games — an international contest of winter sports, esp skiing, held every four years
- wipe the slate clean — begin afresh
- with all due respect — despite my regard for you
- with all one's heart — Anatomy. a hollow, pumplike organ of blood circulation, composed mainly of rhythmically contractile smooth muscle, located in the chest between the lungs and slightly to the left and consisting of four chambers: a right atrium that receives blood returning from the body via the superior and inferior vena cavae, a right ventricle that pumps the blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs for oxygenation, a left atrium that receives the oxygenated blood via the pulmonary veins and passes it through the mitral valve, and a left ventricle that pumps the oxygenated blood, via the aorta, throughout the body.
- with all one's might — If you do something with all your might, you do it using all your strength and energy.
- woolsorters' disease — pulmonary anthrax in humans, caused by inhaling the spores of Bacillus anthracis, which may contaminate wool fleece.
- working relationship — a relationship with a colleague, boss or employee
- yellow-billed magpie — either of two corvine birds, Pica pica (black-billed magpie) of Eurasia and North America, or P. nuttalli (yellow-billed magpie) of California, having long, graduated tails, black-and-white plumage, and noisy, mischievous habits.
- yellow-breasted chat — an American warbler, Icteria virens, having a yellow throat and breast and greenish-brown upper parts and noted for imitating the songs of other species.
- yu-shiang whole fish — /yoo-shyang hohl fish/ An obsolete name for the Greek character gamma (extended SAIL ASCII code 9, Unicode glyph 0x0263) which with a loop in its tail looks like a little fish swimming down the page. The term is actually the name of a Chinese dish in which a fish is cooked whole (not parsed) and covered with Yu-Shiang (or Yu-Hsiang) sauce. Used primarily by people on the MIT LISP Machine, which could display this character on the screen. Tends to elicit incredulity from people who hear about it second-hand.