19-letter words containing w, e, l, t, i
- mother-in-law plant — a West Indian foliage plant, Dieffenbachia seguine, of the arum family, having yellow-blotched leaves that cause temporary speechlessness when chewed.
- nathaniel hawthorne — Nathaniel, 1804–64, U.S. novelist and short-story writer.
- network file system — (networking, operating system) (NFS) A protocol developed by Sun Microsystems, and defined in RFC 1094, which allows a computer to access files over a network as if they were on its local disks. This protocol has been incorporated in products by more than two hundred companies, and is now a de facto standard. NFS is implemented using a connectionless protocol (UDP) in order to make it stateless. See Nightmare File System, WebNFS.
- new year resolution — a promise to yourself or decision to do something, especially to improve one's behaviour or lifestyle in some way, during the year ahead
- newtonian telescope — a reflecting telescope in which a mirror or reflecting prism is mounted on the axis near the eyepiece so that the image may be viewed from outside the telescope tube at right angles to the axis.
- nine plus two array — the arrangement of microtubules in a flagellum or cilium, consisting of a ring of nine evenly spaced couplets surrounding two central singlets. Symbol: 9 + 2.
- no-write allocation — (memory management) A cache policy where only processor reads are cached, thus avoiding the need for write-back or write-through.
- nordrhein-westfalen — German name of North Rhine-Westphalia.
- perfoliate bellwort — a slender plant, Uvularia perfoliata, of the lily family, of eastern North America, having pale yellow, bell-shaped flowers.
- pileated woodpecker — a large, black-and-white American woodpecker, Dryocopus pileatus, having a prominent red crest.
- pinwheel escapement — a clock escapement in which two pallets, usually of unequal length, alternately engage and release pins set on the escape wheel perpendicular to its plane of rotation.
- play footsie (with) — to touch feet or rub knees (with) in a caressing way, as under the table
- play the devil with — Theology. (sometimes initial capital letter) the supreme spirit of evil; Satan. a subordinate evil spirit at enmity with God, and having power to afflict humans both with bodily disease and with spiritual corruption.
- public-interest law — a branch of law that often utilizes class-action suits to protect the interest of a large group or of the public at large, as in matters relating to racial discrimination, air pollution, etc.
- sell down the river — a natural stream of water of fairly large size flowing in a definite course or channel or series of diverging and converging channels.
- so what else is new — not surprised
- sow one's wild oats — any uncultivated species of Avena, especially a common weedy grass, A. fatua, resembling the cultivated oat.
- swallow-tailed coat — tail coat.
- swallow-tailed kite — an American kite, Elanoides forficatus, having black upper parts, white head and underparts, and a long, deeply forked tail.
- swedish nightingale — Jenny (Johanna Maria Lind Goldschmidt"The Swedish Nightingale") 1820–87, Swedish soprano.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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)
- 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.
- winged spindle tree — a stiff, spreading shrub, Euonymus alata, of eastern Asia, having corky-winged twigs, yellowish flowers, and purplish fruit.
- wireless telegraphy — Now Rare. radiotelegraphy.
- with the gloves off — (of a dispute, argument, etc) conducted mercilessly and in earnest, with no reservations