21-letter words containing w, e, l

the letter of the law — If you say that someone keeps to the letter of the law , you mean that they act according to what is actually written in the law, rather than according to the general principles of it, especially when you disapprove of this.
the lower vertebrates — relatively simple and primitive vertebrates
the middle of nowhere — remote place
the women's land army — a unit of women recruited to do agricultural work in the United Kingdom during World War I and World War II
the yellow brick road — the road to success or happiness (in the film the Wizard of Oz the yellow brick road leads to Oz)
thermal power station — a power station in which heat is converted into electricity
threshold wage policy — a policy whereby wages are increased in accordance with inflation
throw sb a curve ball — If someone throws you a curve or throws you a curve ball, they surprise you by doing something that you do not expect.
to blow sth wide open — to expose something
to lay down your life — If someone lays down their life for another person, they die so that the other person can live.
to let your hair down — If you let your hair down, you relax completely and enjoy yourself.
to look the other way — If you say that someone looks the other way, you are critical of them because they pay no attention to something unpleasant that is happening, when they should be dealing with it properly.
to rub shoulders with — If you rub shoulders with famous people, you meet them and talk to them. You can also say that you rub elbows with someone, especially in American English.
to take the long view — If you take the long view, you consider what is likely to happen in the future over a long period, rather than thinking only about things that are going to happen soon.
to throw in the towel — If you throw in the towel, you stop trying to do something because you realize that you cannot succeed.
traffic control tower — an elevated structure for the visual observation and control of the air and ground traffic at an airport
twelve-tone technique — a modern system of tone relationships in which the 12 tones of an octave are not centered around any one tone, but are unified by a selected order of tones for a given composition.
twenty-two metre line — one of two lines on a rugby pitch which are twenty-two metres from the goal-line
twist the lion's tail — a large, usually tawny-yellow cat, Panthera leo, native to Africa and southern Asia, having a tufted tail and, in the male, a large mane.
up hill and down dale — strenuously and persistently
up to the elbows with — busily occupied with; deeply immersed in
venus's flower basket — a glass sponge of the genus Euplectella, inhabiting deep waters off the Philippines and Japan, having a cylindrical skeleton formed of an intricate latticework of siliceous spicules.
warm silence software — A small company run by(?) Robin Watts, producing software for the Acorn Archimedes.
watenstedt-salzgitter — former name of Salzgitter.
water-vascular system — a system of closed, fluid-filled tubes and ducts of echinoderms used in clinging, locomotion, feeding, and respiration.
weak head normal form — (reduction, theory) (WHNF) A lambda expression is in weak head normal form (WHNF) if it is a head normal form (HNF) or any lambda abstraction. I.e. the top level is not a redex. The term was coined by Simon Peyton Jones to make explicit the difference between head normal form (HNF) and what graph reduction systems produce in practice. A lambda abstraction with a reducible body, e.g. \ x . ((\ y . y+x) 2) is in WHNF but not HNF. To reduce this expression to HNF would require reduction of the lambda body: (\ y . y+x) 2 --> 2+x Reduction to WHNF avoids the name capture problem with its need for alpha conversion of an inner lambda abstraction and so is preferred in practical graph reduction systems. The same principle is often used in strict languages such as Scheme to provide call-by-name evaluation by wrapping an expression in a lambda abstraction with no arguments: D = delay E = \ () . E The value of the expression is obtained by applying it to the empty argument list:
weinberg-salam theory — electroweak theory.
well-ordering theorem — the theorem of set theory that every set can be made a well-ordered set.
west lothian question — the apparent inconsistency that members of parliament who represent Scottish constituencies are eligible to vote at Westminster on matters that relate only to England, whereas members of parliament from English constituencies are not eligible to vote on Scottish matters
west university place — a city in SE Texas.
wet collodion process — a photographic process, in common use in the mid-19th century, employing a glass photographic plate coated with iodized collodion and dipped in a silver nitrate solution immediately before use.
what the future holds — If you wonder what the future holds, you wonder what will happen in the future.
when the dust settles — If you say that something will happen when the dust settles, you mean that a situation will be clearer after it has calmed down. If you let the dust settle before doing something, you let a situation calm down before you try to do anything else.
whistling in the dark — If you say that someone is whistling in the dark, you mean that they are trying to remain brave and convince themselves that the situation is not as bad as it seems.
white-knuckle paddler — an inexpert and timid canoeist.
wholesale price index — an indicator of price changes in the wholesale market
wildlife photographer — someone that specializes in taking photographs of wild animals, especially in their natural habitats, and plants
william of malmesbury — William of, William of Malmesbury.
william the conqueror — ("the Conqueror") 1027–87, duke of Normandy 1035–87; king of England 1066–87 (son of Robert I, duke of Normandy).
wilson's storm petrel — a small petrel, Oceanites oceanicus, that breeds in the Southern Hemisphere but ranges into the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
with a capital letter — (used to give emphasis to a statement)
with sb's compliments — If you say that you are giving someone something with your compliments, you are saying in a polite and fairly formal way that you are giving it to them, especially as a gift or a favour.
worth someone's while — worth someone's time, consideration, etc.; profitable in some way
yellow lady's-slipper — a showy orchid, Cypripedium calceolus, of eastern North America, having purple-tinged yellow flowers with an inflated lip petal.
yellow mercuric oxide — a slightly crystalline, water-soluble, poisonous compound, HgO, occurring as a coarse, orange-red powder (red mercuric oxide) or as a fine, orange-yellow powder (yellow mercuric oxide) used chiefly as a pigment in paints and as an antiseptic in pharmaceuticals.
yellow-fever mosquito — a mosquito, Aedes aegypti, that transmits yellow fever and dengue.
yellow-flowered gourd — the hard-shelled fruit of any of various plants, especially those of Lagenaria siceraria (white-flowered gourd or bottle gourd) whose dried shell is used for bowls and other utensils, and Cucurbita pepo (yellow-flowered gourd) used ornamentally. Compare gourd family.
yellow-rumped warbler — a common North American wood warbler, Dendroica coronata, having yellow spots on the rump, crown, and sides, including a white-throated eastern subspecies (myrtle warbler) and a yellow-throated western subspecies (Audubon's warbler)
yellow-throated vireo — an olive-green vireo, Vireo flavifrons, of eastern North America, having a bright yellow throat and breast.

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