19-letter words containing w, e, n, s
- 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.
- 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.
- pugwash conferences — international peace conferences of scientists held regularly to discuss world problems: Nobel peace prize 1995 awarded to Joseph Rotblat (1908–2005) , one of the founders of the conferences, secretary-general (1957–73), and president (1988–97)
- put one's foot down — (in vertebrates) the terminal part of the leg, below the ankle joint, on which the body stands and moves.
- ralph waldo emerson — Ralph Waldo [wawl-doh,, wol-] /ˈwɔl doʊ,, ˈwɒl-/ (Show IPA), 1803–82, U.S. essayist and poet.
- sandwich generation — the generation of people still raising their children while having to care for their aging parents.
- scale down (or up) — to reduce (or increase), often according to a fixed ratio or proportion
- see one's way clear — to be willing (to do something)
- 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.
- siberian wallflower — a North American plant, Erysimum asperum, of the mustard family, having orange-yellow flowers.
- so what else is new — not surprised
- someone's writ runs — someone has power or authority of a specified kind or scope
- son-of-a-bitch stew — (in the Old West) a stew often prepared by chuck-wagon cooks for working cowboys, containing tripe and often also the heart, liver, brains, kidney, etc., of a slaughtered steer.
- sound effects woman — a woman who produces sounds artificially or reproduces them from a recording, etc, to create a theatrical effect, such as the bringing together of two halves of a hollow coconut shell to simulate a horse's gallop. Such sound effects are used in plays, films, etc
- sow one's wild oats — any uncultivated species of Avena, especially a common weedy grass, A. fatua, resembling the cultivated oat.
- spanish west africa — a former overseas territory of Spain in NW Africa: divided in 1958 into the overseas provinces of Ifni and Spanish Sahara
- spider-hunting wasp — any solitary wasp of the superfamily Pompiloidea, having a slender elongated body: the fast-running female hunts spiders as a food store for her larvae
- spotted wintergreen — an evergreen plant, Chimaphila maculata, of central North America, having leaves with mottled-white veins and white, fragrant flowers.
- st. lawrence seaway — a series of channels, locks, and canals between Montreal and the mouth of Lake Ontario, a distance of 182 miles (293 km), enabling most deep-draft vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean, up the St. Lawrence River, to all the Great Lakes ports: developed jointly by the U.S. and Canada.
- stick in one's craw — the crop of a bird or insect.
- straightforwardness — going or directed straight ahead: a straightforward gaze.
- strawberry geranium — a plant, Saxifraga stolonifera (or S. sarmentosa), of the saxifrage family, native to eastern Asia, that has rounded, variegated leaves and numerous threadlike stolons and is frequently cultivated as a houseplant.
- swallow one's words — to retract a statement, argument, etc, often in humiliating circumstances
- swedish nightingale — Jenny (Johanna Maria Lind Goldschmidt"The Swedish Nightingale") 1820–87, Swedish soprano.
- sweetheart contract — a contract made through collusion between management and labor representatives containing terms beneficial to management and detrimental to union workers.
- 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
- taming of the shrew — a comedy (1594?) by Shakespeare.
- 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 hampshire downs — a range of low chalk hills that crosses Hampshire in S England
- the mathworks, inc. — (company) The company marketing MATLAB. E-mail: <[email protected]>. Address: 3 Apple Hill Drive, Natick, Massachusetts 01760-2098 USA. Telephone: +1 (508) 647-7000. Fax: +1 (508) 647-7101.
- the wolverine state — a Midwestern state in the Great Lakes area of the north central US
- there is no knowing — one cannot tell
- throw in one's hand — (in cards) to concede defeat by putting one's cards down
- throw in the sponge — any aquatic, chiefly marine animal of the phylum Porifera, having a porous structure and usually a horny, siliceous or calcareous internal skeleton or framework, occurring in large, sessile colonies.
- throw oneself at sb — If someone throws themselves at you, they make it very obvious that they want to begin a relationship with you, by behaving as though they are sexually attracted to you.
- 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 follow your nose — If you follow your nose to get to a place, you go straight ahead or follow the most obvious route.
- to let someone know — If you let someone know something, you tell them about it or make sure that they know about it.
- to plumb new depths — If you say that something plumbs new depths, you mean that it is worse than all the things of its kind that have existed before, even though some of them have been very bad.
- toot one's own horn — one of the bony, permanent, hollow paired growths, often curved and pointed, that project from the upper part of the head of certain ungulate mammals, as cattle, sheep, goats, or antelopes.
- twenty-six counties — the counties of the Republic of Ireland
- twist someone's arm — the upper limb of the human body, especially the part extending from the shoulder to the wrist.
- under the shadow of — in danger of; apparently fated for
- 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.
- wage-push inflation — an inflationary trend caused by wage increases that in turn cause rises in production costs and prices.