15-letter words containing w, e, s, t, r
- spirit wrestler — a Doukhobor.
- spirits of wine — alcohol (def 1).
- spread the word — make others aware
- stalactite work — (in Islamic architecture) intricate decorative corbeling in the form of brackets, squinches, and portions of pointed vaults.
- starfish flower — carrion flower (def 2).
- stationary wave — standing wave.
- stillson wrench — a large wrench having adjustable jaws that tighten as the pressure on the handle is increased
- stone the crows — an expression of surprise, dismay, etc
- strawberry bass — the black crappie. See under crappie.
- strawberry bush — an E North American shrub or small tree, Euonymus americanus, having pendulous capsules that split when ripe to reveal scarlet seeds: family Celastraceae
- strawberry dish — a shallow, circular fruit dish with a fluted or pierced border.
- strawberry mark — a small, reddish, slightly raised birthmark.
- strawberry roan — a horse with a reddish coat that is liberally flecked with white hairs.
- strawberry tree — an evergreen shrub or tree, Arbutus unedo, of the heath family, native to southern Europe, bearing a scarlet, strawberrylike fruit.
- streamline flow — the flow of a fluid past an object such that the velocity at any fixed point in the fluid is constant or varies in a regular manner.
- sunflower state — Kansas (used as a nickname).
- swallow-tanager — a tropical American bird, Tersina viridis, related to the true tanagers but with longer, swallowlike wings.
- sweep the board — (in gambling) to win all the cards or money
- sweetheart deal — any agreement in which a public body offers unduly favourable terms to a private company or individual
- symphony writer — a composer of an extended large-scale orchestral composition, usually with several movements, at least one of which is in sonata form
- take one's word — a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning. Words are composed of one or more morphemes and are either the smallest units susceptible of independent use or consist of two or three such units combined under certain linking conditions, as with the loss of primary accent that distinguishes black·bird· from black· bird·. Words are usually separated by spaces in writing, and are distinguished phonologically, as by accent, in many languages.
- test the waters — assess or evaluate sth
- thankworthiness — the state or quality of being thankworthy or deserving thanks
- the cesarewitch — a long-distance horserace run each year in October at Newmarket racecourse
- the lower ranks — people who have a low rank in a military organization
- thorndike's law — the principle that all learnt behaviour is regulated by rewards and punishments, proposed by Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949), US psychologist
- towers of hanoi — (games) A classic computer science problem, invented by Edouard Lucas in 1883, often used as an example of recursion. "In the great temple at Benares, says he, beneath the dome which marks the centre of the world, rests a brass plate in which are fixed three diamond needles, each a cubit high and as thick as the body of a bee. On one of these needles, at the creation, God placed sixty-four discs of pure gold, the largest disc resting on the brass plate, and the others getting smaller and smaller up to the top one. This is the Tower of Bramah. Day and night unceasingly the priests transfer the discs from one diamond needle to another according to the fixed and immutable laws of Bramah, which require that the priest on duty must not move more than one disc at a time and that he must place this disc on a needle so that there is no smaller disc below it. When the sixty-four discs shall have been thus transferred from the needle on which at the creation God placed them to one of the other needles, tower, temple, and Brahmins alike will crumble into dust, and with a thunderclap the world will vanish." The recursive solution is: Solve for n-1 discs recursively, then move the remaining largest disc to the free needle. Note that there is also a non-recursive solution: On odd-numbered moves, move the smallest sized disk clockwise. On even-numbered moves, make the single other move which is possible.
- training wheels — a pair of small wheels attached one on each side of the rear wheel of a bicycle for stability while one is learning to ride.
- transfer window — the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other teams into their own
- transverse wave — a wave in which the direction of displacement is perpendicular to the direction of propagation, as a surface wave of water.
- troubled waters — a confused or chaotic state of affairs: The situation was terrible, but like many politicians he was attracted by troubled waters.
- trustworthiness — deserving of trust or confidence; dependable; reliable: The treasurer was not entirely trustworthy.
- tunbridge wells — a city in SW Kent, in SE England: mineral springs; resort.
- twist one's arm — to combine, as two or more strands or threads, by winding together; intertwine.
- two-star petrol — leaded petrol that has a low octane number; inferior leaded petrol
- two-thirds rule — a former rule in the Democratic Party, effective 1832–1936, requiring a vote of at least two thirds of its national convention delegates to nominate a presidential and vice-presidential candidate.
- unanswerability — the quality of not being answerable or contestable
- university wits — a name given to an Elizabethan group of university-trained playwrights and pamphleteers, among them Robert Greene, John Lyly, Thomas Nash, and George Peele.
- unseaworthiness — constructed, outfitted, manned, and in all respects fitted for a voyage at sea.
- wallpaper paste — an adhesive used for attaching wallpaper to a surface
- walrus mustache — a thick, shaggy mustache hanging down loosely at both ends.
- warmheartedness — The quality of being warmhearted.
- warrantableness — Quality of being warrantable.
- wassermann test — a diagnostic test for syphilis using the fixation of a complement by the serum of a syphilitic individual.
- water-based mud — Water-based mud is a type of drilling mud consisting mainly of water, which has additives to modify it and make it more effective.
- water-resistant — resisting though not entirely preventing the penetration of water.
- waterford glass — fine cut or gilded glass made in Waterford, Ireland, having a slight blue cast due to the presence of cobalt.
- weather station — an installation equipped and used for meteorological observation.
- wedding present — a present given to a couple when they get married
- welfare statism — the belief in or practices of a welfare state.