18-letter words containing w, e, s, t
- schleswig-holstein — two contiguous duchies of Denmark that were a center of international tension in the 19th century: Prussia annexed Schleswig 1864 and Holstein 1866.
- schwarz inequality — Also called Cauchy's inequality. the theorem that the inner product of two vectors is less than or equal to the product of the magnitudes of the vectors.
- self-tapping screw — a screw designed to tap its corresponding female thread as it is driven.
- sheltered workshop — a place of employment for persons with disabilities where their rights are protected and their needs are met.
- short story writer — author of short fiction
- short-tailed shrew — a grayish-black shrew, Blarina brevicauda, common in eastern North America, that has a tail less than half the length of the body.
- silvery spleenwort — a fern, Diplazium pycnocarpon, of eastern North America, having fronds from 20 to 30 inches (50.8 to 76.2 cm) long on yellowish-green stalks.
- skinny-rib sweater — a tight-fitting ribbed woollen jumper or pullover
- slow on the uptake — slow to understand or learn
- slow-motion replay — a showing again in slow motion of a sequence of action, esp of part of a sporting contest immediately after it happens
- software backplane — (programming, tool) A CASE framework from Atherton.
- south saskatchewan — a river in W Canada, flowing E from S Alberta and joining the North Saskatchewan River to form the Saskatchewan River. 865 miles (1392 km) long.
- southwest by south — a point on the compass 11°15′ south of southwest. Abbreviation: SWbS.
- sow dragon's teeth — to take some action that is intended to prevent strife or trouble but that actually brings it about
- spike-tooth harrow — a harrow equipped with straight teeth on horizontal bars, usually employed to smooth and level plowed soil or seedbeds for planting or sowing.
- st. andrew's cross — a low evergreen shrub, Ascyrum hypericoides, native to temperate and subtropical America, having flowers in clusters of three: often cultivated.
- st. lawrence river — a river in SE Canada, flowing NE from Lake Ontario, forming part of the boundary between New York and Ontario, and emptying into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 760 miles (1225 km) long.
- stand/wait in line — When people stand in line or wait in line, they stand one behind the other in a line, waiting their turn for something.
- stomach sweetbread — sweetbread (def 1).
- super middleweight — a boxer weighing up to 168 pounds (75.6 kg), between middleweight and light heavyweight.
- swarm intelligence — the collective behaviour of a group of animals, esp social insects such as ants, bees, and termites, that are each following very basic rules
- swartkrans ape-man — the fossil remains of the extinct hominid Australopithecus robustus, found at Swartkrans, Republic of South Africa: formerly classified in the genus Paranthropus.
- swedish gymnastics — a system of passive and active exercising of muscles and joints
- sweet vernal grass — a Eurasian meadow grass, Anthoxanthum odoratum, found throughout North America, having clusters of brownish-green flowers.
- sweptwing aircraft — an aircraft which has wings that are swept (usually) backwards
- swim with the tide — to conform to prevailing opinion
- take the wraps off — to reveal
- tale of two cities — a historical novel (1859) by Dickens.
- talk between ships — TBS (def 1).
- territorial waters — law: nation's boundaries
- the bird has flown — the person in question has fled or escaped
- the cat's whiskers — a person or thing that is excellent or superior
- the powers that be — You can refer to people in authority as the powers that be, especially when you want to say that you disagree with them or do not understand what they say or do.
- the three wise men — the wise men from the east who came to do homage to the infant Jesus
- the welsh assembly — the elected assembly for Wales, based in Cardiff, that has certain powers devolved from the UK government
- the worse for wear — If you say that someone is the worse for wear, you mean that they are tired, ill, or in a bad state because they have been very active, been through a difficult experience, or been drinking alcohol.
- throw oneself into — to propel or cast in any way, especially to project or propel from the hand by a sudden forward motion or straightening of the arm and wrist: to throw a ball.
- to bear witness to — If a person or thing bears witness to something, they show or say that it exists or happened.
- to get wind of sth — If you get wind of something, you hear about it, especially when someone else did not want you to know about it.
- to sweep the board — If someone sweeps the board in a competition or election, they win nearly everything that it is possible to win.
- to twist the knife — If you twist the knife or if you turn the knife in someone's wound, you do or say something to make an unpleasant situation they are in even more unpleasant.
- to watch your step — If someone tells you to watch your step, they are warning you to be careful about how you behave or what you say so that you do not get into trouble.
- townsend avalanche — avalanche (def 3).
- treaty of rijswijk — a treaty signed at Rijswijk in the Netherlands in 1697, ending the War of the Grand Alliance
- true to one's word — If you are true to your word or as good as your word, you do what you say you will do.
- two-chamber system — the system of having two parliamentary chambers, as the House of Lords and the House of Commons in the United Kingdom
- two-colour process — (in early colour photography) a method of printing which uses superimposed red and green images
- ultrasonic welding — the use of high-energy vibration of ultrasonic frequency to produce a weld between two components which are held in close contact
- up to one's elbows — the bend or joint of the human arm between upper arm and forearm.
- wandering minstrel — travelling performer