15-letter words containing w, e, t, n
- thorndike's law — the principle that all learnt behaviour is regulated by rewards and punishments, proposed by Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949), US psychologist
- three-line whip — A three-line whip is a situation where the MPs in a political party are ordered to attend parliament and vote in a particular way on a particular issue.
- threepennyworth — an amount having the value or price of threepence
- to my knowledge — as far as I am aware
- tower of london — a historic fortress in London, England: originally a royal palace, later a prison, now an arsenal and museum.
- 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.
- travelling wave — a wave carrying energy away from its source
- trigger warning — a stated warning that the content of a text, video, etc., may upset or offend some people, especially those who have previously experienced a related trauma: a blog post with a trigger warning for rape.
- 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.
- twelve-tone row — tone row.
- twist one's arm — to combine, as two or more strands or threads, by winding together; intertwine.
- twist the knife — to make a bad situation worse in a deliberately malicious way
- two-dimensional — having the dimensions of height and width only: a two-dimensional surface.
- 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.
- vatican swindle — Lafcadio's Adventures.
- venetian window — Palladian window.
- wage indexation — the linking of wages to an index representing the cost of living, so that they are automatically adjusted up or down as that rises or falls
- wallace nutting — Wallace, 1861–1941, U.S. antiquary, author, and illustrator.
- warmheartedness — The quality of being warmhearted.
- warrant officer — (in the U.S. Armed Forces) an officer of one of four grades ranking above enlisted personnel and below commissioned officers.
- 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 pennywort — any of numerous perennial herbs of the genus Hydrocotyle, of the parsley family, having rounded leaves and living in water or marshy places.
- water pimpernel — the brookweed.
- water pollution — the pollution of the sea and rivers
- water treatment — the act or process of making water more potable or useful, as by purifying, clarifying, softening, or deodorizing it.
- water-repellent — having a finish that resists but is not impervious to water.
- water-resistant — resisting though not entirely preventing the penetration of water.
- wattle and daub — Also, wattle and dab. a building technique employing wattles plastered with clay and mud.
- weather balloon — sounding balloon.
- weather station — an installation equipped and used for meteorological observation.
- weatherboarding — an early type of board used as a siding for a building.
- weatherproofing — Present participle of weatherproof.
- wedding banquet — a lavish meal served after a wedding ceremony
- wedding present — a present given to a couple when they get married
- weekend cottage — a cottage where people spend weekends
- weight training — weightlifting done as a conditioning exercise.
- well turned out — smartly dressed
- well-acquainted — having personal knowledge as a result of study, experience, etc.; informed (usually followed by with): to be acquainted with law.
- well-controlled — to exercise restraint or direction over; dominate; command: The car is difficult to control at high speeds. That zone is controlled by enemy troops.
- well-delineated — to trace the outline of; sketch or trace in outline; represent pictorially: He delineated the state of Texas on the map with a red pencil.
- well-documented — a written or printed paper furnishing information or evidence, as a passport, deed, bill of sale, or bill of lading; a legal or official paper.
- well-identified — to recognize or establish as being a particular person or thing; verify the identity of: to identify handwriting; to identify the bearer of a check.
- well-integrated — combining or coordinating separate elements so as to provide a harmonious, interrelated whole: an integrated plot; an integrated course of study.