18-letter words containing w, h, e, t, r
- northwest by north — a point on the compass, 11°15′ north of northwest. Abbreviation: NWbN.
- not breathe a word — to take air, oxygen, etc., into the lungs and expel it; inhale and exhale; respire.
- one way or another — somehow, by some means
- over and done with — If you say that something is over and done with, you mean that it is completely finished and you do not have to think about it any more.
- paint the town red — a substance composed of solid coloring matter suspended in a liquid medium and applied as a protective or decorative coating to various surfaces, or to canvas or other materials in producing a work of art.
- pave the way (for) — to prepare the way (for); facilitate the introduction (of)
- peter and the wolf — a composition by Sergei Prokofiev written in 1936. It is a children's story with both music and text, spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra
- peter tschaikowsky — Peter Ilyich [il-yich] /ˈɪl yɪtʃ/ (Show IPA), Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich.
- random walk theory — the theory that the future movement of share prices does not reflect past movements and therefore will not follow a discernible pattern
- reinvent the wheel — (jargon) To design or implement a tool equivalent to an existing one or part of one, with the implication that doing so is silly or a waste of time. This is often a valid criticism. On the other hand, automobiles don't use wooden rollers, and some kinds of wheel have to be reinvented many times before you get them right. On the third hand, people reinventing the wheel do tend to come up with the moral equivalent of a trapezoid with an offset axle.
- rhode island white — one of a dual-purpose American breed of chickens having white feathers and a rose comb.
- rub shoulders with — to mix with socially or associate with
- salem witch trials — 17th-century witchcraft case
- saskatchewan party — (in Canada) a Saskatchewan political party formed by former members of the provincial Progressive Conservative and Liberal Parties
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- stomach sweetbread — sweetbread (def 1).
- super middleweight — a boxer weighing up to 168 pounds (75.6 kg), between middleweight and light heavyweight.
- take the wraps off — to reveal
- 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 operative word — If you describe a word as the operative word, you want to draw attention to it because you think it is important or exactly true in a particular situation.
- 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 weather bureau — the national agency responsible for collecting data about the weather and issuing forecasts
- 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.
- think the world of — the earth or globe, considered as a planet.
- throw in the towel — an absorbent cloth or paper for wiping and drying something wet, as one for the hands, face, or body after washing or bathing.
- 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 sweep the board — If someone sweeps the board in a competition or election, they win nearly everything that it is possible to win.
- 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.
- two-chamber system — the system of having two parliamentary chambers, as the House of Lords and the House of Commons in the United Kingdom
- warehouse capacity — the amount of storage space in a warehouse
- water of hydration — the portion of a hydrate that is represented as, or can be expelled as, water: now usually regarded as being in true molecular combination with the other atoms of the compound, and not existing in the compound as water.
- water on the brain — hydrocephalus.
- wave of the future — a trend or development that may influence or become a significant part of the future: Computerization is the wave of the future.
- weather forecaster — meteorologist
- west-northwestward — moving, bearing, facing, or situated toward the west-northwest.
- west-southwestward — moving, bearing, facing, or situated toward the west-southwest.
- western hemisphere — the western part of the terrestrial globe, including North and South America, their islands, and the surrounding waters.
- westinghouse brake — a railroad air brake operated by compressed air.
- where you left off — If something continues from where it left off, it starts happening again at the point where it had previously stopped.
- white iron pyrites — marcasite
- white man's burden — the alleged duty of white colonizers to care for nonwhite indigenous subjects in their colonial possessions.
- white trumpet lily — a lily, Lilium longiflorum, of Japan, having fragrant, pure white, trumpet-shaped flowers nearly 7 inches (18 cm) in length.
- white-collar crime — any of various crimes, as embezzlement, fraud, or stealing office equipment, committed by business or professional people while working at their occupations.