16-letter words containing w, h, t, s
- phillis wheatley — Phillis [fil-is] /ˈfɪl ɪs/ (Show IPA), 1753?–84, American poet, born in Africa; probably Senegal.
- poor white trash — white trash.
- put to the sword — to kill with a sword or swords
- sawn-off shotgun — A sawn-off shotgun is a shotgun on which the barrel has been cut short. Guns like this are often used by criminals because they can be easily hidden.
- schweizerdeutsch — Schwyzertütsch.
- secondary growth — an increase in the thickness of the shoots and roots of a vascular plant as a result of the formation of new cells in the cambium.
- shaft horsepower — the horsepower delivered to the driving shaft of an engine, as measured by a torsion meter. Abbreviation: shp, SHP.
- sheet-web weaver — any of numerous spiders of the family Linyphiidae, characterized by a closely woven, sheetlike web.
- short sweetening — sugar.
- shorthand writer — a person trained to write in shorthand
- show one's teeth — (in most vertebrates) one of the hard bodies or processes usually attached in a row to each jaw, serving for the prehension and mastication of food, as weapons of attack or defense, etc., and in mammals typically composed chiefly of dentin surrounding a sensitive pulp and covered on the crown with enamel.
- show-me attitude — a sceptical frame of mind
- showbiz reporter — a journalist who writes about the entertainment industry
- showcase project — a project designed to attract attention and show off the abilities of the people involved in it
- somehow or other — in an undetermined way
- sooty shearwater — any of several long-winged seabirds, often used as food, especially Puffinus tenuirostris (short-tailed shearwater) of Australia and Puffinus griseus (sooty shearwater) which breeds in the Southern Hemisphere and winters in the Northern Hemisphere.
- straight whiskey — pure, unblended whiskey of 80 to 110 proof.
- strawberry shrub — Carolina allspice
- superheavyweight — an amateur boxer weighing more than 91 kg
- swash plate pump — a collar or face plate on a shaft that is inclined at an oblique angle to the axis of rotation and imparts reciprocating motion to push rods parallel to the shaft axis
- sweet pepperbush — a shrub, Clethra alnifolia, of the eastern and southern coastal U.S., having numerous erect clusters of white or pinkish flowers.
- sweeten the pill — If someone does something to sweeten the pill or sugar the pill, they do it to make some unpleasant news or an unpleasant measure more acceptable.
- the easy way out — least demanding solution
- the great powers — the states or nations of the world with the most economic, political and military strength
- the swiss-french — people from French-speaking Switzerland
- the two sicilies — a former kingdom of S Italy, consisting of the kingdoms of Sicily and Naples (1061–1860)
- the war-disabled — those people who have been disabled by war
- the weakest link — the person who is making the least contribution to the collective achievement of a group
- the welsh office — (formerly) a department of the British government with responsibility for Welsh policies. It was replaced by the Wales office in 1999.
- the west country — the southwest of England, esp Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset
- the wheel blacks — the international wheelchair rugby football team of New Zealand
- the yellow press — (formerly) popular newspapers publishing sensational stories
- theatre workshop — a theatre company that is noted for the unconventional theatrical performances it puts on, especially with reference to a company based in the East End of London from 1953 to 1973 that was founded in 1945 by Joan Littlewood
- this-worldliness — concern or preoccupation with worldly things and values.
- throw oneself at — 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.
- throw oneself on — to rely entirely upon
- to cut both ways — If you say that something cuts both ways, you mean that it can have two opposite effects, or can have both good and bad effects.
- two-family house — a house designed for occupation by two families in contiguous apartments, as on separate floors.
- two-tailed pasha — a distinctive vanessid butterfly of S Europe, Charaxes jasius, having mottled brown wings with a yellow-orange margin and frilled hind edges
- twofold purchase — a purchase using a double standing block and a double running block so as to give a mechanical advantage of four or five, neglecting friction, depending on whether the hauling is on the standing block or the running block.
- up to the elbows — deeply engaged (in work, etc.)
- walk the streets — to be a prostitute
- walrus moustache — a long thick moustache drooping at the ends
- ward christensen — (person) The inventor of XMODEM and of the BBS. Ward did physics in college and programmed mainframes for IBM. Ward and friend Randy Suess set up their BBS on first on 1978-02-16 in Chicago. It ran on an S-100 computer with 64k RAM and two single-sided 8" 250kB diskettes.
- washing-up water — water used for washing dishes
- washington state — the state of Washington, especially as distinguished from Washington, D.C.
- washington thorn — a dense tree, Crataegus phaenopyrum, of the rose family, native to the eastern coast of the U.S., having triangular leaves, small clusters of white flowers, and clusters of bright red fruit.
- washington, d. c — Booker T(aliaferro) [boo k-er tol-uh-ver] /ˈbʊk ər ˈtɒl ə vər/ (Show IPA), 1856–1915, U.S. reformer, educator, author, and lecturer.
- washington, d.c. — Booker T(aliaferro) [boo k-er tol-uh-ver] /ˈbʊk ər ˈtɒl ə vər/ (Show IPA), 1856–1915, U.S. reformer, educator, author, and lecturer.
- watch one's step — a movement made by lifting the foot and setting it down again in a new position, accompanied by a shifting of the weight of the body in the direction of the new position, as in walking, running, or dancing.