17-letter words containing w, i, s, a
- social notworking — the practice of spending time unproductively on social networking websites, esp when one should be working
- software engineer — a person who writes computer programs
- south west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- south-west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- spaghetti western — a low-budget western movie shot in Italy or Spain, usually with Italian actors and an American star.
- spanish civil war — the civil war in Spain 1936–39.
- spiny-headed worm — any of a small group of endoparasites of the phylum Acanthocephala, as larvae parasitic in insects and crustaceans and as adults in various vertebrates.
- spread your wings — if you spread your wings, you do something new and rather difficult or move to a new place, because you feel more confident in your abilities than you used to and you want to gain wider experience
- spring cankerworm — the striped, green caterpillar of any of several geometrid moths: a foliage pest of various fruit and shade trees, as Paleacrita vernata (spring cankerworm) and Alsophila pometaria (fall cankerworm)
- st. swithin's day — July 15, superstitiously regarded as a day that, should it rain or be fair, will be followed by 40 consecutive days of like weather.
- straw in the wind — If you say that an incident or piece of news is a straw in the wind, you mean that it gives an indication of what might happen in the future.
- sun-2 workstation — (computer) A Unix workstation produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc., based on the Motorola 68000. Followed by the Sun-3 Workstation.
- sun-3 workstation — (computer) A Unix workstation produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the 1980s, based on the Motorola 68020. Successor to the Sun-2 Workstation, followed by the Sun-4 Workstation. The Sun-3 had a custom MMU. A couple of mutant models used an entirely different architecture.
- sun-4 workstation — (computer) A Unix workstation produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the late 1980s[?], based on SPARC processors. The Sun-4 followed the Sun-3 Workstation. Later SPARC-based workstations were called "SPARCstations".
- swaddling clothes — cloth for wrapping around a baby
- swainson's thrush — a North American thrush, Catharus ustulatus, having olive upper parts and wintering south to Argentina.
- sweating sickness — a febrile epidemic disease that appeared in the 15th and 16th centuries: characterized by profuse sweating and frequently fatal in a few hours.
- switching station — A switching station is equipment used to tie together two or more electric circuits through switches.
- teaching software — computer software for use in providing online education
- tell its own tale — to be self-evident
- that way/this way — You can use that way and this way to refer to a statement or comment that you have just made.
- the final whistle — a blast on a referee's whistle to indicate that a game is over
- the lower animals — relatively simple or primitive animals and not mammals or vertebrates
- the winter season — the season of the year that covers the winter months
- thirty years' war — the war, often regarded as a series of wars (1618–48), in central Europe, initially involving a conflict between German Protestants and Catholics and later including political rivalries with France, Sweden, and Denmark opposing the Holy Roman Empire and Spain.
- three-strikes law — a law that mandates a life sentence to a felon convicted for the third time.
- tiger swallowtail — a yellow swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus, of eastern North America, having the forewings striped with black.
- tilt at windmills — to cause to lean, incline, slope, or slant.
- to win hands down — If you win hands down, you win very easily.
- twelve patriarchs — any of the sons of Jacob ((the twelve patriarchs),) from whom the tribes of Israel were descended.
- utagawa kuniyoshi — original name Igusa Magosabwo. 1797–1861, Japanese painter and printmaker of the ukiyo-e school, best known for his prints of warriors and landscapes
- wade-giles system — a system of Romanization of Chinese, devised by Sir Thomas Francis Wade (1818–95) and adapted by Herbert Allen Giles (1845–1935), widely used in representing Chinese words and names in English, especially before the adoption of pinyin.
- wage negotiations — talks between workers and employers over rates of pay
- wage-price spiral — a situation in which wage and price increases drive each other upward and cause inflation
- waianae mountains — a mountain range in W Oahu, Hawaii. Highest peak, Mount Kaala, 4025 feet (1228 meters).
- waist measurement — a measure of the circumference of the narrowest part of a person's waist
- wallis and futuna — French overseas territory in the South Pacific, northeast of the Fiji Islands: it consists of two groups of islands (Wallis Islands and Futuna Islands): c. 106 sq mi (275 sq km); pop. 14,000
- wallowa mountains — a mountain range in NE Oregon. Highest peak, Sacajawea Peak, 9838 feet (2999 meters).
- wang laboratories — (body) Computer manufacturer, known for their office automation products and the Wang PC. Quarterly sales $208M, profits $3M (Aug 1994).
- war establishment — the full wartime complement of men, equipment, and vehicles of a military unit
- wardrobe mistress — a woman in charge of keeping theatrical costumes cleaned, pressed, and in wearable condition.
- warehouse receipt — a receipt for goods placed in a warehouse.
- warehousing costs — the costs involved in storing goods in a warehouse
- warm-up exercises — preparatory exercises done to warm up the muscles
- warsaw convention — a multilateral treaty on aviation set up chiefly to limit air carriers' liability to passengers and shippers on international flights in the event of an accident.
- washing-up liquid — Washing-up liquid is a thick soapy liquid which you add to hot water to clean dirty dishes.
- washington island — an island off the Door Peninsula, NE Wisconsin, in NW Lake Michigan. 20 sq. mi. (50 sq. km).
- washington square — a short novel (1881) by Henry James.
- weapons inspector — a person who inspects a country's weapons
- weather satellite — meteorological satellite.