16-letter words containing w, o, l
- hole in the wall — an opening through something; gap; aperture: a hole in the roof; a hole in my sock.
- hole-in-the-wall — A hole-in-the-wall machine is a machine built into the wall of a bank or other building, which allows people to take out money from their bank account by using a special card.
- holographic will — a will that is entirely in the handwriting of the testator: in some states recognized as valid without the attestation of witnesses.
- hopfield network — (artificial intelligence) (Or "Hopfield model") A kind of neural network investigated by John Hopfield in the early 1980s. The Hopfield network has no special input or output neurons (see McCulloch-Pitts), but all are both input and output, and all are connected to all others in both directions (with equal weights in the two directions). Input is applied simultaneously to all neurons which then output to each other and the process continues until a stable state is reached, which represents the network output.
- hot cold-working — metalworking at considerable heat but below the temperature at which the metal recrystallizes: a form of cold-working.
- hot-water bottle — a bag, usually of rubber, for holding hot water to apply warmth to some part of the body, as the feet.
- immigration laws — regulations on incoming foreigners
- imperfect flower — a unisexual flower with only stamens or only pistils
- in lockstep with — progressing at exactly the same speed and in the same direction as other people or things, esp as a matter of course rather than by choice
- inofficious will — a will inconsistent with the moral duty and natural affection of the testator, especially one denying the legitimate heirs the portions of the estate to which they are legally entitled.
- invisible shadow — (in architectural shades and shadows) a three-dimensional space occupied by the shadow projected by a solid and within which a surface is in shadow.
- it is as well to — You say it is as well to think or do something when you are advising someone to think in a particular way or to take a particular action.
- jailhouse lawyer — a prisoner who has taught himself or herself law while serving time, is knowledgeable about technical legal matters, and gives legal advice, especially to fellow prisoners.
- javelin throwing — the sport of throwing the javelin
- jeweller's rouge — a finely powdered form of ferric oxide used as a metal polish
- john wheelwright — John, 1592?–1679, English clergyman in America.
- junior flyweight — a boxer weighing up to 108 pounds (48.6 kg), between minimumweight and flyweight.
- kirchhoff's laws — the law that the algebraic sum of the currents flowing toward any point in an electric network is zero.
- know one's place — a particular portion of space, whether of definite or indefinite extent.
- knowledge worker — a person employed to produce or analyse ideas and information
- knowledgeability — possessing or exhibiting knowledge, insight, or understanding; intelligent; well-informed; discerning; perceptive.
- law of exponents — the theorem stating the elementary properties of exponents, as the property that the product of the same bases, each raised to an exponent, is equal to the base raised to the sum of the exponents: xa ⋅ xb = xa + b .
- law of parsimony — a principle according to which an explanation of a thing or event is made with the fewest possible assumptions.
- lawson criterion — (in a hypothetical nuclear fusion reactor) the requirement that in order for the energy produced by fusion to exceed the energy expended in causing the fusion, the product of the density of the fuel and the time during which it is confined at that density (Lawson product) must be greater than a certain number that depends on the kind of fuel used.
- lay down the law — the principles and regulations established in a community by some authority and applicable to its people, whether in the form of legislation or of custom and policies recognized and enforced by judicial decision.
- leave well alone — to refrain from interfering with something that is satisfactory
- lesser spearwort — a Eurasian ranunculaceous plant, R. flammula, of the genus Ranunculus, which grows in wet places and has long narrow leaves and yellow flowers
- let loose (with) — to set free or give out; release
- little brown bat — any of several small to medium-sized common bats of the genera Myotis and Eptesicus, found worldwide in caves, trees, and buildings, including M. lucifugus (little brown bat) and E. fuscus (big brown bat) a widespread North American species.
- littoral warfare — military combat conducted in coastal areas.
- long-wire aerial — a travelling-wave aerial consisting of one or more conductors, the length of which usually exceeds several wavelengths
- look up and down — to search everywhere
- lord howe island — an island in the S Pacific, E of Australia: a dependency of New South Wales. 5 sq. mi. (13 sq. km).
- lost-wax process — a process of investment casting in which a refractory mold is built up around a pattern of wax and then baked so as to melt and drain off the wax.
- low-carbon steel — steel containing between 0.04 and 0.25 per cent carbon
- lower california — Baja California.
- lower lough erne — a lough in Northern Ireland, fed by the river Erne
- lower palatinate — See under Palatinate (def 1).
- luck of the draw — the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities: With my luck I'll probably get pneumonia.
- magnolia warbler — a black and yellow wood warbler, Dendroica magnolia, of North America.
- maid of all work — a maid who does all types of housework
- mallowpuff māori — a Māori who is considered to behave like a white person
- man of the world — a man who is widely experienced in the ways of the world and people; an urbane, sophisticated man.
- mauchly, john w. — John Mauchly
- molecular weight — the average weight of a molecule of an element or compound measured in units once based on the weight of one hydrogen atom taken as the standard or on 1/16 (0.0625) the weight of an oxygen atom, but after 1961 based on 1/12 (0.083) the weight of the carbon-12 atom; the sum of the atomic weights of all the atoms in a molecule. Abbreviation: mol. wt.
- monkey-faced owl — barn owl.
- most wanted list — an actual or supposed listing of the names of persons who are urgently being sought for a specific reason, as apprehension for an alleged crime.
- network analysis — a mathematical method of analyzing complex problems, as in transportation or project scheduling, by representing the problem as a network of lines and nodes.
- network meltdown — (networking) (By analogy with catastrophic failure of a nuclear reactor) An event that causes saturation, or near saturation, of a network. Network meltdown usually results from illegal or misrouted packets (see Chernobyl packet) and typically lasts only a short time. It may also be caused by a hardware fault. It is the network equivalent of thrashing.
- network topology — (networking) The "shape" of a network, how the nodes are connected to each other. Common topologies are bus network, star network and ring network.