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18-letter words containing w, r

  • ready when you are — If you say to someone 'Ready when you are', you are telling them that you are now ready to do something and that as soon as they are ready, you will do it.
  • 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.
  • resistance welding — welding utilizing pressure and heat that is generated in the pieces to be welded by resistance to an electric current.
  • revolutionary wars — American Revolution.
  • rhode island white — one of a dual-purpose American breed of chickens having white feathers and a rose comb.
  • right-to-work laws — a state law making it illegal to refuse employment to a person for the sole reason that he or she is not a union member.
  • rosebay willowherb — a perennial onagraceous plant, Chamerion (formerly Epilobium) angustifolium, that has spikes of deep pink flowers and is widespread in open places throughout N temperate regions
  • row address strobe — (storage)   (RAS) An input to a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) to indicate that the row address lines are valid.
  • rub shoulders with — to mix with socially or associate with
  • russo-japanese war — the war (1904–1905) between Russia and Japan.
  • 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.
  • self-tapping screw — a screw designed to tap its corresponding female thread as it is driven.
  • sharp-shinned hawk — a North American hawk, Accipiter striatus, having extremely slender legs, a bluish-gray back, and a white, rusty-barred breast.
  • 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.
  • silvery spleenwort — a fern, Diplazium pycnocarpon, of eastern North America, having fronds from 20 to 30 inches (50.8 to 76.2 cm) long on yellowish-green stalks.
  • skinny-rib sweater — a tight-fitting ribbed woollen jumper or pullover
  • slow-motion replay — a showing again in slow motion of a sequence of action, esp of part of a sporting contest immediately after it happens
  • software backplane — (programming, tool)   A CASE framework from Atherton.
  • solomon rabinowitz — Solomon, Aleichem, Sholom.
  • song without words — a song which only consists of a tune or melody and does not have any lyrics
  • 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.
  • spread one's wings — to make full use of one's abilities
  • st. andrew's cross — a low evergreen shrub, Ascyrum hypericoides, native to temperate and subtropical America, having flowers in clusters of three: often cultivated.
  • st. lawrence river — a river in SE Canada, flowing NE from Lake Ontario, forming part of the boundary between New York and Ontario, and emptying into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 760 miles (1225 km) long.
  • stomach sweetbread — sweetbread (def 1).
  • submarine sandwich — a sandwich made with a long cylindrical bread roll
  • sunflower seed oil — the oil extracted from sunflower seeds, used as a salad oil, in the manufacture of margarine, etc
  • super middleweight — a boxer weighing up to 168 pounds (75.6 kg), between middleweight and light heavyweight.
  • swarm intelligence — the collective behaviour of a group of animals, esp social insects such as ants, bees, and termites, that are each following very basic rules
  • swartkrans ape-man — the fossil remains of the extinct hominid Australopithecus robustus, found at Swartkrans, Republic of South Africa: formerly classified in the genus Paranthropus.
  • sweet vernal grass — a Eurasian meadow grass, Anthoxanthum odoratum, found throughout North America, having clusters of brownish-green flowers.
  • sweptwing aircraft — an aircraft which has wings that are swept (usually) backwards
  • take the wraps off — to reveal
  • telford and wrekin — a unitary authority in W Central England, in Shropshire. Pop: 160 300 (2003 est). Area: 289 sq km (112 sq miles)
  • territorial waters — law: nation's boundaries
  • 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.
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