16-letter words containing w, s, d
- hen of the woods — a large, grayish-brown, edible fungus, Polyporus frondosus, forming a mass of overlapping caps at the base of trees and somewhat resembling a hen.
- hookworm disease — any of certain bloodsucking nematode worms, as Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus, parasitic in the intestine of humans and other animals.
- hudsonian godwit — any of several large, widely distributed shorebirds of the genus Limosa, as the New World L. haemastica (Hudsonian godwit) having a long bill that curves upward slightly.
- in a brown study — in a reverie or daydream
- in ones and twos — You can use in ones and twos to indicate that people do things or something happens gradually and in small groups.
- in so many words — a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning. Words are composed of one or more morphemes and are either the smallest units susceptible of independent use or consist of two or three such units combined under certain linking conditions, as with the loss of primary accent that distinguishes black·bird· from black· bird·. Words are usually separated by spaces in writing, and are distinguished phonologically, as by accent, in many languages.
- in the shadow of — very close to; verging upon
- indian wrestling — arm wrestling
- industrial waste — waste materials left over from a manufacturing process in industrial buildings such as factories and mines
- 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.
- kawasaki disease — an acute illness of unknown cause, occurring primarily in children, characterized by high fever, swollen lymph glands, rash, redness in mouth and throat, and joint pain.
- keep under wraps — not reveal
- knuckle sandwich — a punch in the mouth with a clenched fist.
- lewis and harris — the northernmost island of the Hebrides, in NW Scotland. 825 sq. mi. (2135 sq. km).
- lord howe island — an island in the S Pacific, E of Australia: a dependency of New South Wales. 5 sq. mi. (13 sq. km).
- man of few words — man who speaks very little
- matthew flinders — Matthew, 1774–1814, English navigator and explorer: surveyed coast of Australia.
- measured daywork — a system of wage payment, usually determined by work-study techniques, whereby the wage of an employee is fixed on the understanding that a specific level of work performance will be maintained
- middle westerner — the region of the United States bounded on the W by the Rocky Mountains, on the S by the Ohio River and the S extremities of Missouri and Kansas, and on the E, variously, by the Allegheny Mountains, the E border of Ohio, or the E border of Illinois.
- monkey's wedding — a combination of sunshine and light rain
- 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.
- muddy the waters — If someone or something muddies the waters, they cause a situation or issue to seem less clear and less easy to understand.
- narrowmindedness — Alternative spelling of narrow-mindedness.
- network database — (database) A kind of database management system in which each record type can have multiple owners, e.g. orders are owned by both customers and products. This contrasts with a hierarchical database (one owner) or relational database (no explicit owner).
- new year's (day) — Jan. 1, the first day of a calendar year, usually celebrated as a legal holiday
- nine-days wonder — something that arouses great interest, but only for a short period
- observation ward — a ward in a hospital where patients are monitored
- on a world scale — in a way that involves the whole world
- otherworldliness — The quality of being otherworldly.
- out of the woods — the hard, fibrous substance composing most of the stem and branches of a tree or shrub, and lying beneath the bark; the xylem.
- pearls of wisdom — good advice, wise words
- pressure welding — the welding together of two objects by holding them together under pressure.
- put to the sword — to kill with a sword or swords
- radial (arm) saw — a circular saw suspended from a pivoted horizontal arm along which it can be moved
- rattlesnake weed — a hawkweed, Hieracium venosum, of eastern North America, whose leaves and root are thought to possess medicinal properties.
- reprocessed wool — wool cloth respun and rewoven from the raveled fibers of unused cloth, such as the waste or clippings from a garment factory
- rochelle powders — (not in technical use) Seidlitz powders.
- sandwich islands — the Hawaiian Islands
- schweizerdeutsch — Schwyzertütsch.
- seaside knotweed — See under knotweed.
- second world war — World War II.
- 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.
- seidlitz powders — a mild laxative consisting of tartaric acid, sodium bicarbonate, and Rochelle salt, which are dissolved separately, mixed, and drunk after effervescence.
- seward peninsula — a peninsula in W Alaska, on Bering Strait.
- shakedown cruise — extortion, as by blackmail or threats of violence.
- shared ownership — (in Britain) a form of house purchase whereby the purchaser buys a proportion of the dwelling, usually from a local authority or housing association, and rents the rest
- shorthand writer — a person trained to write in shorthand
- show cause order — a court order issued to a party in a lawsuit, directing that party to appear to give reasons why a certain action should not be put into effect by the court.
- show-me attitude — a sceptical frame of mind
- smokeless powder — any of various substitutes for ordinary gunpowder that give off little or no smoke, especially one composed wholly or mostly of guncotton.