17-letter words containing w, s, d
- store and forward — to store (information) in a computer for later forward transmission through a telecommunication network
- 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.
- strawberry blonde — woman: with reddish fair hair
- swaddling clothes — cloth for wrapping around a baby
- sword and sorcery — a genre of literature and film, usually set in days of old with magic as well as sword fighting
- sword of damocles — Damocles (def 2).
- the outside world — You can use the outside world to refer to all the people who do not live in a particular place or who are not involved in a particular situation.
- throat sweetbread — sweetbread (def 2).
- tilt at windmills — to cause to lean, incline, slope, or slant.
- to do one's worst — If someone does their worst, they do everything unpleasant that they can possibly do. You can say 'do your worst' to show someone that you are not frightened of what they may do.
- to know no bounds — If you say that a feeling or quality knows no bounds, you are emphasizing that it is very strong or intense.
- to win hands down — If you win hands down, you win very easily.
- turn-down service — In a hotel, a turn-down service is the preparation of a room for a guest to sleep in by slightly turning back the comforter on the bed, turning down the lights, and so on.
- 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.
- 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
- war correspondent — a reporter or commentator assigned to send news or opinions directly from battle areas.
- wardrobe mistress — a woman in charge of keeping theatrical costumes cleaned, pressed, and in wearable condition.
- 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).
- wedding breakfast — meal served at wedding reception
- weigh one's 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.
- well-accomplished — completed; done; effected: an accomplished fact.
- well-demonstrated — to make evident or establish by arguments or reasoning; prove: to demonstrate a philosophical principle.
- well-investigated — to examine, study, or inquire into systematically; search or examine into the particulars of; examine in detail.
- western red cedar — an arborvitae, Thuja plicata, of western North America, grown as an ornamental.
- what does sb know — You can use expressions such as What does she know? and What do they know? when you think that someone has no right to comment on a situation because they do not understand it.
- wheatstone bridge — a circuit for measuring an unknown resistance by comparing it with known resistances.
- white blood cells — any of various nearly colorless cells of the immune system that circulate mainly in the blood and lymph and participate in reactions to invading microorganisms or foreign particles, comprising the B cells, T cells, macrophages, monocytes, and granulocytes.
- wild sarsaparilla — a low plant, Aralia nudicaulis, of the ginseng family, native to eastern North America, having a single, long-stalked, compound leaf and a ball-like cluster of greenish-yellow flowers.
- wild service tree — either of two European trees, Sorbus domestica, bearing a small, acid fruit that is edible when overripe, or S. torminalis (wild service tree) bearing a similar fruit.
- wild sweet potato — man-of-the-earth.
- williams syndrome — an abnormality in the genes involved in calcium metabolism, resulting in learning difficulties
- winding staircase — long set of spiral stairs
- windowglass shell — capiz.
- windows messaging — (messaging) Microsoft's Internet electronic mail application, formerly called Microsoft Exchange.
- windscreen washer — a small nozzle on the bonnet of a motor vehicle, from which jets of water are squirted electronically onto the windscreen to help clean it
- wings of the dove — a novel (1902) by Henry James.
- wisdom of solomon — a book of the Apocrypha.
- wood meadow grass — a coarse, spreading grass, Poa nemoralis, of Eurasia, having flowers in long, narrow clusters.
- wood preservative — a coating applied to timber as a protection against decay, insects, weather, etc
- wooden-headedness — thick-headed, dull; stupid.
- wring one's hands — If someone wrings their hands, they hold them together and twist and turn them, usually because they are very worried or upset about something. You can also say that someone is wringing their hands when they are expressing sorrow that a situation is so bad but are saying that they are unable to change it.