14-letter words containing w, u
- power industry — all the people and activities involved in providing power (gas, electricity, etc) to homes and businesses
- power struggle — fight to take control
- public welfare — state aid to the poor
- pull-down list — (operating system) (Or "drop-down list") A graphical user interface component that allows the user to choose one (or sometimes more than one) item from a list. The current choice is visible in a small rectangle and when the user clicks on it, a list of items is revealed below it. The user can then click on one of these to make it the current choice and the list disappears. In some cases, by holding down a modifier key such as Ctrl when clicking, the selection is added to (or removed from) the set of current choices rather than replacing it.
- pull-down menu — (operating system) (Or "drop-down menu", "pop-down menu") A menu in a graphical user interface, whose title is normally visible but whose contents are revealed only when the user activates it, normally by pressing the mouse button while the pointer is over the title, whereupon the menu items appear below the title. The user may then select an item from the menu or click elsewhere, in either case the menu contents are hidden again. A menu item is selected either by dragging the mouse from the menu title to the item and releasing or by clicking the title and then the item. When a pull-down menu appears in the main area of a window, as opposed to the menu bar, it may have a small, downward-pointing triangle to the right. Compare: scrollable list.
- puncture wound — injury: perforation
- push down list — (programming) (PDL) In ITS days, the preferred MITism for stack. See overflow pdl.
- put down roots — settle: in a place
- put into words — express in language
- quarter hollow — a deep cove or cavetto.
- quarter window — (on a car) a small triangular side window with hinges that can be opened for extra ventilation
- rainbow cactus — an erect stiff cactus, Echinocereus pectinatus rigidissimus, of Arizona and Mexico, having a cylindrical body, numerous interlocking spines, and pink flowers.
- rainbow runner — a streamlined, cigar-shaped swift jack, Elagatis bipinnulata, of warm seas, having a blue back, light-colored abdomen, and blue-bordered yellow stripes on its sides: a food and game fish.
- reckon without — If you say that you had reckoned without something, you mean that you had not expected it and so were not prepared for it.
- residual power — power retained by a governmental authority after certain powers have been delegated to other authorities.
- roulette wheel — spinning part of roulette table
- ruby-tail wasp — any of various brightly coloured wasps of the family Chrysididae, having a metallic sheen, which parasitize bees and other solitary wasps
- rude awakening — If you have a rude awakening, you are suddenly made aware of an unpleasant fact.
- schwyzertutsch — any of the local dialects of German spoken in Switzerland.
- screw extruder — A screw extruder is a type of mixer which moves the components through a cylinder using a screw which turns.
- shawinigan-sud — a town in S Quebec, in E Canada, S of Shawinigan.
- showbiz column — a column about the entertainment industry
- shower cubicle — a shower enclosure
- shower curtain — waterproof sheet around a shower
- shut in a well — To shut in a well is to close off a well so that it stops producing.
- snow-in-summer — a mat-forming garden plant, Cerastium tomentosum, of the pink family, native to Italy, having white flowers and numerous narrow, white, woolly leaves in large patches, growing in sand.
- snowy mountain — of or relating to the Snowy Mountains of Australia or their inhabitants
- software house — a commercial organization that specializes in the production of computer software packages
- south whittier — a city in SW California, near Los Angeles.
- south-westerly — A south-westerly point, area, or direction is to the south-west or towards the south-west.
- southeastwards — Also, southeastwards. toward the southeast.
- southern crown — the constellation Corona Australis.
- southwesterner — a native or inhabitant of the southwest.
- southwestwards — Also, southwestwards. toward the southwest.
- spruce budworm — the larva of a common tortricid moth, Choristoneura fumiferana, that is a destructive pest primarily of spruce and balsam fir in the northern and northeastern U.S. and in Canada.
- straw mushroom — a small brown mushroom, Volvariella volvacea, used in Asian cookery.
- straw-coloured — If you describe something, especially hair, as straw-coloured, you mean that it is pale yellow.
- sturgeon's law — "Ninety percent of everything is crap". Derived from a quote by science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, who once said, "Sure, 90% of science fiction is crud. That's because 90% of everything is crud." Oddly, when Sturgeon's Law is cited, the final word is almost invariably changed to "crap". Compare Ninety-Ninety Rule. Though this maxim originated in SF fandom, most hackers recognise it and are all too aware of its truth.
- sulphur-flower — a plant, Eriogonum umbellatum, of the buckwheat family, native to the western coast of the U.S., having leaves with white, woolly hairs on the underside and golden-yellow flowers.
- sun-worshipper — someone who worships the sun as a deity
- surajah dowlah — Siraj-ud-daula.
- surface worker — a person who works on or near the ground surface
- suwannee sound — a part of the Gulf of Mexico where the Suwannee river reaches the sea
- sweated labour — workers forced to work in poor conditions for low pay
- swedish turnip — rutabaga.
- sweet and sour — Sweet and sour is used to describe Chinese food that contains both a sweet flavour and something sharp or sour such as lemon or vinegar.
- sweet chestnut — tree: edible nuts
- sweet viburnum — the sheepberry, Viburnum lentago.
- sweet woodruff — any of several plants belonging to the genus Asperula or Galium, of the madder family, as G. odoratum (sweet woodruff) a fragrant plant with small white flowers.
- sweet-and-sour — cooked with sugar and vinegar or lemon juice and often other seasonings.