16-letter words containing w
- 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.
- knuckle sandwich — a punch in the mouth with a clenched fist.
- kondratieff wave — a long business cycle of economic expansion and contraction, postulated to last about 60 years.
- 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
- lewis and harris — the northernmost island of the Hebrides, in NW Scotland. 825 sq. mi. (2135 sq. km).
- 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.
- lleu llaw gyffes — the son of Gwydion and Arianhrod, provided with a name, weapons, and a wife through the magic and trickery of Gwydion in spite of the curses of Arianhrod.
- 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.
- machine washable — suitable for washing in a washing machine
- mackinaw blanket — a thick woolen blanket, often woven with bars of color, formerly used in the northern and western U.S. by Indians, loggers, etc.
- 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
- maintenance crew — a group of people who work together to keep a road, building, vehicle, or machine in good condition by regularly checking it and repairing it when necessary
- mallowpuff māori — a Māori who is considered to behave like a white person
- man of few words — man who speaks very little
- man of the world — a man who is widely experienced in the ways of the world and people; an urbane, sophisticated man.
- matthew flinders — Matthew, 1774–1814, English navigator and explorer: surveyed coast of Australia.
- matthew of paris — c1200–59, English chronicler.
- mauchly, john w. — John Mauchly
- 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
- micrometer screw — a screw with a fine thread of definite pitch, such as that of a micrometer gauge
- 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.
- minerva software — A company producing software for the Acorn Archimedes.
- 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's wedding — a combination of sunshine and light rain
- 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.
- mount washington — a mountain in N New Hampshire, in the White Mountains: the highest peak in the northeast US; noted for extreme weather conditions. Height: 1917 m (6288 ft)
- mountain dogwood — a dogwood tree, Cornus nuttallii, of western North America, having pointed, petallike white or pinkish bracts and clustered scarlet fruits.
- 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.
- multi-way branch — switch statement
- narrowmindedness — Alternative spelling of narrow-mindedness.
- 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 computer — a relatively inexpensive computer with minimal processing power, designed primarily to provide access to computer networks, as corporate intranets or the Internet. Abbreviation: NC.