17-letter words containing a, n, d, r
- angra do heroismo — a port in the Azores, on Terceira Island. Pop: 35 581 (2001)
- angry fruit salad — (abuse) A bad visual-interface design that uses too many colours. (This term derives, of course, from the bizarre day-glo colours found in canned fruit salad). Too often one sees similar effects from interface designers using colour window systems such as X; there is a tendency to create displays that are flashy and attention-getting but uncomfortable for long-term use.
- anionic detergent — any of a class of synthetic compounds whose anions are alkali salts, as soap, or whose ions are ammonium salts.
- anthraquinone dye — any of the class of dyes derived from anthraquinone, used for dyeing textiles, especially cotton, rayon, and silk.
- anthropomorphized — Simple past tense and past participle of anthropomorphize.
- antidazzle mirror — a rear-view mirror for road vehicles that only partially reflects headlights behind
- antifederal party — the party that, before 1789, opposed the adoption of the proposed Constitution and after that favored its strict construction.
- antiprostaglandin — A prostaglandin inhibitor.
- anzhero-sudzhensk — a city in the S Russian Federation in Central Asia.
- appointed actuary — An appointed actuary is an actuary appointed by a life insurance company, whose main role is to carry out a regular valuation of the reserves held to pay future policy benefits.
- aromatic compound — an organic compound that contains one or more benzene or equivalent heterocyclic rings: many such compounds have an agreeable odor.
- around the corner — If you say that something is around the corner, you mean that it will happen very soon. In British English, you can also say that something is round the corner.
- arranged marriage — In an arranged marriage, the parents choose the person who their son or daughter will marry.
- arsenic disulfide — an orange-red, water-insoluble, poisonous powder, As 4 S 4 , As 2 S 2 , or AsS, used chiefly in the manufacture of fireworks.
- articulated joint — Anatomy. a flexible joint.
- artificial kidney — a mechanical apparatus for performing haemodialysis
- arunachal pradesh — a state in NE India, formed in 1986 from the former Union Territory. Capital: Itanagar. Pop: 1 091 117 (2001). Area: 83 743 sq km (32 648 sq miles)
- ascend the throne — to become king or queen
- ascertained goods — specific goods
- ashton-under-lyne — a town in NW England, in Tameside unitary authority, Greater Manchester. Pop: 43 236 (2001)
- asperger syndrome — a developmental disorder characterized by severely impaired social skills, repetitive behaviors, and often, a narrow set of interests, but not involving delayed development of linguistic and cognitive abilities: now considered one of the autism spectrum disorders.
- assistant driller — An assistant driller is someone whose job is to help a driller, and work at the drilling controls on the rig floor.
- at swords' points — ready to quarrel or fight
- attendance centre — (in Britain) a place at which young offenders are required to attend regularly instead of going to prison
- attendance record — the record of how often a person has attended an institution such as a school
- audience research — research into the make-up and habits of the audience of a particular television or radio programme or network
- audio description — a facility provided for visually impaired people in which a film, television programme, or play is described through audio technology
- audubon's warbler — a common North American wood warbler, Dendroica coronata, having yellow spots on the rump, crown, and sides, including a white-throated eastern subspecies (myrtle warbler) and a yellow-throated western subspecies (Audubon's warbler)
- augmented reality — an artificial environment created through the combination of real-world and computer-generated data
- average deviation — a measure of dispersion, computed by taking the arithmetic mean of the absolute values of the deviations of the functional values from some central value, usually the mean or median.
- aviation industry — a collective term for the companies involved in air transport
- avogadro constant — the number of atoms or molecules in a mole of a substance
- avogadro's number — the constant, 6.022 × 10 23 , representing the number of atoms, molecules, or ions in one mole of a substance. Symbol: N. Compare gram-atom, gram molecule.
- avoirdupois pound — a pound weighing 16 ounces
- axis of ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
- axis-of-ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
- background report — a report on someone or something that sheds light on their background, esp a report on the background of a person convicted of a crime before they are sentenced by a judge
- backward analysis — (theory) An analysis to determine properties of the inputs of a program from properties or context of the outputs. E.g. if the output of this function is needed then this argument is needed. Compare forward analysis.
- backward chaining — (algorithm) An algorithm for proving a goal by recursively breaking it down into sub-goals and trying to prove these until facts are reached. Facts are goals with no sub-goals which are therefore always true. Backward training is the program execution mechanism used by most logic programming language like Prolog. Opposite: forward chaining.
- bacteriorhodopsin — a purple protein containing retinal and found in the plasma membrane of certain bacteria (genus Halobacterium): it directly supplies electrochemical energy from sunlight
- baden-wurttemberg — a state of SW Germany. Capital: Stuttgart. Pop: 53 938 (2003 est). Area: 35 742 sq km (13 800 sq miles)
- balanced literacy — a method of teaching reading in which phonics and whole language approaches are both used to maximize student learning.
- bald-faced hornet — any large, stinging paper wasp of the family Vespidae, as Vespa crabro (giant hornet) introduced into the U.S. from Europe, or Vespula maculata (bald-faced hornet or white-faced hornet) of North America.
- bangalore torpedo — an explosive device in a long metal tube, used to blow gaps in barbed-wire barriers
- barbed wire fence — a fence constructed from strong wire that has sharply pointed barbs at close intervals along its length
- barrel distortion — distortion of an image produced by an optical system that causes straight lines at image margins to bulge outwards
- bartholin's gland — either of two small glands near the vaginal opening: during sexual excitement they secrete a mucous lubricating substance
- base lending rate — a minimum interest rate on which financial institutions base the rates they use for lending
- baseboard heating — a heating system by pipes, through which steam or hot water circulates, near the base of the walls of rooms
- be running scared — If you say that a person or group is running scared, you mean that they are frightened of what someone might do to them or what might happen.