17-letter words containing n, i, s
- armchair shopping — buying goods using a computer, telephone, or television in the home or via the postal system
- arresting officer — the police officer making an arrest
- 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.
- arsenic poisoning — poisoning by arsenic
- artificial person — a human being, whether an adult or child: The table seats four persons.
- ascertained goods — specific goods
- assateague island — a narrow island in SE Maryland and E Virginia on Chincoteague Bay: annual wild pony roundup. 33 miles (53 km) long.
- assessable income — the portion of one's income that is subject to tax
- assistant driller — An assistant driller is someone whose job is to help a driller, and work at the drilling controls on the rig floor.
- assistant manager — a person who assists a manager in their work
- assistant referee — An assistant referee is the same as a linesman.
- assistant teacher — a person who assists a teacher in their work or who is not yet fully qualified as a teacher
- association fiber — any of several nerve fibers connecting different areas of the cerebral cortex in the same hemisphere.
- assyro-babylonian — of or relating to Assyria and Babylonia.
- astral projection — the departure of the astral body from the physical body, in order to travel to the astral plane
- astronomical unit — a unit of distance used in astronomy equal to the mean distance between the earth and the sun. 1 astronomical unit is equivalent to 1.495 × 1011 metres or about 9.3 × 107 miles
- astronomical year — year (def 4b).
- at a disadvantage — If you are at a disadvantage, you have a problem or difficulty that many other people do not have, which makes it harder for you to be successful.
- at a snail's pace — If you say that someone does something at a snail's pace, you are emphasizing that they are doing it very slowly, usually when you think it would be better if they did it much more quickly.
- at one's disposal — If you have something at your disposal, you are able to use it whenever you want, and for whatever purpose you want. If you say that you are at someone's disposal, you mean that you are willing to help them in any way you can.
- at one's own risk — If you tell someone that they are doing something at their own risk, you are warning them that, if they are harmed, it will be their own responsibility.
- at swords' points — ready to quarrel or fight
- attention-seeking — intended to make people take notice
- attorneys-in-fact — a person authorized by power of attorney to act on the authorizer's behalf outside a court of law.
- attraction sphere — centrosphere (sense 1)
- 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
- australia antigen — an antigen present in the blood of some persons with one form of hepatitis
- australia current — a branch of the South Equatorial Current flowing SW from around Fiji to the E coast of Australia and then S along the coast.
- australian ballot — an official ballot listing candidates for election to public office and issues, levies, etc., distributed inside the polling place to be marked by the voter in secret: it originated in Australia and is widely used in the U.S.
- australian kelpie — one of an Australian breed of medium-sized sheepherding dogs having a short, harsh, straight coat in a combination of colors that can include black, red, tan, fawn, chocolate, or smoke blue, probably developed by crossbreeding between the border collie and dingo.
- australian salute — a movement of the hand and arm made to brush flies away from one's face
- australopithecine — any of various extinct apelike primates of the genus Australopithecus and related genera, remains of which have been discovered in southern and E Africa. Some species are estimated to be over 4.5 million years old
- authoritativeness — having due authority; having the sanction or weight of authority: an authoritative opinion.
- automated testing — (testing) Software testing assisted with software tools that require no operator input, analysis, or evaluation.
- autosensitization — autoimmunization.
- aviation industry — a collective term for the companies involved in air transport
- avoirdupois pound — a pound weighing 16 ounces
- axis of ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
- axis-of-ordinates — y-axis (def 1).
- babe in the woods — a baby or child.
- babi yar symphony — a symphony (1962) by Dimitri Dimitrievich Shostakovich.
- babinski's reflex — a reflex extension of the great toe with flexion of the other toes, evoked by stroking the sole of the foot: normal in infants but otherwise denoting central nervous system damage.
- back on the rails — If something is back on the rails, it is beginning to be successful again after a period when it almost failed.
- 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.
- bacon's rebellion — an unsuccessful uprising by frontiersmen in Virginia in 1676, led by Nathaniel Bacon against the colonial government in Jamestown.
- bacteriorhodopsin — a purple protein containing retinal and found in the plasma membrane of certain bacteria (genus Halobacterium): it directly supplies electrochemical energy from sunlight
- baggage screening — the procedure whereby baggage is electronically screened at an airport before it is allowed on the plane
- bahia de cochinos — Spanish name of Bay of Pigs.
- barrel distortion — distortion of an image produced by an optical system that causes straight lines at image margins to bulge outwards