14-letter words starting with v
- venetian sumac — smoke tree (def 2).
- venezia giulia — a former region of NE Italy, at the N end of the Adriatic: now mainly in Croatia and Slovenia. The larger part, including the area surrounding the Free Territory of Trieste, was ceded to Yugoslavia 1947; the part remaining in Italy merged with Udine to form Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
- ventilationist — of, relating to, or advocating the ventilation of emotions: a ventilationist approach to dealing with anger.
- venturi (tube) — a short tube with a constricted, throatlike passage that increases the velocity and lowers the pressure of a fluid conveyed through it: used to measure the flow of a fluid, to operate instruments, as in aircraft, to regulate the mixture in a carburetor, etc.
- venus' flytrap — a white-flowered swamp plant (Dionaea muscipula) of the sundew family, native to the Carolinas, having sensitive leaves with two hinged blades that snap shut, often trapping insects
- venus's girdle — an iridescent blue-and-green comb jelly, Cestum veneris, having a ribbon-shaped, gelatinous body.
- venus's-girdle — an iridescent blue-and-green comb jelly, Cestum veneris, having a ribbon-shaped, gelatinous body.
- venus-figurine — Venus (def 3).
- verbena family — the plant family Verbenaceae, characterized by herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees having opposite or whorled leaves, clusters of irregular, sometimes fragrant flowers, and fleshy or dry fruit, and including the beautyberry, lantana, teak, verbena, and vervain.
- verisimilitude — the appearance or semblance of truth; likelihood; probability: The play lacked verisimilitude.
- vernal equinox — the time when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator, making night and day of approximately equal length all over the earth and occurring about March 21 (vernal equinox or spring equinox) and September 22 (autumnal equinox)
- vernier engine — a small, low-thrust rocket engine for correcting the heading and velocity of a long-range ballistic missile.
- vernier rocket — a small, low-thrust rocket engine for correcting the heading and velocity of a long-range ballistic missile.
- vernix caseosa — the fatty matter, consisting chiefly of dead epidermal cells and sebaceous secretions, covering the skin of a fetus and newborn.
- vertical angle — one of two opposite and equal angles formed by the intersection of two lines.
- vertical union — industrial union.
- verticillaster — an inflorescence in which the flowers are arranged in a seeming whorl, consisting in fact of a pair of opposite axillary, usually sessile, cymes, as in many mints.
- vesa local bus — (hardware, standard) (VL, VLB) A local bus defined by the Video Electronics Standards Association, mostly used in personal computers based on the Intel 486. See also PCI.
- vesper sparrow — a common finch, Pooecetes gramineus, of fields and pastures in North America, noted for its evening song.
- vespertilionid — any of a large family (Vespertilionidae) of long-tailed bats that are widely distributed, esp. in temperate regions, including most of the small, insect-eating species
- vestal virgins — (in ancient Rome) one of four, later six, virgins consecrated to Vesta and to the tending of the sacred fire on her altar.
- vestavia hills — a city in central Alabama, near Birmingham.
- vestmannaeyjar — a group of 14 small Icelandic islands off the S coast of Iceland.
- vexed question — an issue that is much debated and discussed
- vexillographer — a person who designs or makes flags.
- vibratory mill — A vibratory mill is a machine for grinding something, in which the feed and grinding medium are between two surfaces which vibrate against each other.
- vibroflotation — the use of a vibrating probe inserted into soil to prevent soil liquefaction, which can be a hazard in earthquakes
- vibropac block — a precast concrete building block
- vice president — an officer next in rank to a president who serves as president in the president's absence.
- vice-president — an officer next in rank to a president who serves as president in the president's absence.
- vice-principal — a deputy principal in a school, college, etc
- vicious circle — Logic. (in demonstration) the use of each of two propositions to establish the other. (in definition) the use of each of two terms to define the other.
- vickers number — a numerical expression of the hardness of a metal as determined by a test (Vickers test) in which the sample is indented under a known pressure by the point of a diamond and the surface area of the indentation is divided into the amount of pressure applied.
- victim support — Victim support is the giving of help and advice to people who are victims of crime.
- victor charlie — a Vietcong or the Vietcong; the VC.
- victoria cross — a British decoration awarded to soldiers and sailors for acts of conspicuous bravery in the presence of the enemy. Abbreviation: V.C.
- victoria falls — a major waterfall on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, on the Zambezi River. Height: about 108 m (355 ft). Width: about 1400 m (4500 ft)
- victory garden — a vegetable garden, especially a home garden, cultivated to increase food production during a war or period of shortages.
- video cassette — a cassette enclosing a length of tape for video recording or reproduction.
- video recorder — A video recorder or a video cassette recorder is the same as a VCR.
- vienna fortran — A data-parallel extension of Fortran 77 for distributed memory multiprocessors by Hans Zima <[email protected]>, Vienna University.
- vienna sausage — a small frankfurter, often served as an hors d'oeuvre.
- viennese table — a dessert buffet, as at a reception, featuring a variety of fancy cakes, tarts, mousses, etc.
- vietnamization — a U.S. policy during the Vietnam War of giving the South Vietnamese government responsibility for carrying on the war, so as to allow for the withdrawal of American troops.
- viewing public — people who watch television, considered collectively
- villa cisneros — former name of Dakhla (def 2).
- villafranchian — designating or of a European geologic stage of the Lower Pleistocene and the Upper Pliocene
- village school — a school in a village
- villari effect — the change in magnetic induction that takes place in certain substances when subjected to longitudinal stress.
- ville-de-paris — a department in N France. 41 sq. mi. (106 sq. km). Capital: Paris.