16-letter words containing a, c, e, s, n
- anomalistic year — the interval between two successive passages of the earth through perihelion; 365.25964 mean solar days
- answer-back code — a unique code that identifies the telex machine to which a message is sent
- anthropocentrism — an anthropocentric theory or view.
- anthroposemiotic — Of or pertaining to anthroposemiotics.
- anti-consumerism — a modern movement for the protection of the consumer against useless, inferior, or dangerous products, misleading advertising, unfair pricing, etc.
- anticholinergics — Plural form of anticholinergic.
- anticyclogenesis — the intensification or development of an anticyclone.
- antilles current — a warm ocean current flowing NW along the N coast of the Greater Antilles and joining the Florida Current off the SW coast of Florida.
- antirecessionary — used to counteract or offest the economic effects of a recession: the president's antirecessionary program.
- aplastic anaemia — anaemia caused by a defect in the body's ability to regenerate blood cells
- applied sciences — sciences that are put to practical use
- appreciativeness — The state or quality of being appreciative.
- approachableness — capable of being approached; accessible.
- aquidneck island — an island in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island.
- archaeoastronomy — the scientific study of the beliefs and practices concerning astronomy that existed in ancient and prehistoric civilizations
- archaeomagnetism — an archaeological technique for dating certain clay objects by measuring the extent to which they have been magnetized by the earth's magnetic field
- archconservative — consistently holding extremely conservative views: publisher of the city's archconservative newspaper.
- arsenic trioxide — a white poisonous powder used in the manufacture of glass and as an insecticide, rat poison, and weedkiller. Formula: As2O3
- arthus' reaction — a severe, local immune reaction to the injection of an antigen in a sensitized host.
- artistic license — (legal) The open source license applicable to Perl.
- ascending rhythm — rising rhythm.
- ascidian tadpole — the free-swimming larva of an ascidian, having a tadpole-like tail containing the notochord and nerve cord
- asiatic elephant — Indian elephant. See under elephant.
- assigned counsel — any private lawyer designated by a city or county court to represent indigent defendants in criminal cases at public expense.
- association area — any of the regions of the cerebral cortex of the brain connected by numerous nerve fibers to all parts of both cerebral hemispheres and coordinating such higher activities as learning and reasoning.
- aston dark space — the dark region between the cathode and the cathode glow in a vacuum tube, occurring when the pressure is low.
- athanasian creed — a profession of faith widely used in the Western Church which, although formerly attributed to Athanasius, probably originated in Gaul between 381 and 428 ad
- attendance sheet — an official document for listing those attending a meeting, class, course, etc
- atwood's machine — a device consisting of two unequal masses connected by a string passed over a pulley, used to illustrate the laws of motion.
- audience figures — the number of people regularly watching a television programme or listening to a radio programme
- autofluorescence — (biology, microscopy) Self-induced fluorescence.
- axminster carpet — a type of patterned carpet with a cut pile
- background noise — any type of noise that is not the sound that you are specifically listening to or monitoring
- balance transfer — the act of transferring debt from one credit card to another, assuming that the second card has better terms or interest rates than the first
- balearic islands — a group of islands in the W Mediterranean, consisting of Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza, Formentera, Cabrera, and 11 islets: a province of Spain. Capital: Palma, on Majorca. Pop: 1 071 500 (2003 est). Area: 5012 sq km (1935 sq miles)
- balsamic vinegar — Balsamic vinegar is a type of vinegar which tastes sweet and is made from grape juice.
- banana republics — any of the small countries in the tropics, especially in the Western Hemisphere, whose economies are largely dependent on fruit exports, tourism, and foreign investors.
- banned substance — In sport, banned substances are drugs that competitors are not allowed to take because they could artificially improve their performance.
- bare necessities — only the essentials
- bargaining scope — the range of topics within the scope of a particular set of negotiations leading to a collective agreement
- basement complex — the undifferentiated assemblage of rock (basement rock) underlying the oldest stratified rocks in any region: usually crystalline, metamorphosed, and mostly, but not necessarily, Precambrian in age.
- basque provinces — an autonomous region of N Spain, comprising the provinces of Álava, Guipúzcoa, and Vizcaya: inhabited mainly by Basques, who retained virtual autonomy from the 9th to the 19th century. Pop: 1 840 700 (2003 est). Area: about 7250 sq km (2800 sq miles)
- bastard culverin — a 16th-century cannon, smaller than a culverin, firing a shot of between 5 and 8 pounds (11 and 17.6 kg).
- batch processing — manufacturing products or treating materials in batches, by passing the output of one process to subsequent processes
- batesian mimicry — mimicry in which a harmless species is protected from predators by means of its resemblance to a harmful or inedible species
- be of assistance — Someone or something that is of assistance to you is helpful or useful to you.
- bear one's cross — a structure consisting essentially of an upright and a transverse piece, used to execute persons in ancient times.
- bearish tendency — a tendency for share prices to fall
- beta abstraction — [lambda-calculus] The conversion of an expression to an application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. Some subterm of the original expression becomes the argument of the abstraction and the rest becomes its body. E.g. 4+1 --> (\ x . x+1) 4 The opposite of beta abstraction is beta reduction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion.
- bismarck herring — marinaded herring, served cold