16-letter words containing a, c, o, u, s
- council of state — a council that deliberates on high-level policies of a government.
- counselor-at-law — a lawyer, esp one who conducts cases in court; attorney
- counter-instance — a case or occurrence of anything: fresh instances of oppression.
- counter-strategy — Also, strategics. the science or art of combining and employing the means of war in planning and directing large military movements and operations.
- counterarguments — Plural form of counterargument.
- counterespionage — Counterespionage is the same as counterintelligence.
- counterirritants — Plural form of counterirritant.
- counternarcotics — Measures or activities designed to prevent the use or distrubution of iillegal narcotic drugs.
- counterproposals — Plural form of counterproposal.
- countersignature — second signature
- counterstatement — a statement made to deny or refute another statement.
- course of action — a way of proceeding
- court of appeals — A Court of Appeals is a court which deals with appeals against legal judgments.
- couvade syndrome — a psychosomatic condition in which the spouse or partner of a pregnant woman experiences symptoms of childbirth or pregnancy
- cross-curricular — denoting or relating to an approach to a topic that includes contributions from several different disciplines and viewpoints
- customary tenant — a tenant occupying a property under the customs of the manor, often a low-status tenant with little security of tenure
- cut one's throat — to bring about one's own ruin
- cut to the chase — If someone cuts to the chase, they start talking about or dealing with what is important, instead of less important things.
- cute as a button — very sweet, adorable
- data acquisition — data logging
- davidson current — a winter countercurrent that flows N along the W coast of the U.S.
- deboursification — (jargon) Removal of irrelevant newsgroups from the Newsgroups header of a followup. The term applies particularly to the removal of frivolous groups added by one of the Kooks. See also: sneck.
- discombobulating — Present participle of discombobulate.
- discombobulation — to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate: The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers.
- discountenancing — Present participle of discountenance.
- discussion board — a website or section of a website that is used for public discussion of a specific topic and on which users can submit or read messages: You should post your questions on a parenting message board and get support from other parents.
- disqualification — an act or instance of disqualifying.
- distance modulus — a measure of the distance, r, of a celestial object too far away to show measurable parallax. It is given by m–M = 5 log(r/10), where m is its apparent magnitude (corrected for interstellar absorption) and M is its absolute magnitude
- divisional court — a high court in which at least two judges sit
- duchess of malfi — a tragedy (1614?) by John Webster.
- dysfunctionality — (uncountable) The condition of being dysfunctional.
- easter communion — the act of receiving communion in church on Easter Day - considered special because of the primacy of Easter among Christian festivals and because many people regard taking Easter communion as a basic token of membership of their church
- electroacoustics — a branch of acoustics that deals with the conversion of sound into electricity and vice versa, as in a microphone or a speaker
- episcopal church — an autonomous branch of the Anglican Communion in Scotland and the US
- escalator clause — a clause in a contract stipulating an adjustment in wages, prices, etc, in the event of specified changes in conditions, such as a large rise in the cost of living or price of raw materials
- escutcheon plate — a plate or shield that surrounds a keyhole, door handle, light switch, etc, esp an ornamental one protecting a door or wall surface
- exclusion clause — (in a contract) something that serves to limit liabilities
- exemption clause — a clause in a contract that exempts one party from liability for something
- family of curves — a collection of curves whose equations differ only by values assigned a parameter or parameters.
- farmhouse cheese — cheese that is made by traditional methods, on or as if on a farm
- fish or cut bait — any of various cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates, having gills, commonly fins, and typically an elongated body covered with scales.
- fluorescent lamp — a tubular electric discharge lamp in which light is produced by the fluorescence of phosphors coating the inside of the tube.
- fluosilicic acid — an unstable acid, H 2 SiF 6 , known only in its colorless, poisonous, fuming aqueous solution or in the form of its salts: used chiefly as a wood preservative, a disinfectant, and as a hardening agent in the manufacture of ceramic ware, cement, and concrete.
- focused strategy — a business strategy in which an organization divests itself of all but its core activities, using the funds raised to enhance the distinctive abilities that give it an advantage over its rivals
- follicular phase — a stage of the menstrual cycle, from onset of menstruation to ovulation.
- for a good cause — If you say that something is for a good cause, you mean that it is worth doing or giving to because it will help other people, for example by raising money for charity.
- forbush decrease — the sudden decrease in the intensity of cosmic rays after an increase in solar activity.
- four-course meal — A four-course meal is a meal that consists of four parts served one after the other.
- francis of paula — Saint, 1416–1507, Italian monk: founder of the order of Minims.
- frankfurt school — a school of thought, founded at the University of Frankfurt in 1923 by Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and others, derived from Marxist, Freudian, and Hegelian theory