16-letter words containing a, e, r, u
- like gangbusters — a law-enforcement officer who specializes in breaking up organized crime, often by forceful or sensational means.
- lissajous figure — the series of plane curves traced by an object executing two mutually perpendicular harmonic motions.
- lithium stearate — a white, crystalline, slightly water-soluble powder, LiC 18 H 35 O 2 , used chiefly in cosmetics, in plastics, and as a lubricant in powder metallurgy.
- lizard peninsula — a promontory in SW England, in SW Cornwall: the southernmost point in Great Britain
- loire-atlantique — a department in NW France. 2695 sq. mi. (6980 sq. km). Capital: Nantes.
- louisiana french — French as spoken in Louisiana; Cajun. Abbreviation: LaF.
- lourenco marques — former name of Maputo.
- luck of the draw — the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities: With my luck I'll probably get pneumonia.
- lumberjack shirt — a thick checked shirt, as worn by lumberjacks
- maclaurin series — a Taylor series in which the reference point is zero.
- macpherson strut — an automobile suspension-system component that consists of a strut combined with a spring and shock absorber and connects the wheel to the frame of the vehicle.
- madame butterfly — an opera (1904) by Giacomo Puccini.
- magnetic circuit — the closed path described by magnetic flux. It is analogous to the electric circuit with resistance, where flux, reluctance, and magnetomotive force correspond to electric current, resistance, and electromotive force.
- magnetic equator — aclinic line.
- mahalla el kubra — a city in Egypt, on the Nile delta.
- mail-order house — a retail firm that conducts its business by receiving orders and shipping its merchandise through the mail and that supplies its customers with catalogs, circulars, etc.
- make a virtue of — If you make a virtue of something, you pretend that you did it because you chose to, although in fact you did it because you had to.
- make the fur fly — the fine, soft, thick, hairy coat of the skin of a mammal.
- make the running — If someone is making the running in a situation, they are more active than the other people involved.
- malpractice suit — a lawsuit brought against a professional accused of illegal or unethical practices or neglect of duty
- man and superman — a comedy (1903) by G. B. Shaw.
- managed currency — a currency whose value is established and maintained by deliberate governmental action working through national and international financial institutions, in contrast to the quasi-automatic gold standard.
- manhood suffrage — the right of adult male citizens to vote
- manufactured gas — a gaseous fuel created from coal, oil, etc., as differentiated from natural gas.
- mari el republic — a constituent republic of W central Russia, in the middle Volga basin. Capital: Yoshkar-Ola. Pop: 728 000 (2002). Area: 23 200 sq km (8955 sq miles)
- marine insurance — ocean marine insurance.
- marriage customs — the acts that are traditionally done in connection with a marriage
- married quarters — the housing provided on a military base for married servicemen or servicewomen
- marsh cinquefoil — a variety of cinquefoil, Potentilla palustris, that grows in marshy areas
- martin van buren — Martin, 1782–1862, 8th president of the U.S. 1837–41.
- mass destruction — devastation on a large scale
- material culture — the aggregate of physical objects or artifacts used by a society.
- matter of course — an event or result that is natural or inevitable
- matter-of-course — occurring or proceeding in or as if in the logical, natural, or customary course of things; expected or inevitable.
- maximum-security — designed for or housing prisoners regarded as being very dangerous to society.
- mcnaughten rules — (in English law) a set of rules established by the case of Regina v. McNaughten (1843) by which legal proof of insanity in the commission of a crime depends upon whether or not the accused can show either that he did not know what he was doing or that he is incapable of realizing that what he was doing was wrong
- measured daywork — a system of wage payment, usually determined by work-study techniques, whereby the wage of an employee is fixed on the understanding that a specific level of work performance will be maintained
- measuring device — gauge
- medium artillery — guns and howitzers of more than 105mm and less than 155mm caliber, sometimes including the 155mm howitzers. Compare heavy artillery (def 2), light artillery (def 2).
- medullary sheath — Botany. a narrow zone made up of the innermost layer of woody tissue immediately surrounding the pith in plants.
- menstrual cramps — pain in the lower abdomen as well as possibly in the lower back and legs associated with menstruation
- menstrual period — the bleeding from the womb that occurs approximately monthly in nonpregnant women of reproductive age
- merchant account — A merchant account is a type of bank account that allows a company to accept credit cards.
- mercury autocode — Autocode for the Ferranti Mercury machine.
- mesembryanthemum — any of various chiefly Old World plants of the genus Mesembryanthemum, having thick, fleshy leaves and often showy flowers.
- metallofullerene — (chemistry) A fullerene containing an enclosed metal atom.
- mexican fruitfly — a brightly colored fly, Anastrepha ludens, whose larvae are a serious pest chiefly of citrus fruits and mangoes in Mexico, Central America, and southern Texas.
- microencapsulate — (transitive) To embed by means of microencapsulation.
- microminiaturize — (especially of electronic equipment) to make extremely small; subject to microminiaturization.
- microvasculature — the system of tiny blood vessels, including capillaries, venules, and arterioles, that perfuse the body's tissues.