16-letter words containing a, l, e, o, c
- arteriosclerosis — Arteriosclerosis is a medical condition in which the walls of your arteries become hard and thick, so your blood cannot flow through them properly.
- arteriosclerotic — degenerative changes in the arteries, characterized by thickening of the vessel walls and accumulation of calcium with consequent loss of elasticity and lessened blood flow.
- article of faith — If something is an article of faith for a person or group, they believe in it totally.
- article of virtu — an object that it interesting because of its rarity, beauty or appeal to a connoisseur
- ascidian tadpole — the free-swimming larva of an ascidian, having a tadpole-like tail containing the notochord and nerve cord
- assigned counsel — any private lawyer designated by a city or county court to represent indigent defendants in criminal cases at public expense.
- astroarchaeology — archaeoastronomy.
- atlantic croaker — a person or thing that croaks.
- atrioventricular — of, relating to, or affecting both the atria and the ventricles of the heart
- auction pinochle — a variety of pinochle for three to five players in which, for every hand, there are three active players, each dealt 15 cards, with the highest bidder winning the contract and playing against the other two active opponents.
- auditory vesicle — the pouch that is formed by the invagination of an ectodermal placode and that develops into the internal ear.
- australopithecus — an extinct genus of small-brained,large-toothed bipedal hominids that lived in Africa between one and four million years ago.
- autofluorescence — (biology, microscopy) Self-induced fluorescence.
- automatic redial — a telephone service feature whereby the last number dialed is automatically called again, either after a specified time or when activated by the user.
- auxiliary police — a part-time reserve attached to a regular police force
- bachelor of arts — a degree conferred on a person who has successfully completed his or her undergraduate studies, usually in a branch of the liberal arts or humanities
- bachelor-at-arms — bachelor (def 4).
- bacterioplankton — (biology) The bacterial component of marine plankton.
- balance of power — The balance of power is the way in which power is distributed between rival groups or countries.
- balance of trade — A country's balance of trade is the difference in value, over a period of time, between the goods it imports and the goods it exports.
- balloon catheter — a type of catheter with a tiny, inflatable balloon at the tip, used in various surgical procedures
- baltimore canyon — a submarine valley cut into the continental shelf and slope seaward of Chesapeake Bay.
- barclay de tolly — Prince Mikhail (mixaˈil). 1761–1818, Russian field marshal: commander in chief against Napoleon in 1812
- 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.
- battle-axe block — a block of land behind another, with access from the street through a narrow drive
- beneficial owner — a person entitled to receive the profits or proceeds of property
- bidirectionality — capable of reacting or functioning in two, usually opposite, directions.
- bill of exchange — (now chiefly in foreign transactions) a document, usually negotiable, containing an instruction to a third party to pay a stated sum of money at a designated future date or on demand
- biological value — the nutritional effectiveness of the protein in a given food, expressed as the percentage used by the body of either the total protein consumed or the digestible protein available.
- biotechnological — Biotechnological means relating to biotechnology.
- biotic potential — the capacity of a population of organisms to increase in numbers under optimum environmental conditions.
- black bottom pie — a rich pie with a rum- or whiskey-flavored chocolate filling, often with a crust of crushed gingersnaps, and topped with whipped cream.
- black chokeberry — See under chokeberry (def 1).
- black woodpecker — a large woodpecker, Dryocopus martius, found in parts of Eurasia and Africa
- bleaching powder — a white powder with the odour of chlorine, consisting of chlorinated calcium hydroxide with an approximate formula CaCl(OCl).4H2O. It is used in solution as a bleaching agent and disinfectant
- block and tackle — a hoisting device in which a rope or chain is passed around a pair of blocks containing one or more pulleys. The upper block is secured overhead and the lower block supports the load, the effort being applied to the free end of the rope or chain
- blow one's stack — to lose one's temper; fly into a rage
- bomb calorimeter — a device for determining heats of combustion by igniting a sample in a high pressure of oxygen in a sealed vessel and measuring the resulting rise in temperature: used for measuring the calorific value of foods
- bordelaise sauce — a dark sauce made from meat stock, flour, wine, onions, seasonings, etc., served over broiled meat
- boreal chickadee — a brown-capped, black-throated chickadee (Parus hudsonicus) found near the Atlantic coast from Labrador to N New York
- botanical garden — a place where collections of plants and trees are kept for scientific study and exhibition
- bowman's capsule — a membranous, double-walled capsule surrounding a glomerulus of a nephron.
- bracknell forest — a unitary authority in SE England, in E Berkshire. Pop: 110 100 (2003 est). Area: 109 sq km (42 sq miles)
- branchial groove — one of a series of rudimentary depressions on the surface of the embryo between adjacent branchial arches, homologous to the branchial clefts of gill-breathing ancestral forms.
- broadloom carpet — any carpet woven on a wide loom and not having seams, especially one wider than 54 inches (137 cm).
- cabbage palmetto — a tropical American fan palm, Sabal palmetto, with edible leaf buds and leaves used in thatching
- cabbage root fly — a dipterous fly, Erioischia brassicae, whose larvae feed on the roots and stems of cabbages and other brassicas: family Muscidae (houseflies, etc)
- cable television — Cable television is a television system in which signals are sent along wires rather than by radio waves.
- calcium chloride — a white deliquescent salt occurring naturally in seawater and used in the de-icing of roads and as a drying agent. Formula: CaCl2
- calcium fluoride — a white, crystalline compound, CaF 2 , insoluble in water, occurring in nature as the mineral fluorite: used as a flux in metallurgy and as a decay preventive in dentifrices.