16-letter words containing a, l, e, u, r
- kentucky warbler — a wood warbler, Oporornis formosus, of the U.S., olive-green above, yellow below, and marked with black on the face.
- khakass republic — a constituent republic of S central Russia, formerly in Krasnoyarsk Territory: formed in 1930. Capital: Abakan. Pop: 546 100 (2002). Area: 61 900 sq km (23 855 sq miles)
- krebs urea cycle — urea cycle.
- la rochefoucauld — François [frahn-swa] /frɑ̃ˈswa/ (Show IPA), 6th Duc de, 1613–80, French moralist and composer of epigrams and maxims.
- labour agreement — a contract between workers and managers setting out working conditions, wages, etc
- labour relations — Labour relations refers to the relationship between employers and employees in industry, and the political decisions and laws that affect it.
- labour-intensive — Labour-intensive industries or methods of making things involve a lot of workers. Compare capital-intensive.
- labrador current — a cold ocean current flowing southwards off the coast of Labrador and meeting the warm Gulf Stream, causing dense fogs off the coast of Newfoundland
- ladies auxiliary — an association whose members are usually the wives of members of an association with which it is affiliated.
- lady of pleasure — a prostitute.
- language barrier — difficulty in communication due to language difference
- lauderdale lakes — a city in SE Florida: suburb of Fort Lauderdale.
- laurel and hardy — a team of US film comedians, Stan Laurel, 1890–1965, born in Britain, the thin one, and his partner, Oliver Hardy, 1892–1957, the fat one
- laurentides park — a national park in SE Canada, in Quebec province between the St. Lawrence and Lake St. John.
- lean-burn engine — an engine designed to use a lean mixture of fuel and air in order to reduce petrol consumption and exhaust emissions
- lenticular cloud — a very smooth, round or oval, lens-shaped cloud that is often seen, singly or stacked in groups, near a mountain ridge.
- letter of marque — license or commission granted by a state to a private citizen to capture and confiscate the merchant ships of another nation.
- leveraged buyout — the purchase of a company with borrowed money, using the company's assets as collateral, and often discharging the debt and realizing a profit by liquidating the company. Abbreviation: LBO.
- liberal unionist — a Liberal who opposed Gladstone's policy of Irish Home Rule in 1886 and after
- library pictures — a caption used to alert viewers that footage being broadcast is from an earlier time and is not happening now
- 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.
- madame butterfly — an opera (1904) by Giacomo Puccini.
- 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 the fur fly — the fine, soft, thick, hairy coat of the skin of a mammal.
- malpractice suit — a lawsuit brought against a professional accused of illegal or unethical practices or neglect of duty
- 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)
- marsh cinquefoil — a variety of cinquefoil, Potentilla palustris, that grows in marshy areas
- material culture — the aggregate of physical objects or artifacts used by a 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
- 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
- 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.
- microvasculature — the system of tiny blood vessels, including capillaries, venules, and arterioles, that perfuse the body's tissues.
- miniature poodle — a breed of poodle, bred to be much smaller than standard poodles
- missile launcher — system that fires missiles
- modern languages — languages currently spoken