15-letter words containing a, l, o, u, e
- cytomegalovirus — a virus of the herpes virus family that may cause serious disease in patients whose immune systems are compromised
- dean of faculty — the president of the Faculty of Advocates in Scotland
- decasualization — the replacement of casual workers by permanent employees
- decontextualise — Alternative spelling of decontextualize.
- decontextualize — to consider (something) in isolation from its usual context
- decree absolute — A decree absolute is the final order made by a court in a divorce case which ends a marriage completely.
- delayed neutron — a neutron produced in a nuclear reactor by the breakdown of a fission product and released a short time after neutrons produced in the primary process
- delta reduction — (theory) In lambda-calculus extended with constants, delta reduction replaces a function applied to the required number of arguments (a redex) by a result. E.g. plus 2 3 --> 5. In contrast with beta reduction (the only kind of reduction in the pure lambda-calculus) the result is not formed simply by textual substitution of arguments into the body of a function. Instead, a delta redex is matched against the left hand side of all delta rules and is replaced by the right hand side of the (first) matching rule. There is notionally one delta rule for each possible combination of function and arguments. Where this implies an infinite number of rules, the result is usually defined by reference to some external system such as mathematical addition or the hardware operations of some computer. For other types, all rules can be given explicitly, for example Boolean negation: not True = False not False = True (1997-02-20)
- demulsification — to break down (an emulsion) into separate substances incapable of re-forming the emulsion that was broken down.
- demutualization — Demutualization is a situation in which a mutually owned company such as an insurance company changes into a public company that issues stock.
- desexualization — The act or process of desexualizing.
- desulfurization — The process of removing sulfur from a substance, such as flue gas or crude.
- deuteranomalous — having deuteranomaly; relating to deuteranomaly
- diamond jubilee — A diamond jubilee is the sixtieth anniversary of an important event.
- discombobulated — to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate: The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers.
- discombobulates — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of discombobulate.
- documentational — the use of documentary evidence.
- dose equivalent — a unit that quantifies the biological effectiveness of an absorbed dose of ionizing radiation, obtained by multiplying the absorbed dose by dimensionless factors that account for the kind of radiation, its energy, and the nature of the absorber: measured in Sievert or rem.
- double in brass — twice as large, heavy, strong, etc.; twofold in size, amount, number, extent, etc.: a double portion; a new house double the size of the old one.
- double integral — an integral in which the integrand involves a function of two variables and that requires two applications of the integration process to evaluate.
- double jeopardy — the subjecting of a person to a second trial or punishment for the same offense for which the person has already been tried or punished.
- double negation — the principle that a statement is equivalent to the denial of its negation, as it is not the case that John is not here meaning John is here
- double negative — a syntactic construction in which two negative words are used in the same clause to express a single negation.
- double saucepan — a cooking utensil consisting of two saucepans, one fitting inside the other. The bottom saucepan contains water that, while boiling, gently heats food in the upper pan
- double standard — any code or set of principles containing different provisions for one group of people than for another, especially an unwritten code of sexual behavior permitting men more freedom than women. Compare single standard (def 1).
- double-barreled — having two barrels mounted side by side, as a shotgun.
- double-breasted — (of a coat, jacket, etc.) overlapping sufficiently in front to allow for two rows of buttons.
- doublet pattern — a pattern, as on a fabric, in which a figure or group is duplicated in reverse order on the opposite side of a centerline.
- draft-mule work — drudgery
- draw oneself up — to assume a straighter posture; stand or sit straight
- eau de toilette — toilet water.
- edmund randolph — A(sa) Philip, 1889–1979, U.S. labor leader: president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters 1925–68.
- edriophthalmous — (of certain crustaceans) having stalkless eyes
- elastic rebound — a theory of earthquakes that envisages gradual deformation of the fault zone without fault slippage until friction is overcome, when the fault suddenly slips to produce the earthquake
- electrosurgical — Relating to electrosurgery.
- elegiac couplet — a couplet composed of a dactylic hexameter followed by a dactylic pentameter
- eleutherodactyl — (of a bird) having the hind toe free
- eleutheromaniac — Having a passionate mania for freedom.
- eleutherophobia — the fear of freedom
- emission nebula — a type of nebula that emits visible radiation
- epsilon squared — (jargon) A quantity even smaller than epsilon, as small in comparison to epsilon as epsilon is to something normal; completely negligible. If you buy a supercomputer for a million dollars, the cost of the thousand-dollar terminal to go with it is epsilon, and the cost of the ten-dollar cable to connect them is epsilon squared. Compare lost in the underflow, lost in the noise.
- eudiometrically — By means of or in terms of eudiometry.
- eviction clause — a clause by which a contract or other agreement may be terminated, especially between theatrical producers and theater owners in whose agreements it is often stipulated that when weekly receipts fall below a certain minimum usually for two consecutive weeks, the production must vacate the theater.
- fallopian tubes — one of a pair of long, slender ducts in the female abdomen that transport ova from the ovary to the uterus and, in fertilization, transport sperm cells from the uterus to the released ova; the oviduct of higher mammals.
- fallout shelter — protective bunker
- false buckthorn — a spiny shrub or small tree, Bumelia lanuginosa, of the sapodilla family, native to the southern U.S., having gummy, milky sap and white, bell-shaped flowers and yielding a hard, light-brown wood.
- fault tolerance — (architecture) 1. The ability of a system or component to continue normal operation despite the presence of hardware or software faults. This often involves some degree of redundancy. 2. The number of faults a system or component can withstand before normal operation is impaired.
- fauntleroy suit — a formal outfit for a boy composed of a hip-length jacket and knee-length pants, often in black velvet, and a wide, lacy collar and cuffs, usually worn with a broad sash at the waist and sometimes a large, loose bow at the neck, popular in the late 19th century.
- fellow creature — a kindred creature, especially a fellow human being.
- ferrous sulfate — a bluish-green, crystalline, saline-tasting, water-soluble heptahydrated solid, FeSO 4 ⋅7H 2 O, used chiefly in the manufacture of other iron salts, in water purification, fertilizer, inks, pigments, tanning, photography, and in medicine in the treatment of anemia.