17-letter words containing a, l, s, t, o
- make light of sth — If you make light of something, you treat it as though it is not serious or important, when in fact it is.
- maladministration — to administer or manage badly or inefficiently: The mayor was a bungler who maladministered the city budget.
- manchester school — a school of economists in England in the first half of the 19th century, devoted to free trade and the repeal of the Corn Law, led by Richard Cobden and John Bright.
- manitoulin island — an island in N Lake Huron belonging to Canada. 80 miles (130 km) long.
- marital relations — a euphemistic term for sexual intercourse between married partners
- maxwell equations — equations developed by James Clerk Maxwell (1831–79) upon which classical electromagnetic theory is based
- mensural notation — a system of musical notation of the 13th to the late 16th centuries, marked by the use of note symbols such as the longa and brevis, the absence of bar lines and ties, and the equivalence in value of one note to either two or three of the next smaller degree.
- messier catalogue — a catalogue of 103 nonstellar objects, such as nebulae and galaxies, prepared in 1781–86. An object is referred to by its number in this catalogue, for example the Andromeda Galaxy is referred to as M31
- metallofullerenes — Plural form of metallofullerene.
- metalloproteinase — (enzyme) Any of several proteinases that have a metal atom (often zinc) at their active centre.
- methyl isocyanate — Chemistry. a highly toxic, flammable, colorless liquid, CH 3 NCO, used as an intermediate in the manufacture of pesticides: in 1984, the accidental release of a cloud of this gas in Bhopal, India, killed more than 1700 people and injured over 200,000.
- microdistillation — the distillation of minute quantities of material.
- microencapsulated — Encapsulated using microencapsulation.
- micromanipulators — Plural form of micromanipulator.
- miss lonelyhearts — a novel (1933) by Nathanael West.
- monolith catalyst — A monolith catalyst is a type of catalyst whose surface is flat.
- mont-saint-michel — a rocky islet near the coast of NW France, in an inlet of the Gulf of St. Malo: famous abbey and fortress.
- more than usually — You use more than usually to show that something shows even more of a particular quality than it normally does.
- movable-do system — a system of solmization in which the syllable do can be transposed to the tonic of any key.
- multi-nationalism — a large corporation with operations and subsidiaries in several countries.
- multimillionaires — Plural form of multimillionaire.
- mundane astrology — the astrology of worldly events, in contrast to the astrology of the individual: used especially in interpretations and forecasts involving politics, the stock market, weather, and disasters.
- muscae volitantes — floater (def 6).
- mystical theology — the branch of theology dealing with mysticism and mystical experiences.
- nasolacrimal duct — a membranous canal extending from the lacrimal sac to the nasal cavity, through which tears are discharged into the nose.
- national assembly — the body constituted by the French Third Estate in June 1789 after the calling of the Estates General. It was dissolved in Sept 1791 to be replaced by the new Legislative Assembly
- national seashore — an area of seacoast set aside and maintained by the U.S. government for purposes of recreation or wildlife study.
- national security — defence of a country
- nationalist china — China, Republic of.
- nationalistically — In a nationalistic manner.
- natural harmonics — harmonics of a note produced on a stringed instrument by lightly touching an open or unstopped sounded string.
- natural resources — a naturally occurring source of wealth, as land or water.
- natural selection — the process by which forms of life having traits that better enable them to adapt to specific environmental pressures, as predators, changes in climate, or competition for food or mates, will tend to survive and reproduce in greater numbers than others of their kind, thus ensuring the perpetuation of those favorable traits in succeeding generations.
- natural-resources — a naturally occurring source of wealth, as land or water.
- naval air station — military airbase for the navy
- naval observatory — an astronomical observatory located in Washington, D.C., operated by the U.S. government, and responsible for the U.S. time service.
- navigation lights — lights on an aircraft
- neo-malthusianism — a view or doctrine advocating population control, especially by contraception.
- neo-scholasticism — a contemporary application of Scholasticism to modern problems and life.
- new orleans style — a style of jazz developed in New Orleans early in the 20th century, influenced by blues, ragtime, marching band music, and minstrelsy and marked by polyphonic group improvisation.
- new scotland yard — See under Scotland Yard (def 1).
- non-assignability — capable of being specified: The word has no assignable meaning in our language.
- non-controversial — of, relating to, or characteristic of controversy, or prolonged public dispute, debate, or contention; polemical: a controversial book.
- non-institutional — of, relating to, or established by institution.
- non-instructional — the act or practice of instructing or teaching; education.
- non-materialistic — excessively concerned with physical comforts or the acquisition of wealth and material possessions, rather than with spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.
- non-stereotypical — a process, now often replaced by more advanced methods, for making metal printing plates by taking a mold of composed type or the like in papier-mâché or other material and then taking from this mold a cast in type metal.
- non-thermoplastic — soft and pliable when heated, as some plastics, without any change of the inherent properties.
- nonaccomplishment — Something that does not achieve the intended goal.
- nonconstitutional — of or relating to the constitution of a state, organization, etc.