16-letter words containing a, l
- aesthetic labour — workers employed by a company for their appearance or accent, with the aim of promoting the company's image
- affirmative flag — a flag having five horizontal stripes, blue, white, red, white, and blue, from top to bottom, signifying “yes”: letter C in the International Code of Signals.
- affluent society — a society in which the material benefits of prosperity are widely available
- african elephant — a type of elephant that is native to Africa
- african marigold — a tropical American plant, Tagetes erecta, cultivated for its yellow or orange flower heads and strongly scented foliage: family Asteraceae (composites)
- african wild dog — a mottled dog of Africa, Lycaon pictus
- against all odds — If something happens against all odds, it happens or succeeds although it seemed impossible or very unlikely.
- aggregate supply — the total supply of goods and services produced by a national economy in a specified time period, at a specified price level
- agricultural ant — harvester ant.
- ai international — (company) One of distributors of Prolog++, subsumed by Customer Engagement Company before December 1998.
- air vice-marshal — a senior Royal Air Force officer of equivalent rank to a rear admiral in the Royal Navy
- air-raid shelter — a structure, often located underground, that is designed to protect people during an air raid
- airmail envelope — an envelope made of the very thin blue paper that is used to send letters by airmail
- airplane carrier — an aircraft carrier.
- alaska peninsula — an extension of the mainland of SW Alaska between the Pacific and the Bering Sea, ending in the Aleutian Islands. Length: about 644 km (400 miles)
- alaskan malamute — any of a breed of large, strong dog with a thick coat of gray or black-and-white and a bushy tail: it was developed as a sled dog by the Alaskan Eskimo
- alder flycatcher — a North American flycatcher, Empidonax alnorum, of alder thickets and other moist areas, that has greenish-brown upper parts and whitish underparts and is almost indistinguishable except by voice from E. traillii (willow flycatcher)
- aleutian current — a current in the Pacific Ocean that flows eastward between latitudes 40° and 50° N.
- aleutian islands — a chain of over 150 volcanic islands, extending southwestwards from the Alaska Peninsula between the N Pacific and the Bering Sea
- alexander baring — Alexander, 1st Baron Ashburton, 1774–1848, British statesman.
- alexander dubcek — Alexander, 1921–92, Czechoslovakian political leader: first secretary of the Communist Party 1968–69.
- alexander island — island of Antarctica, just west of the base of the Antarctic Peninsula, in the British Antarctic Territory: c. 16,700 sq mi (43,253 sq km)
- alexander nevski — Saint. ?1220–63, Russian prince and military leader, who defeated the Swedes at the River Neva (1240) and the Teutonic knights at Lake Peipus (1242)
- alexander nevsky — 1220?-63; Russ. military hero, statesman, & saint
- alexandria senna — See under senna (def 2).
- alfred the great — 849–99, king of Wessex (871–99) and overlord of England, who defeated the Danes and encouraged learning and writing in English
- algebraic number — any number that is a root of a polynomial equation having rational coefficients such as √2 but not π
- algol 60 revised — (language) (Or "Revised ALGOL 60") A revision of Algol 60 which still lacked standard I/O.
- algol 68 revised — (language) A significant simplification of ALGOL 68.
- alimentary canal — The alimentary canal in a person or animal is the passage in their body through which food passes from their mouth to their anus.
- alizarin crimson — a pigment used in painting, derived from anthraquinone and characterized by its red color and transparency.
- alkylating agent — any cytotoxic drug containing alkyl groups, such as chlorambucil, that acts by damaging DNA; widely used in chemotherapy
- all for the best — turning out to be good or fortunate after all
- all in good time — in due course
- all over the map — changeable
- all sb ever does — You use the expression all someone ever does when you want to emphasize that they do the same thing all the time, and this annoys you.
- all too/only too — You use all too or only too to emphasize that something happens to a greater extent or degree than is pleasant or desirable.
- all-encompassing — all-embracing.
- all-terrain bike — mountain bike. Abbreviation: ATB.
- allegheny spurge — a low, shrubby evergreen plant, Pachysandra procumbens, having spikes of white or purplish flowers, native to the southeastern U.S. and widely cultivated as a ground cover.
- allele frequency — the frequency of occurrence or proportions of different alleles of a particular gene in a given population.
- alligator lizard — any of several lizards of the genera Algaria and Gerrhonotus, of western North America, having shinglelike scales and a fold along each side that permits expansion.
- alligator pepper — a tropical African zingiberaceous plant, Amomum melegueta, having red or orange spicy seed capsules
- alligator wrench — a wrench having a V -shaped pair of serrated jaws set at right angles to the shank for turning cylindrical or irregularly shaped parts.
- alliterativeness — The state or quality of being alliterative.
- alloyed junction — a semiconductor junction used in some junction transistors and formed by alloying metal contacts, functioning as emitter and collector regions, to a wafer of semiconductor that acts as the base region
- alpha conversion — (theory) In lambda-calculus and reduction, the renaming of a formal parameter in a lambda abstraction. This does not change the meaning of the abstraction. For example: \ x . x+1 <--> \ y . y+1 If the actual argument to a lambda abstraction contains instances of the abstraction's formal parameter then it is necessary to rename the parameter before applying the abstraction to avoid name capture.
- alpha-adrenergic — of or having to do with an alpha receptor
- alpha-beta brass — a type of brass that contains 35–45 per cent zinc
- alpha-interferon — interferon (def 2).