17-letter words containing a, n, o, v
- composite volcano — a large, steep volcano built up of alternating layers of lava and ash or cinders.
- composite-volcano — a large, steep volcano built up of alternating layers of lava and ash or cinders.
- compound interval — an interval that is greater than an octave, as a ninth or a thirteenth.
- concessive clause — A concessive clause is a subordinate clause which refers to a situation that contrasts with the one described in the main clause. For example, in the sentence 'Although he was tired, he couldn't get to sleep', the first clause is a concessive clause.
- congo-brazzaville — a republic in W Central Africa: formerly the French colony of Middle Congo, part of French Equatorial Africa, it became independent in 1960; consists mostly of equatorial forest, with savanna and extensive swamps; drained chiefly by the Rivers Congo and Ubangi. Official language: French. Religion: Christian majority. Currency: franc. Capital: Brazzaville. Pop: 4 492 689 (2013 est). Area: 342 000 sq km (132 018 sq miles)
- conservation area — In Britain, a conservation area is an area where birds and animals are protected.
- consumer advocate — consumerist (def 1).
- consumer-advocate — Also called consumer advocate. a person who is dedicated to protecting and promoting the welfare and rights of consumers.
- contemplativeness — The state or quality of being contemplative.
- contradistinctive — distinction by opposition or contrast: plants and animals in contradistinction to humans.
- controversialness — The state or quality of being controversial.
- convection heater — A convection heater is a heater that heats a room by means of hot air.
- conventionalities — Plural form of conventionality.
- conversationalist — A good conversationalist is someone who talks about interesting things when they have conversations.
- converter reactor — a nuclear reactor for converting one fuel into another, esp one that transforms fertile material into fissionable material
- corpus cavernosum — either of two masses of erectile tissue in the penis of mammals
- counterinitiative — An initiative opposing another initiative.
- cryopreservations — the storage of blood or living tissues at extremely cold temperatures, often -196 degrees Celsius.
- cumulative voting — a system of voting in which each elector has as many votes as there are candidates in his constituency. Votes may all be cast for one candidate or distributed among several
- dangerous driving — the act of driving a motor vehicle in a manner that falls far below that expected of a competent and careful driver and hence puts the life of the driver and the lives of other road users at risk
- david livingstone — David, 1813–73, Scottish missionary and explorer in Africa.
- demonstrativeness — The state or quality of being demonstrative.
- denial of service — a deliberate interruption in access to a computer system or network, esp by using multiple computers to generate an unmanageable volume of traffic (distributed denial of service)
- denial-of-service — pertaining to or being an incident in which a computer or computer network is disabled, disrupting access or service: a website hit by a denial-of-service attack; unintentional denial-of-service problems.
- development grant — a grant awarded, esp by a government, to a person or company in order to fund the development of a new product
- developmentalists — an expert in or advocate of developmental psychology.
- disadvantageously — In a disadvantageous manner.
- disruptive action — action performed by protestors, workers, etc that causes the disruption of a service
- dissolve in tears — weep
- division of labor — a production process in which a worker or group of workers is assigned a specialized task in order to increase efficiency.
- dow jones average — The Dow Jones Average is a daily measurement of stock-exchange prices, based on the average price of a selected number of securities.
- drive-by download — an incidence of an unwanted program being automatically downloaded to a computer, often without the user's knowledge
- electronegativity — The tendency, or a measure of the ability, of an atom or molecule to attract electrons and thus form bonds.
- environmentalists — Plural form of environmentalist.
- executive mansion — the White House (in Washington, D.C.), official home of the President of the U.S.
- fall over oneself — to do everything within one's power
- fan-assisted oven — an electric oven in which a fan circulates the air and which uses both top and bottom heat
- foolscap envelope — an envelope of dimensions suitable to hold an unfolded sheet of foolscap paper
- for ever and ever — for eternity
- for heaven's sake — expressing frustration
- forever and a day — without ever ending; eternally: to last forever.
- formative element — a morpheme that serves as an affix, not as a base, or root, in word formation.
- french provincial — noting, pertaining to, or resembling a style of furnishings and decoration originating in the provinces of France in the 18th century, derived from but less ornate than styles then current in Paris and featuring simply carved wood furniture, often with decorative curved moldings.
- geneva convention — one of a series of international agreements, first made in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1864, establishing rules for the humane treatment of prisoners of war and of the sick, the wounded, and the dead in battle.
- get above oneself — If you say that someone is getting above themself, you disapprove of them because they think they are better than everyone else.
- gigaelectron volt — one billion electron-volts. Abbreviation: GeV, Gev.
- giovanni demedici — Catherine de', Catherine de Médicis.
- give satisfaction — to satisfy
- glove compartment — a compartment in the dashboard of an automobile for storing small items.
- government action — intervention by a government, esp to influence financial markets