16-letter words containing a, n, r, c
- curtain-twitcher — a person who likes to watch unobserved what other people are doing
- customary tenant — a tenant occupying a property under the customs of the manor, often a low-status tenant with little security of tenure
- cut and blow-dry — a hairdressing procedure in which the customer's hair is cut and blow-dried
- cut one's throat — to bring about one's own ruin
- cyanogen bromide — a colorless, slightly water-soluble, poisonous, volatile, crystalline solid, BrCN, used chiefly as a fumigant and a pesticide.
- dabrowa gornicza — an industrial city in S Poland.
- darwin's finches — the finches of the subfamily Geospizinae of the Galapagos Islands, showing great variation in bill structure and feeding habits: provided Darwin with evidence to support his theory of evolution
- data abstraction — (data) Any representation of data in which the implementation details are hidden (abstracted). Abstract data types and objects are the two primary forms of data abstraction.
- data compression — the act of compressing.
- davidson current — a winter countercurrent that flows N along the W coast of the U.S.
- day of reckoning — If someone talks about the day of reckoning, they mean a day or time in the future when people will be forced to deal with an unpleasant situation which they have avoided until now.
- de-concentration — to reduce the power or control of (a corporation, industry, etc.); decentralize.
- debating chamber — a room where a legislative assembly holds debates
- deboursification — (jargon) Removal of irrelevant newsgroups from the Newsgroups header of a followup. The term applies particularly to the removal of frivolous groups added by one of the Kooks. See also: sneck.
- debut appearance — debut
- decentralisation — Alternative spelling of decentralization.
- decentralization — to distribute the administrative powers or functions of (a central authority) over a less concentrated area: to decentralize the national government.
- dechristianizing — Present participle of dechristianize.
- decimal currency — a system of currency in which the monetary units are parts or powers of ten
- decimal fraction — a fraction whose denominator is some power of 10, usually indicated by a dot (decimal point or point) written before the numerator: as 0.4 = 4/10; 0.126 = 126/1000.
- declare war (on) — to make a formal declaration of being at war (with)
- definite article — The word 'the' is sometimes called the definite article.
- delayed reaction — response after an interval
- delta conversion — delta reduction
- dementia praecox — schizophrenia
- demoiselle crane — a gray crane, Anthropoides virgo, of northern Africa, Europe, and Asia, having long, white plumes behind each eye.
- dental insurance — Dental insurance is insurance that pays for treatment by a dentist.
- denuclearization — The act or process of denuclearizing.
- deradicalization — the practice of encouraging those with extreme and violent religious or political ideologies to adopt more moderate views
- deuterocanonical — of or constituting a second or subsequent canon; specif., designating certain Biblical books accepted as canonical in the Roman Catholic Church, but held by Protestants to be apocryphal
- devonshire cream — clotted cream.
- diacetylmorphine — heroin.
- diagonal process — a form of argument in which a new member of a set is constructed from a list of its known members by making the nth term of the new member differ from the nth term of the nth member. The new member is thus different from every member of the list
- diamond district — the part of a town where diamond merchants and jewellers have their businesses
- dictionary flame — [Usenet] An attempt to sidetrack a debate away from issues by insisting on meanings for key terms that presuppose a desired conclusion or smuggle in an implicit premise. A common tactic of people who prefer argument over definitions to disputes about reality. Compare spelling flame.
- dictionary-maker — a person who compiles a dictionary
- diethyl carbinol — a colorless, liquid isomer of amyl alcohol, (CH3CH2)2CHOH, used in drugs and as a solvent
- dihydroxyacetone — (organic compound) The compound CO(CH2OH)2 that has a number of industrial uses.
- dimethylcarbinol — isopropyl alcohol.
- direct marketing — marketing direct to the consumer, as by direct mail or coupon advertising.
- director general — the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.
- director-general — the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.
- disaccreditation — to take away the accreditation or authorization of: to disaccredit a diplomat.
- disappearing act — magic trick
- discharging arch — an arch for taking some of the weight from a structural member beneath it.
- discriminability — The condition of being discriminable.
- discriminatingly — With discrimination.
- discriminatorily — characterized by or showing prejudicial treatment, especially as an indication of bias related to age, color, national origin, religion, sex, etc.: discriminatory practices in housing; a discriminatory tax.
- discussion board — a website or section of a website that is used for public discussion of a specific topic and on which users can submit or read messages: You should post your questions on a parenting message board and get support from other parents.
- disenfranchising — Present participle of disenfranchise.