15-letter words containing a, o, l
- utility company — a company which supplies utilities, such as gas, electricity, phones, etc
- utility program — system software used to perform standard operations, as sorting data or copying data from one file to another, for application programs or other system software.
- utopia planitia — Astronomy. a plain in the northern hemisphere of Mars that was the landing site of the Viking II space probe on September 3, 1976.
- variable region — a configuration in the upper branches of the Y of an antibody molecule, unique in each antibody type, that binds with the determinant of a specific antigen.
- varicocelectomy — the surgical removal or ligation of varicose veins in the scrotal sac.
- variola porcina — an acute infectious viral disease of pigs characterized by skin eruptions
- vascularization — (of a tissue or embryo) to develop or extend blood vessels or other fluid-bearing vessels or ducts; become vascular.
- vatican council — the ecumenical council, convoked in Rome, 1869–70, by Pope Pius IX, that declared the dogma of papal infallibility.
- vector analysis — the branch of calculus that deals with vectors and processes involving vectors.
- vegetable ivory — ivory (def 9).
- velcro fastener — a fastener made of Velcro
- venetian school — any of various groups of artists identified with Venice throughout the history of Italian art but most notably the painters of the 18th century, as Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Francesco Guardi, and Antonio Canaletto.
- vicar apostolic — Roman Catholic Church. a titular bishop serving either in a district where no episcopal see has been established, or in one where the succession of bishops has been interrupted.
- vice chancellor — a substitute, deputy, or subordinate chancellor.
- vice-chancellor — a substitute, deputy, or subordinate chancellor.
- victor emmanuel — 1869–1947, king of Italy 1900–46.
- victoria island — an island off the coast of N Canada, in the Arctic Ocean. 80,340 sq. mi. (208,081 sq. km).
- village college — a centre, often for a group of villages, with educational and recreational facilities for the whole neighbourhood
- villeda morales — Ramón [rah-mawn] /rɑˈmɔn/ (Show IPA), 1909?–71, Honduran diplomat and statesman: president 1957–63.
- vine phylloxera — a homopterous insect, Phylloxera vitifolia, typically feeding on vine juices
- violinistically — in a violinistic manner
- viral infection — disease caused by a virus
- virtual storage — a system whereby addressable memory is extended beyond main storage through the use of secondary storage managed by system software in such a way that programs can treat all of the designated storage as addressable main storage.
- vitreous silica — silica glass
- volcano islands — a group of three volcanic islands in the W Pacific, about 1100 km (700 miles) south of Japan: the largest is Iwo Jima, taken by US forces in 1945 and returned to Japan in 1968. Area: about 28 sq km (11 sq miles)
- völkerwanderung — the migration of peoples, esp of Germanic and Slavic peoples into S and W Europe from 2nd to 11th centuries
- volta river dam — a hydroelectric dam on the Volta river
- voltage divider — a resistor or series of resistors connected to a voltage source and used to provide voltages that are fractions of that of the source.
- voltaic battery — battery (def 1a).
- volunteer state — Tennessee (used as a nickname).
- voyeuristically — of, relating to, or characteristic of a voyeur or of voyeurism.
- vulgar fraction — common fraction.
- wager of battle — (in medieval Britain) a pledge to do battle for a cause, esp to decide guilt or innocence by single combat
- walk (all) over — to defeat overwhelmingly
- walking holiday — a holiday on which you walk a lot, esp in the countryside
- walking wounded — casualties, as of a military conflict, who are wounded but ambulatory.
- walleye pollock — a cod, Theragra chalcogramma, ranging the northern Pacific, that is related to and resembles the pollock.
- walloon brabant — a province of central Belgium, formed in 1995 from the S part of Brabant province: densely populated and intensively farmed, with large industrial centres. Pop: 360 717 (2004 est). Area: 1091 sq km (421 sq miles)
- washing-up bowl — plastic bowl used for washing dishes
- washington lily — a lily, Lilium washingtonianum, of the western coast of the U.S., having whorled leaves and fragrant, purple-spotted white flowers.
- washington palm — a palm tree, Washingtonia filifera, of California and Florida, having large fan-shaped leaves and small black fruits
- watch the clock — If you are watching the clock, you keep looking to see what time it is, usually because you are bored by something and want it to end as soon as possible.
- water pollution — the pollution of the sea and rivers
- waterfall model — (programming) A software life-cycle or product life-cycle model, described by W. W. Royce in 1970, in which development is supposed to proceed linearly through the phases of requirements analysis, design, implementation, testing (validation), integration and maintenance. The Waterfall Model is considered old-fashioned or simplistic by proponents of object-oriented design which often uses the spiral model instead. Earlier phases are sometimes called "upstream" and later ones "downstream". Compare: iterative model.
- waterford glass — fine cut or gilded glass made in Waterford, Ireland, having a slight blue cast due to the presence of cobalt.
- weather balloon — sounding balloon.
- wee small hours — the hours just after midnight
- welfare officer — a person who gives people help and advice
- well trajectory — The well trajectory is the direction in which the well is drilled.
- well-accustomed — customary; usual; habitual: in their accustomed manner.