18-letter words containing a, r, n, o
- james-lange theory — a theory that emotions are caused by bodily sensations; for example, we are sad because we weep
- japanese andromeda — an Asian evergreen shrub, Pieris japonica, of the heath family, having broad, glossy leaves and drooping clusters of whitish blossoms.
- japanese artichoke — Chinese artichoke.
- japanese persimmon — the soft, orange or reddish, edible fruit of an Asian tree, Diospyros kaki.
- jerusalem syndrome — a delusive condition affecting some visitors to Jerusalem in which the sufferer identifies with a major figure from his or her religious background
- johannes gutenberg — Johannes [yoh-hahn-uh s] /yoʊˈhɑn əs/ (Show IPA), (Johann Gensfleisch) c1400–68, German printer: credited with invention of printing from movable type.
- jose de san martin — José de [haw-se th e] /hɔˈsɛ ðɛ/ (Show IPA), 1778–1850, South American general and statesman, born in Argentina: leader in winning independence for Argentina, Peru, and Chile; protector of Peru 1821–22.
- junior heavyweight — a boxer weighing up to 190 pounds (85.5 kg), between light heavyweight and heavyweight.
- keep your hair on! — keep calm
- killer application — a highly innovative, very powerful, or extremely useful computer application; esp one sufficiently important as to justify purchase of the equipment or software
- king james version — Authorized Version.
- king's regulations — (in Britain and the Commonwealth when the sovereign is male) the code of conduct for members of the armed forces that deals with discipline, aspects of military law, etc
- knight of the road — a tramp
- knotted cranesbill — a British wildflower, Geranium nodosum, an meadow geranium with bright pink or purple flowers
- known lazy bastard — (abuse) (KLB) A term, used among technical support staff, for a user who repeatedly asks for help with problems whose solutions are clearly explained in the documentation, and persists in doing so after having been told to RTFM. KLBs are singled out for special treatment (i.e. ridicule), especially if they have been heard to say "It's so boring to read the manual! Why don't you just tell me?". The deepest pit in Hell is reserved for KLBs whose questions reveal total ignorance of the basic concepts (e.g., "How do I make a font in Excel?", "Where do I turn on my RAM?"), and who refuse to accept that their questions are neither simple nor well-formed.
- komsomolsk-on-amur — city in SE Russia, on the Amur River: pop. 309,000
- lactogenic hormone — prolactin.
- lactose intolerant — cannot digest milk
- lagrange's theorem — the theorem that the order of each subgroup of a finite group is a factor of the order of the group.
- lake pontchartrain — a shallow lagoon in SE Louisiana, linked with the Gulf of Mexico by a narrow channel, the Rigolets: resort and fishing centre. Area: 1620 sq km (625 sq miles)
- lambda abstraction — A term in lambda-calculus denoting a function. A lambda abstraction begins with a lower-case lambda (represented as "\" in this document), followed by a variable name (the "bound variable"), a full stop and a lambda expression (the body). The body is taken to extend as far to the right as possible so, for example an expression, \ x . \ y . x+y is read as \ x . (\ y . x+y). A nested abstraction such as this is often abbreviated to: \ x y . x + y The lambda expression (\ v . E) denotes a function which takes an argument and returns the term E with all free occurrences of v replaced by the actual argument. Application is represented by juxtaposition so (\ x . x) 42 represents the identity function applied to the constant 42. A lambda abstraction in Lisp is written as the symbol lambda, a list of zero or more variable names and a list of zero or more terms, e.g. (lambda (x y) (plus x y)) Lambda expressions in Haskell are written as a backslash, "\", one or more patterns (e.g. variable names), "->" and an expression, e.g. \ x -> x.
- lambeth conference — a convention of the bishops of the Anglican communion, held about every 10 years at Lambeth Palace to confer but not to define doctrine or to legislate on ecclesiastical matters.
- land grant college — a state university established with a grant of public land
- land-grant college — a U.S. college or university (land-grant university) entitled to support from the federal government under the provisions of the Morrill Acts.
- last in, first out — The expression last in, first out is used to say that the last person who started work in an organization should be the first person to leave it, if fewer people are needed.
- last-in, first-out — an inventory plan based on the assumption that materials constituting manufacturing costs should be carried on the books at the market price of the last lot received. Abbreviation: LIFO. Compare first-in, first-out.
- launching ceremony — a ceremony that celebrates the launch of a ship for the first time into the water
- law of gravitation — a law stating that any two masses attract each other with a force equal to a constant (constant of gravitation) multiplied by the product of the two masses and divided by the square of the distance between them.
- law of segregation — the principle, originated by Gregor Mendel, stating that during the production of gametes the two copies of each hereditary factor segregate so that offspring acquire one factor from each parent.
- lawrence of arabia — D(avid) H(erbert) 1885–1930, English novelist.
- lay down your arms — If soldiers lay down their arms, they stop fighting and give up their weapons.
- learned profession — any of the three vocations of theology, law, and medicine, commonly held to require highly advanced learning. Compare profession (def 1).
- lenticular process — a method for producing images with a three-dimensional effect by photographing on lenticulated film.
- lincoln's birthday — February 12, a legal holiday in some states of the U.S., in honor of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.
- linear accelerator — an accelerator in which particles are propelled in straight paths by the use of alternating electric voltages that are timed in such a way that the particles receive increasing increments of energy.
- linear combination — a sum of products of each quantity times a constant: The expression aX + bY + cZ is a linear combination of X, Y, and Z, where a, b, and c are constants.
- linear programming — any of several methods for finding where a given linear function of several nonnegative variables assumes an extreme value and for determining the extreme value, the variable usually being subjected to constraints in the form of linear equalities or inequalities.
- literae humaniores — (at Oxford University) the faculty concerned with Greek and Latin literature, ancient history, and philosophy; classics
- local area network — a system for linking private telecommunications equipment, as in a building or cluster of buildings.
- lone-parent family — a family in which there is only one parent
- lonely hearts club — a club for people who are trying to find a lover or a friend
- long-stay car park — a car park (eg at an airport) where cars can be left for a long time
- lose one's marbles — If you say that someone has lost their marbles, you mean that their ideas or behaviour are very strange, as if they have become insane.
- louisiana purchase — a treaty signed with France in 1803 by which the U.S. purchased for $15,000,000 the land extending from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
- macroinvertebrates — Plural form of macroinvertebrate.
- magnesium peroxide — a white, tasteless, water-insoluble powder, MgO 2 , used as an antiseptic and as an oxidizing and bleaching agent.
- magnetic recording — the process of recording sound or other data on magnetic tape, wire, etc.
- magnetic resonance — the response by atoms, molecules, or nuclei subjected to a magnetic field to radio waves or other forms of energy: used in medicine for scanning
- magnetic variation — variation (def 8).
- magnetocrystalline — (physics) Describing the interaction between the magnetization and the crystal structure of a material.