15-letter words containing a, r, o, l
- 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).
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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)
- 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-elaborated — worked out with great care and nicety of detail; executed with great minuteness: elaborate preparations; elaborate care. Synonyms: perfected, painstaking. Antonyms: simple.
- well-formulated — to express in precise form; state definitely or systematically: He finds it extremely difficult to formulate his new theory.
- wentworth scale — a scale for specifying the sizes (diameters) of sedimentary particles, ranging from clay particles (less than 1⁄256 mm) to boulders (over 256 mm)
- west carrollton — a town in W Ohio.
- west hartlepool — a former borough, now part of Hartlepool, in Cleveland County, in NE England, at the mouth of the Tees.
- wheelchairbound — Confined to a wheelchair.
- wilderness road — a 300-mile (500-km) route from eastern Virginia through the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky, explored by Daniel Boone in 1769 and marked as a trail by him and other pioneers in 1775: a major route for early settlers moving west.
- windfall profit — a profit that arises thanks to an external event over which the person profiting had no control
- winter holidays — a period of rest from work or studies taken in winter
- wolf-rayet star — a very hot (35,000–100,000 K) and luminous star in the early stages of evolution, with broad emission lines in its spectrum.
- wolverine state — Michigan (used as a nickname).
- working capital — the amount of capital needed to carry on a business.
- working holiday — trip combining vacation with job experience
- world-wide wait — (humour) A pejorative expansion of WWW reflecting on the slowness of some network connections and sites.
- wreathed column — a column having a twisted or spiral form.
- wrongful arrest — the act of arresting someone without proper reason
- xenotransplants — Plural form of xenotransplant.
- xerographically — In a xerographic way; by xerography.
- xylotypographic — involving or pertaining to xylotypography
- yellow lead ore — wulfenite.
- yellow mandarin — (in the Chinese Empire) a member of any of the nine ranks of public officials, each distinguished by a particular kind of button worn on the cap.
- yorke peninsula — a peninsula in S Australia between Spencer Gulf and the Gulf of St. Vincent. 160 miles (257 km) long and 20–35 miles (32–56 km) wide.
- yorkshire dales — the valleys of the rivers flowing from the Pennines in W Yorkshire: chiefly Ribblesdale, Swaledale, Nidderdale, Wharfedale, and Wensleydale; tourist area
- z-zero particle — one of three particles, called intermediate vector bosons, that are believed to transmit the weak force. Symbol: Z 0.
- zermelo's axiom — axiom of choice.
- zoogeographical — Pertaining to zoogeography.