20-letter words containing a, s, o, u, n
- brown lung (disease) — a chronic disease of the lungs caused by inhalation of fine textile fibers, esp. cotton; byssinosis
- buck's horn plantain — a Eurasian plant, Plantago coronopus, having leaves resembling a buck's horn: family Plantaginaceae
- bull in a china shop — If you say that someone rushes into a situation like a bull in a china shop, you are critical of them because they do not stop to think, and are insensitive to other people's feelings.
- buoyancy compensator — an inflatable vest used to control one's buoyancy underwater or to rest at the surface, usually having a connecting hose for inflation or deflation by mouth and a CO 2 cartridge for rapid, emergency inflation.
- bureau of the census — the division of the Department of Commerce that gathers, tabulates, and correlates census statistics.
- by/from all accounts — If you say that something is true by all accounts or from all accounts, you believe it is true because other people say so.
- call someone's bluff — to challenge someone to give proof of his claims
- cantabrian mountains — a mountain chain along the N coast of Spain, consisting of a series of high ridges that rise over 2400 m (8000 ft): rich in minerals (esp coal and iron)
- carbon sequestration — the prevention of greenhouse gas build-up in the earth's atmosphere by methods such as planting trees to absorb carbon dioxide or pumping carbon dioxide into underground reservoirs
- card up one's sleeve — a plan or resource kept secret or held in reserve
- carpathian mountains — a mountain system of central and E Europe, extending from Slovakia to central Romania: mainly forested, with rich iron ore resources. Highest peak: Gerlachovka, 2663 m (8788 ft)
- cellular respiration — the oxidation of organic compounds that occurs within cells, producing energy for cellular processes.
- checkbook journalism — the practice of paying for a news story or an interview, or for exclusive broadcasting or publishing rights.
- chikamatsu monzaemon — (born Sugimori Nobumori) 1653-1724; Jpn. dramatist: called the Shakespeare of Japan
- child support agency — the British government agency concerned with the welfare of children
- clothes manufacturer — a business concern that manufactures clothes
- codex juris canonici — the official code of canon law in force in the Roman Catholic Church; introduced in 1918 and revised in 1983
- collegiate institute — (in certain provinces) a large secondary school with an academic, rather than vocational, emphasis
- colloidal suspension — a mixture having particles of one component, with diameters between 10 −7 and 10 −9 metres, suspended in a continuous phase of another component. The mixture has properties between those of a solution and a fine suspension
- come out in the wash — If you say that something will come out in the wash, you mean that people will eventually find out the truth about it.
- communication skills — the ability to convey information and ideas effectively
- communication system — (communications) A system or facility for transfering data between persons and equipment. The system usually consists of a collection of individual communication networks, transmission systems, relay stations, tributary stations and terminal equipment capable of interconnection and interoperation so as to form an integrated whole. These individual components must serve a common purpose, be technically compatible, employ common procedures, respond to some form of control and generally operate in unison.
- compensation culture — a culture in which people are very ready to go to law over even relatively minor incidents in the hope of gaining compensation
- complaints procedure — a prescribed method of lodging a complaint to an institution
- condensation nucleus — nucleus (def 5).
- confectioners' sugar — Confectioners' sugar is very fine white sugar that is used for making icing and candy.
- conservative judaism — a movement reacting against the radicalism of Reform Judaism, rejecting extreme change and advocating moderate relaxations of traditional Jewish law, by an extension of the process by which its adherents claim traditional Orthodox Judaism evolved
- constant de rebecque — Henri Benjamin [ahn-ree ban-zha-man] /ɑ̃ˈri bɛ̃ ʒaˈmɛ̃/ (Show IPA), (Benjamin Constant) 1767–1830, French statesman and author, born in Switzerland.
- constituent assembly — A constituent assembly is a body of representatives that is elected to create or change their country's constitution.
- construction company — a business enterprise concerned with the construction of buildings, bridges, etc
- consultant physician — a physician who has attained the rank of consultant in a particular speciality
- context of situation — the totality of extralinguistic features having relevance to a communicative act.
- continuous variation — variation in phenotypic traits such as body weight or height in which a series of types are distributed on a continuum rather than grouped into discrete categories. Compare discontinuous variation.
- contradistinguishing — Present participle of contradistinguish.
- controlled substance — a drug regulated by the Federal Controlled Substances Acts, including opiates, depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens
- copulative asyndeton — a staccato effect produced by omitting copulative connectives between two or more items in a group, as in “Friends, Romans, countrymen.”.
- counterdemonstration — a demonstration that is held in reaction to another demonstration
- cut one's own throat — to be the means of one's own ruin
- cycloidal propulsion — propulsion of a vessel by propellers of controllable pitch that steer as well as propel.
- deinstitutionalizing — Present participle of deinstitutionalize.
- diammonium phosphate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble compound, (NH 4) 2 HPO 4 , used as fertilizer, in fire extinguishers, etc.
- differential housing — the casing that houses the differential of a motor vehicle
- directory user agent — (DUA) The software that accesses the X.500 Directory Service on behalf of the directory user. The directory user may be a person or another software element.
- discounted cash flow — a technique for appraising an investment that takes into account the different values of future returns according to when they will be received
- distribution channel — trade: retailer
- drum and bugle corps — a marching band of drum players and buglers.
- drunk and disorderly — If someone is charged with being drunk and disorderly, they are charged with being drunk and behaving in a noisy, offensive, or violent way in public.
- duck-billed dinosaur — hadrosaur.
- early sunday morning — a painting (1930) by Edward Hopper.
- eat out of sb's hand — If you have someone eating out of your hand, they are completely under your control.