21-letter words containing a, s, o
- american saddle horse — one of a breed of horses, raised originally in the U.S., that have high-stepping gaits and are bred to the three-gaited or five-gaited type.
- amnesty international — an international organization founded in Britain in 1961 that works to secure the release of people imprisoned for their beliefs, to ban the use of torture, and to abolish the death penalty
- analects of confucius — Chinese Lun Yü. a compilation of the discourses, maxims, and aphorisms of Confucius, dating from the 4th century b.c.
- analytical philosophy — a school of philosophy which flourished in the first half of the 20th century and which sought to resolve philosophical problems by analysing the language in which they are expressed, esp in terms of formal logic as in Russell's theory of descriptions
- analytical psychology — a school of psychoanalysis founded by Jung as a result of disagreements with Freud
- anders jonas ångström — Anders Jonas [an-derz joh-nuh s;; Swedish ahn-duh rs-yoo-nahs] /ˈæn dərz ˈdʒoʊ nəs;; Swedish ˈɑn dərsˈyu nɑs/ (Show IPA), 1814–74, Swedish astronomer and physicist.
- anointing of the sick — a sacrament in which a person who is seriously ill or dying is anointed by a priest with consecrated oil
- antimony pentasulfide — a deep-yellow, water-insoluble powder, Sb 2 S 5 , used chiefly as a pigment in oil and water colors.
- apologia pro vita sua — a religious autobiography (1864) of Cardinal John Henry Newman.
- apothecaries' measure — a system of liquid volume measure used in pharmacy in which 60 minims equal 1 fluid drachm, 8 fluid drachms equal 1 fluid ounce, and 20 fluid ounces equal 1 pint
- appalachian mountains — a mountain system of E North America, extending from Quebec province in Canada to central Alabama in the US: contains rich deposits of anthracite, bitumen, and iron ore. Highest peak: Mount Mitchell, 2038 m (6684 ft)
- appendicular skeleton — the girdles and skeleton of the limbs
- applications language — Ousterhout's dichotomy
- applications software — application program
- argus tortoise beetle — any of several turtle-shaped leaf beetles, as Chelymorpha cassidea (argus tortoise beetle or milkweed tortoise beetle) which resembles the ladybird beetle and feeds primarily on bindweed and milkweed.
- articles of agreement — a contract between the captain of a ship and a crew member regarding stipulations of a voyage, signed prior to and upon termination of a voyage.
- as a matter of course — If you do something as a matter of course, you do it as part of your normal work or way of life.
- as cool as a cucumber — If you say that someone is as cool as a cucumber, you are emphasizing that they are very calm and relaxed, especially when you would not expect them to be.
- as good as one's word — doing what one has undertaken or promised to do
- as luck would have it — fortunately
- asiliant technologies — (company) A company founded by a group of former Chips and Technologies employees with experience with the CHIPS products, suppliers, distributors and customers. Asiliant offer C&T's industry standard Flat Panel and CRT controller family.
- assisted reproduction — the use of medical techniques to bring about the conception and birth of a child, including artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, egg and embryo donation, and drug therapy.
- astronomical distance — the distance from one celestial body to another, measured in astronomical units, light-years, or parsecs.
- astronomical latitude — the angle between the direction of gravity at the observer's position and the plane of the celestial equator
- astronomical triangle — the spherical triangle formed by the great circles connecting a celestial object, the zenith, and the celestial pole.
- astronomical twilight — the period of time during which the sun is 18° below the horizon
- at a/o's low(est) ebb — If someone or something is at a low ebb or at their lowest ebb, they are not being very successful or profitable.
- athenaeus of attaleia — Greek physician in Rome, fl. a.d. c40–65.
- atmospheric inversion — inversion (def 12).
- atmospheric-inversion — an act or instance of inverting.
- atomic disintegration — a process resulting in the change of a radioactive nucleus, either by emission of an alpha, beta, or gamma ray or by fission, and producing a change in the original mass, atomic number, or energy
- australian cattle dog — a compact strongly-built dog of a breed with pricked ears and a smooth bluish-grey coat, often used for controlling and moving cattle
- aversive conditioning — a type of behavior conditioning in which noxious stimuli are associated with undesirable or unwanted behavior that is to be modified or abolished, as the use of nausea-inducing drugs in the treatment of alcoholism.
- axial-flow compressor — a device for compressing a gas by accelerating it tangentially by means of bladed rotors, to increase its kinetic energy, and then diffusing it through static vanes (stators), to increase its pressure
- background processing — the ability of a system to perform a low-priority task while, at the same time, dealing with a main application
- bad conduct discharge — a discharge of a person from military service for an offense less serious than one for which a dishonorable discharge is given.
- balance sheet account — A balance sheet account is an account in the chart of accounts that is reported on the balance sheet.
- ball-and-socket joint — a coupling between two rods, tubes, etc, that consists of a spherical part fitting into a spherical socket, allowing free movement within a specific conical volume
- banach-tarski paradox — (mathematics) It is possible to cut a solid ball into finitely many pieces (actually about half a dozen), and then put the pieces together again to get two solid balls, each the same size as the original. This paradox is a consequence of the Axiom of Choice.
- barbiturate poisoning — poisoning caused by overdose of a barbiturate
- basis of articulation — a configuration of the speech tract that represents the most neutral articulatory configuration for a given language.
- be at pains to do sth — If someone is at pains to do something, they are very eager and anxious to do it, especially because they want to avoid a difficult situation.
- be flat on one's back — the rear part of the human body, extending from the neck to the lower end of the spine.
- be on the danger list — to be critically ill in hospital
- beam in one's own eye — a major moral flaw in oneself which one ignores while criticizing minor faults in others
- beat one's brains out — Anatomy, Zoology. the part of the central nervous system enclosed in the cranium of humans and other vertebrates, consisting of a soft, convoluted mass of gray and white matter and serving to control and coordinate the mental and physical actions.
- before-and-after test — a test which compares the state or function of something before intervention or modification, and after it
- behind someone's back — without someone's knowledge or consent
- bernadette of lourdes — Saint. original name Marie Bernarde Soubirous. 1844–79, French peasant girl born in Lourdes, whose visions of the Virgin Mary led to the establishment of Lourdes as a centre of pilgrimage, esp for the sick or crippled. Feast day: Feb 18
- beyond (all) question — beyond (any) dispute or doubt