20-letter words containing a, t, o, n, l
- not worth the candle — not worth the price or trouble entailed (esp in the phrase the game's not worth the candle)
- occupational disease — Also called industrial disease. a disease caused by the conditions or hazards of a particular occupation.
- occupational pension — a pension scheme provided for the members of a particular occupation or by a specific employer or group of employers
- occupational therapy — a form of therapy in which patients are encouraged to engage in vocational tasks or expressive activities, as art or dance, usually in a social setting.
- ode to a nightingale — a poem (1819) by Keats.
- of no/little account — If you say that something is of no account or of little account, you mean that it is very unimportant and is not worth considering.
- old man of the woods — an edible, mild-tasting mushroom, Strobilomyces floccopus, occurring in coniferous woodlands of eastern North America.
- olfactory anesthesia — absence or loss of the sense of smell.
- omega-minus particle — a baryon with strangeness −3, isotopic spin 0, and negative charge; predicted from the mathematics of the Eightfold Way and subsequently discovered. Symbol: Ω −.
- on the factory floor — in a factory; as a factory worker
- one's spiritual home — Your spiritual home is the place where you feel that you belong, usually because your ideas or attitudes are the same as those of the people who live there.
- ontological argument — an a priori argument for the existence of God, asserting that as existence is a perfection, and as God is conceived of as the most perfect being, it follows that God must exist; originated by Anselm, later used by Duns Scotus, Descartes, and Leibniz.
- open learning centre — an establishment which provides further education on a flexible part-time basis
- operational calculus — a method for solving a differential equation by treating differential operators as ordinary algebraic quantities, thus obtaining a simpler problem.
- operational database — (database) A database containing up-to-date, modifiable data, in contrast to a decision support database.
- operational strategy — a plan or set of plans for successfully running a business, etc
- operator overloading — overloading
- ophthalmodynamometer — a device for determining the nearest point of ocular convergence.
- optical mark reading — the reading of marks by an optical device whereby the information can be stored in machine-readable form
- oscillating universe — a variant model of the closed universe in which the universe undergoes cycles of expansion and contraction.
- over-intellectualize — to seek or consider the rational content or form of.
- overenthusiastically — With excessive enthusiasm.
- ovo-lacto vegetarian — a vegetarian who eats eggs and dairy products
- ovo-lacto-vegetarian — lacto-ovo-vegetarian.
- oxyacetylene welding — welding using an oxyacetylene burner
- pale western cutworm — the larva of a noctuid moth, Agrotis orthogonia, of the western U.S. and Canada, that seriously damages grains, beets, potatoes, alfalfa, etc., by feeding underground on roots and stems.
- paper qualifications — qualifications gained through official examinations, etc, rather than through experience
- particle beam weapon — a weapon that fires particle beams into the atmosphere or space
- patent foramen ovale — a congenital heart defect resulting from failure of the foramen ovale to close shortly after birth.
- paternal grandmother — the mother of someone's father
- peaceful coexistence — competition without war, or a policy of peace between nations of widely differing political systems and ideologies, especially between Communist and non-Communist nations: peaceful coexistence between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.
- peculiar institution — black slavery in the southern U.S. before the Civil War.
- pentobarbital sodium — a barbiturate drug used in medicine as a sedative and hypnotic. Formula: C11H17N2O3Na
- pentose nucleic acid — a nucleic acid containing a pentose.
- peremptory challenge — a formal objection to the service of a juror by a party to a criminal prosecution or a civil action that requires no showing of cause.
- periodontal membrane — the collagenous, fibrous connective tissue between the cementum of the tooth and the alveolus.
- peroxyacetyl nitrate — an unstable nitrogen compound, found in certain types of smog, that is an irritant, esp. to the eyes and to plants
- perpendicular gothic — the style of Gothic architecture in England during the 14th and 15th centuries, characterized by tracery having vertical lines, a four-centred arch, and fan vaulting
- personality disorder — any of a group of mental disorders characterized by deeply ingrained maladaptive patterns of behavior and personality style, which are usually recognizable as early as adolescence and are often lifelong in duration.
- personnel department — business: human resources
- personnel management — the branch of management dealing with staff recruitment and matters relating to employees
- phenyldiethanolamine — a white, crystalline, slightly water-soluble substance, C 1 0 H 1 5 NO 2 , used in the manufacture of dyes and in organic synthesis.
- phenylpropyl acetate — a colorless, water-insoluble liquid, C 1 0 H 1 2 O 2 , used chiefly in perfumery.
- photogelatin process — collotype (def 1).
- photophosphorylation — phosphorylation that utilizes light as a source of energy, as in the formation of ATP from ADP and phosphorus during photosynthesis.
- phthalocyanine green — a pigment used in painting, derived from chlorinated copper phthalocyanine and characterized chiefly by its intense green color and permanence.
- physical examination — an examination, usually by a physician, of a person's body in order to determine his or her state of health or physical fitness, as for military service or participation in a sport.
- planetary precession — the small component of the precession of the equinoxes contributed by the motion of the ecliptic, the change in orientation of the plane of the earth's orbit being produced by the gravitational attraction of the planets.
- planning application — In Britain, a planning application is a formal request to a local authority for permission to build something new or to add something to an existing building.
- pleased with oneself — If someone seems very satisfied with something they have done, you can say that they are pleased with themselves, especially if you think they are more satisfied than they should be.