16-letter words containing a, v, i, r
- virginia tobacco — a type of flue-cured tobacco grown originally in Virginia
- virtual particle — an elementary particle of transitory existence that does not appear as a free particle in a particular situation but that can transmit a force from one particle to another.
- visiting fireman — an influential person accorded special treatment while visiting an organization, industry, city, etc.
- visiting teacher — a teacher in a public school system, assigned to give home instruction to sick or disabled pupils.
- visual interface — (tool, text) (vi) /V-I/, /vi:/, *never* /siks/ A screen editor crufted together by Bill Joy for an early BSD release. vi became the de facto standard Unix editor and a nearly undisputed hacker favourite outside of MIT until the rise of Emacs after about 1984. It tends to frustrate new users no end, as it will neither take commands while expecting input text nor vice versa, and the default setup provides no indication of which mode the editor is in (one correspondent accordingly reports that he has often heard the editor's name pronounced /vi:l/). Nevertheless it is still widely used (about half the respondents in a 1991 Usenet poll preferred it), and even some Emacs fans resort to it as a mail editor and for small editing jobs (mainly because it starts up faster than the bulkier versions of Emacs). See holy wars.
- vitamin-enriched — having had vitamins added
- vitruvian scroll — a scroll forming a stylized wave pattern.
- voice of america — the division of the United States Information Agency that broadcasts daily programs of news and entertainment throughout the world. Abbreviation: VOA, V.O.A.
- vulcanized fiber — a leatherlike substance made by compression of layers of paper or cloth that have been treated with acids or zinc chloride, used chiefly for electric insulation.
- weather advisory — advisory (def 5).
- weighted average — a mean that is computed with extra weight given to one or more elements of the sample.
- welfare services — services that provide help with people's living conditions and financial problems
- wind river range — a mountain range in W Wyoming, part of the Rocky Mountains. Highest peak, Gannett Peak, 13,785 feet (4202 meters).
- xaverian brother — a member of a congregation of Roman Catholic laymen bound by simple vows and dedicated to education.
- yeoman's service — good, useful, or workmanlike service: His trusty sword did him yeoman's service.