14-letter words containing d, i, a, t
- lady bountiful — a wealthy lady in George Farquhar's The Beaux' Stratagem, noted for her kindness and generosity.
- lady's-thistle — a composite plant, Silybum marianum, of the Mediterranean region, having glossy, spiny leaves and purplish-red flower heads.
- lailat-ul-qadr — a night of study and prayer observed annually by Muslims to mark the communication of the Koran: it usually follows the 27th day of Ramadan
- lambda lifting — A program transformation to remove free variables. An expression containing a free variable is replaced by a function applied to that variable. E.g. f x = g 3 where g y = y + x x is a free variable of g so it is added as an extra argument: f x = g 3 x where g y x = y + x Functions like this with no free variables are known as supercombinators and are traditionally given upper-case names beginning with "$". This transformation tends to produce many supercombinators of the form f x = g x which can be eliminated by eta reduction and substitution. Changing the order of the parameters may also allow more optimisations. References to global (top-level) constants and functions are not transformed to function parameters though they are technically free variables. A closely related technique is closure conversion. See also Full laziness.
- landing lights — aircraft lights used when landing
- landing strake — the next strake of planking in an open boat below the sheer strake.
- landing-waiter — landwaiter.
- latchkey child — a child who must spend at least part of the day alone and unsupervised, as when the parents are away at work.
- latency period — Psychoanalysis. the stage of personality development, extending from about four or five years of age to the beginning of puberty, during which sexual urges appear to lie dormant.
- latitudinarian — allowing or characterized by latitude in opinion or conduct, especially in religious views.
- lattice defect — defect (def 3).
- lattice girder — a trusslike girder having the upper and lower chords connected by latticing.
- lattice window — a window formed of an open framework of wood, metal, etc, arranged to form an ornamental pattern
- lead the field — If you say that someone leads the field in a particular activity, you mean that they are better, more active, or more successful than everyone else who is involved in it.
- leading rating — a rank in the Royal Navy comparable but junior to that of a corporal in the army
- lecythidaceous — relating to the Lecythidaceae family of large trees, native to tropical South America and Madagascar
- lee's birthday — Jan. 19, Robert E. Lee's birthday, a legal holiday in several Southern states
- liberty island — a small island in upper New York Bay: site of the Statue of Liberty.
- life and death — ending with the death or possible death of one of the participants; crucially important: The cobra was engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the mongoose.
- life-and-death — ending with the death or possible death of one of the participants; crucially important: The cobra was engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the mongoose.
- lift attendant — a person who operates a lift, esp in large public or commercial buildings and hotels
- lightheartedly — In a lighthearted manner, cheerfully, with joy.
- linkage editor — linker
- linkage-editor — a system program that combines independently compiled object modules or load modules into a single load module.
- liquid crystal — a liquid having certain crystalline characteristics, especially different optical properties in different directions when exposed to an electric field.
- liquidationist — pertaining to or promoting a theory of economics which holds that governments should not interfere in a recession
- listed company — A listed company is a company whose shares are quoted on a stock exchange.
- literal-minded — unimaginative; prosaic; matter-of-fact.
- little daedala — either of two festivals held in ancient Boeotia in honor of the reconciliation of Hera with Zeus, one (Little Daedala) being held every 6 years, the other (Great Daedala) every 59 years.
- little richard — (Richard Wayne Penniman) born 1932, U.S. rock and roll singer, songwriter, and pianist.
- longitudinally — of or relating to longitude or length: longitudinal measurement.
- lord baltimore — David, born 1938, U.S. microbiologist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1975.
- lord spiritual — a bishop or archbishop belonging to the House of Lords.
- lunar distance — the observed angle between the moon and another celestial body.
- macadamization — to pave by laying and compacting successive layers of broken stone, often with asphalt or hot tar.
- magnetic field — a region of space near a magnet, electric current, or moving charged particle in which a magnetic force acts on any other magnet, electric current, or moving charged particle.
- mahatma gandhi — Indira [in-deer-uh] /ɪnˈdɪər ə/ (Show IPA), 1917–84, Indian political leader: prime minister 1966–77 and 1980–84 (daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru).
- maiden's-tears — bladder campion.
- main door flat — a flat in a tenement that can be accessed directly from outside rather than one which can only be accessed via a communal stairwell
- maitre d'hotel — a headwaiter.
- make a dent in — a hollow or depression in a surface, as from a blow.
- malapportioned — (of a state or other political unit) poorly apportioned, especially divided, organized, or structured in a manner that prevents large sections of a population from having equitable representation in a legislative body.
- male-dominated — with men in control
- man of destiny — epithet of Napoleon I.
- mandibulectomy — (surgery) excision of the mandible.
- martin du gard — Roger [raw-zhey] /rɔˈʒeɪ/ (Show IPA), 1881–1958, French novelist: Nobel prize 1937.
- master builder — a play (1892) by Ibsen.
- matara diamond — a zircon heat-treated to render it colorless: not a true diamond.
- materia medica — (used with a plural verb) the remedial substances employed in medicine.
- maternity ward — hospital room for new mothers