15-letter words containing d, i, s, a, l
- distance medley — a medley relay in which the first member of a team runs 440 yards (402 meters), the second runs 880 yards (805 meters), the third runs 1320 yards (1207 meters), and the fourth runs 1760 yards (1609 meters).
- distastefulness — The state or quality of being distasteful or objectionable; causing averseness; unpleasantness.
- distilled water — water from which impurities, as dissolved salts and colloidal particles, have been removed by one or more processes of distillation; chemically pure water.
- distinguishable — to mark off as different (often followed by from or by): He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
- distinguishably — to mark off as different (often followed by from or by): He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
- distractibility — inability to sustain one's attention or attentiveness, which is rapidly diverted from one topic to another: a symptom of a variety of mental disorders, as manic disorder, schizophrenia, or anxiety states.
- distress signal — a signal used, or designed to be used, by persons in peril, for the purpose of summoning aid, indicating their position, etc., as a radio code sign, aerial flare, flag hoist, or the like. Compare distress call (def 1).
- disulfuric acid — pyrosulfuric acid
- divisional coin — a coin having a value smaller than a country's main monetary unit
- doctoral thesis — a thesis written as part of a doctorate
- domain analysis — (systems analysis) 1. Determining the operations, data objects, properties and abstractions appropriate for designing solutions to problems in a given domain. 2. The domain engineering activity in which domain knowledge is studied and formalised as a domain definition and a domain specification. A software reuse approach that involves combining software components, subsystems, etc., into a single application system. 3. The process of identifying, collecting organising, analysing and representing a domain model and software architecture from the study of existing systems, underlying theory, emerging technology and development histories within the domain of interest. 4. The analysis of systems within a domain to discover commonalities and differences among them.
- domain calculus — (database) A form of relational calculus in which scalar variables take values drawn from a given domain. Examples of the domain calculus are ILL, FQL, DEDUCE and the well known Query By Example (QBE). INGRES is a relational DBMS whose DML is based on the relational calculus.
- domestic animal — an animal, as the horse or cat, that has been tamed and kept by humans as a work animal, food source, or pet, especially a member of those species that have, through selective breeding, become notably different from their wild ancestors.
- dorsiventrality — The quality of being dorsiventral.
- dorsoventrality — Zoology. pertaining to the dorsal and ventral aspects of the body; extending from the dorsal to the ventral side: the dorsoventral axis.
- dose equivalent — a unit that quantifies the biological effectiveness of an absorbed dose of ionizing radiation, obtained by multiplying the absorbed dose by dimensionless factors that account for the kind of radiation, its energy, and the nature of the absorber: measured in Sievert or rem.
- double in brass — twice as large, heavy, strong, etc.; twofold in size, amount, number, extent, etc.: a double portion; a new house double the size of the old one.
- dual admissions — a system whereby students attaining less good marks than what is required are offered a place provided they successfully complete another course first to improve some aspect of their work
- dysfunctionally — not performing normally, as an organ or structure of the body; malfunctioning.
- dysteleological — Of or pertaining to dysteleology.
- early admission — a plan for admission to colleges in the US, in which students apply to colleges earlier in the year than is customary and receive their results earlier too
- easter islander — a native or inhabitant of Easter Island
- edriophthalmous — (of certain crustaceans) having stalkless eyes
- elastic rebound — a theory of earthquakes that envisages gradual deformation of the fault zone without fault slippage until friction is overcome, when the fault suddenly slips to produce the earthquake
- electrodialyses — Plural form of electrodialysis.
- electrodialysis — Dialysis in which the movement of ions is aided by an electric field applied across the semipermeable membrane.
- electrodynamics — The branch of mechanics concerned with the interaction of electric currents with magnetic fields or with other electric currents.
- endocannibalism — A form of cannibalism, the eating of dead members of one's own social group, often associated with spiritual beliefs.
- epsilon squared — (jargon) A quantity even smaller than epsilon, as small in comparison to epsilon as epsilon is to something normal; completely negligible. If you buy a supercomputer for a million dollars, the cost of the thousand-dollar terminal to go with it is epsilon, and the cost of the ten-dollar cable to connect them is epsilon squared. Compare lost in the underflow, lost in the noise.
- faculty advisor — a member of the faculty who gives advice to students
- family division — a division of the High Court of Justice dealing with divorce, the rights of access to children, etc
- fetal diagnosis — prenatal determination of genetic or chemical abnormalities in a fetus, esp by amniocentesis
- first world war — World War I.
- fit as a fiddle — a musical instrument of the viol family.
- fixed satellite — a satellite in a geostationary orbit
- flavourdynamics — as in quantum flavour dynamics, a mathematical model used to describe the interaction of flavoured particles (weak force) through the exchange of intermediate vector bosons
- flight of ideas — a rapid flow of thought, manifested by accelerated speech with abrupt changes from topic to topic: a symptom of some mental illnesses, especially manic disorder.
- flinders island — an island off the coast of NE Tasmania: the largest of the Furneaux Islands. Pop: 850 (2004 est). Area: 2077 sq km (802 sq miles)
- floating island — a dessert consisting of boiled custard with portions of meringue, whipped cream, or whipped egg whites and sometimes jelly floating upon it or around it.
- floating screed — Building Trades. screed (def 3).
- flood insurance — insurance covering loss or damage to property arising from a flood, flood tide, or the like.
- fluid mechanics — an applied science dealing with the basic principles of gaseous and liquid matter.
- fluoridationist — One who supports the addition of fluoride to the public water supply.
- fool's paradise — a state of enjoyment based on false beliefs or hopes; a state of illusory happiness.
- foundationalism — (epistemology) The doctrine that beliefs derive justification from certain basic beliefs.
- frisian islands — a chain of islands in the North Sea along the coasts of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark: separated from the mainland by shallows
- fully fashioned — (of stockings, knitwear, etc) shaped and seamed so as to fit closely
- fundamentalists — Plural form of fundamentalist.
- gallant soldier — a South American plant, Galinsoga parviflora, widely distributed as a weed, having small daisy-like flowers surrounded by silvery scales: family Asteraceae (composites)
- gambier islands — a group of islands in the S Pacific Ocean, in French Polynesia. Chief settlement: Rikitéa. Pop: 1097 (2002). Area: 30 sq km (11 sq miles)