17-letter words containing d, s, m, e
- compound interest — Compound interest is interest that is calculated both on an original sum of money and on interest which has previously been added to the sum. Compare simple interest.
- compound sentence — a sentence containing at least two coordinate clauses
- compressed speech — speech reproduced on tape at a faster rate than originally spoken, but without loss of intelligibility, by being filtered through a mechanism that deletes very small segments of the original signal at random intervals.
- consumer advocate — consumerist (def 1).
- consumer spending — the percentage of an economy that is accounted for by what consumers spend
- consumer watchdog — an organization or government agency that campaigns for consumers
- consumer-advocate — Also called consumer advocate. a person who is dedicated to protecting and promoting the welfare and rights of consumers.
- coordinate system — a system of coordinates that uses numbers to represent a point, line, or the like.
- d&o insurance — D&O insurance is a personal liability insurance that provides cover to the directors and senior executives of a company.
- damp-proof course — A damp-proof course is the same as a damp course.
- dead man's handle — a safety switch on a piece of machinery, such as a train, that allows operation only while depressed by the operator
- death's-head moth — a European hawk moth, Acherontia atropos, having markings resembling a human skull on its upper thorax
- deconstructionism — The belief in, or application of, deconstruction.
- decriminalisation — (chiefly, British) Alternative form of decriminalization.
- defamiliarisation — (arts) The representation of objects anew, in a way that we do not recognize, or that changes our reading of them.
- defence mechanism — A defence mechanism is a way of behaving or thinking which is not conscious or deliberate and is an automatic reaction to unpleasant experiences or feelings such as anxiety and fear.
- defense mechanism — A defense mechanism is a way of behaving or thinking which is not conscious or deliberate and is an automatic reaction to unpleasant experiences or feelings such as anxiety and fear.
- dematerialisation — The act or process of dematerializing.
- democritus junior — Harold Hitz [hits] /hɪts/ (Show IPA), 1888–1964, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1945–58.
- demonstrativeness — The state or quality of being demonstrative.
- denominationalism — adherence to particular principles, esp to the tenets of a religious denomination; sectarianism
- denominationalist — One imbued with a denominational spirit.
- descending rhythm — a rhythmic pattern created by the succession of metrical feet each of which is composed of one accented syllable followed by one or more unaccented syllables.
- despotic monarchy — absolute monarchy.
- deterministically — the doctrine that all facts and events exemplify natural laws.
- developmentalists — an expert in or advocate of developmental psychology.
- diabetes mellitus — a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism characterized by excessive thirst and excretion of abnormally large quantities of urine containing an excess of sugar, caused by a deficiency of insulin
- diaphragm pessary — a device for inserting into the vagina to deliver a drug, such as a contraceptive
- diaphragm shutter — a camera shutter having a group of overlapping blades that open and close at the center when exposing film.
- diatonic semitone — the pitch difference between certain adjacent degrees of the diatonic scale
- dimethylsulfoxide — DMSO.
- dining room suite — a set of furniture used in a dining room
- director of music — a person in charge of musical training and performance at an institution such as a college, especially the head bandmaster of a military band
- disintermediation — the act of removing funds from savings banks and placing them into short-term investments on which the interest-rate yields are higher.
- dispensationalism — the interpreting of history as a series of divine dispensations.
- dispersive medium — a substance in which waves of different frequencies travel at different speeds
- displacement hull — a hull that displaces a significant volume of water when under way.
- disposable income — the part of a person's income remaining after deducting personal income taxes.
- doberman pinscher — one of a German breed of medium-sized, short-haired dogs having a black, brown, or blue coat with rusty brown markings.
- domestic commerce — an interchange of goods or commodities, especially on a large scale between different countries (foreign commerce) or between different parts of the same country (domestic commerce) trade; business.
- domestic violence — physical abuse in the home
- doorstep salesman — a door-to-door salesman
- down in the dumps — If you are down in the dumps, you are feeling very depressed and miserable.
- dramatis personae — (used with a plural verb) the characters in a play.
- dutch elm disease — a disease of elms characterized by wilting, yellowing, and falling of the leaves and caused by a fungus, Ceratostomella ulmi, transmitted by bark beetles.
- dynamic insurance — Dynamic insurance is a type of insurance coverage where the policyholder can choose to increase benefits and premiums by a fixed percentage each year to offset the effects of inflation.
- dynamics analyzer — (language) (DYANA) An early language specialised for vibrational and other dynamic physical systems.
- emissions trading — the buying and selling of allowances for pollutant emissions
- employee discount — When the employees of a store or other retail business are entitled to an employee discount, they do not have to pay the full price for goods they buy in the store.
- exemplary damages — law: fine imposed as a deterrent