20-letter words containing l, o, n, e, y
- psychological moment — the proper or critical time for achieving a desired result: She found the right psychological moment to make her request.
- pyroligneous alcohol — methyl alcohol.
- quantum field theory — any theory in which fields are treated by the methods of quantum mechanics; each field can then be regarded as consisting of particles of a particular kind, which may be created and annihilated.
- recreational therapy — therapy by means of recreational activities engaged in by the patient
- revolving presidency — a form of presidency in which the president and vice-president, or countries or bodies acting as such, switch roles after a set period and then back again and so on
- royal british legion — an organization founded in 1921 to provide services and assistance for former members of the armed forces
- royal leamington spa — a city in Warwickshire, central England: health resort.
- ruby-crowned kinglet — an olive-gray, American kinglet, Regulus calendula, the male of which has an erectile, ruby crest.
- schizoid personality — sb with identity disorder
- silicon tetrahydride — silane (def 1).
- solitary confinement — the confinement of a prisoner in a cell or other place in which he or she is completely isolated from others.
- south orkney islands — an uninhabited group of islands in the S Atlantic, southeast of Cape Horn: formerly a dependency of the Falkland Islands; part of the British Antarctic Territory since 1962 (claims are suspended under the Antarctic Treaty). Area: 621 sq km (240 sq miles)
- spanish oyster plant — a composite plant, Scolymus hispanicus, of southern Europe, having spiny, thistlelike leaf margins, small yellow flowers, and an edible root.
- surveillance society — a society where surveillance technology is widely used to monitor people's everyday activities
- synoptic meteorology — a branch of meteorology analyzing data collected simultaneously over a wide region, for the purpose of weather forecasting.
- synthetic philosophy — the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, intended as a synthesis of all the sciences.
- system international — Système International d'Unités
- systemic circulation — the circulatory system in general.
- technology agreement — a framework designed by trade unions for negotiating changes in employment caused by the introduction of new technology
- teletype corporation — (company) The company which made Teletype teletypewriters. Address: Skokie, Illinois, USA.
- tetrahydrocannabinol — a compound, C 21 H 30 O 2 , that is the physiologically active component in cannabis preparations (marijuana, hashish, etc.) derived from the Indian hemp plant or produced synthetically. Abbreviation: THC.
- the whole nine yards — everything that is required; the whole thing
- thermal conductivity — the amount of heat per unit time per unit area that can be conducted through a plate of unit thickness of a given material, the faces of the plate differing by one unit of temperature.
- three-dimensionality — having, or seeming to have, the dimension of depth as well as width and height.
- to clean up your act — If someone who has been behaving badly cleans up their act, they start to behave in a more acceptable or responsible way.
- to fall on your feet — If you say that someone always falls or lands on their feet, you mean that they are always successful or lucky, although they do not seem to achieve this by their own efforts.
- to keep your balance — If you keep your balance, for example, when standing in a moving vehicle, you remain steady and do not fall over. If you lose your balance, you become unsteady and fall over.
- to land on your feet — If you say that someone always lands on their feet, you mean that they are always successful or lucky, although they do not seem to achieve this by their own efforts.
- to line your pockets — If you say that someone is lining their own or someone else's pockets, you disapprove of them because they are making money dishonestly or unfairly.
- to pull your punches — If you say that someone does not pull their punches when they are criticizing a person or thing, you mean that they say exactly what they think, even though this might upset or offend people.
- to tighten your belt — If you have to tighten your belt, you have to spend less money and manage without things because you have less money than you used to have.
- turnip-rooted celery — celeriac.
- unemployment benefit — an allowance of money paid, usually weekly, to an unemployed worker by a state or federal agency or by the worker's labor union or former employer during all or part of the period of unemployment.
- unemployment figures — statistics relating to the number of people who are out of work
- unified field theory — electroweak theory.
- voluntary euthanasia — the act of killing someone painlessly, esp to relieve suffering from an incurable illness, with their consent
- voluntary redundancy — a financial package to encourage employees to voluntarily leave an organization that needs to restructure
- walking-around money — money that is carried on the person for routine expenses and minor emergencies; pocket money.
- walton and weybridge — a city in Surrey, SE England: a London suburb.
- whyte classification — a system for classifying steam locomotives according to the total number of wheels on the front trucks, drivers, and rear trucks, in that order. For example, a Pacific locomotive is designated as 4-6-2.
- winter olympic games — an international contest of winter sports, esp skiing, held every four years
- woolly spider monkey — a rare related monkey, Brachyteles arachnoides, of SE Brazil
- yu-shiang whole fish — /yoo-shyang hohl fish/ An obsolete name for the Greek character gamma (extended SAIL ASCII code 9, Unicode glyph 0x0263) which with a loop in its tail looks like a little fish swimming down the page. The term is actually the name of a Chinese dish in which a fish is cooked whole (not parsed) and covered with Yu-Shiang (or Yu-Hsiang) sauce. Used primarily by people on the MIT LISP Machine, which could display this character on the screen. Tends to elicit incredulity from people who hear about it second-hand.