15-letter words containing l, r, a
- al iskandariyah — Alexandria , Egypt
- al-iskandariyah — Arabic name of Alexandria.
- alan f. shugart — (person) The man who founded Shugart Associates and later co-founded Seagate Technology. Alan Shugart left Shugart Associates in 1974 [did he quit or was he fired?] and took a break from the disk-drive business. In 1979, he and Finis Conner founded a new company that at first was called Shugart Technology and later Seagate Technology.
- alaska purchase — purchase of the territory of Alaska by the U.S. from Russia in 1867 for $7,200,000. Compare Seward's Folly.
- albany congress — a meeting of delegates from seven American colonies, held in 1754 at Albany, New York, at which Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan (Albany Plan of Union) for unifying the colonies.
- albemarle sound — an inlet of the Atlantic in NE North Carolina. Length: about 96 km (60 miles)
- albert memorial — monument to Prince Albert of England in Kensington Gardens, London: 175 ft (53 m) high
- alberta clipper — (in Canada) an area of low pressure that forms in winter near the Rocky Mountains
- albertus magnus — Saint. original name Albert, Count von Böllstadt. ?1193–1280, German scholastic philosopher; teacher of Thomas Aquinas and commentator on Aristotle. Feast day: Nov 15
- aldabra islands — a group of four large and forty smaller islands in the Indian Ocean, part of the Republic of Seychelles. 59 sq. mi. (154 sq. km).
- alder buckthorn — a Eurasian rhamnaceous shrub, Frangula alnus, with small greenish flowers and black berry-like fruits
- alexandrine rat — roof rat.
- alexandroupolis — a port in NE Greece, in W Thrace. Pop: 52 720 (2001 est)
- alfred e. smith — Adam, 1723–90, Scottish economist.
- algaroth powder — antimony oxychloride.
- algebra of sets — a nonempty collection of sets having the property that the union of two sets of the collection is a set of the collection and the complement of each set of the collection is a set in the collection.
- algerian stripe — a fabric woven with alternate stripes of coarse cotton and silk, usually cream-colored.
- algorithmically — Using an algorithm.
- alignment chart — nomogram.
- alkylating drug — any of various potentially cytotoxic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic substances: used therapeutically to destroy cells, especially proliferating cancer cells.
- all mockered up — dressed up
- all-or-none law — the principle that under given conditions the response of a nerve or muscle fiber to a stimulus at any strength above the threshold is the same: the muscle or nerve responds completely or not at all.
- all-risk policy — An all-risk policy is an insurance policy that covers all loss or damage however it is caused, apart from any stated exceptions.
- all-wheel drive — a system used in motor vehicles in which all four (or more) wheels are permanently connected to the source of power, in such a way that each wheel is able to rotate at a different speed
- allegoricalness — the quality of being allegorical
- alligator shear — heavy shears for cutting metal slabs.
- allorecognition — The ability of an individual organism to distinguish its own tissues from those of another.
- allotetraploidy — the condition of being an allotetraploid
- allotransplants — Plural form of allotransplant.
- allotriomorphic — (of minerals) not having their own regular shape (as determined by their internal structure) but being shaped instead by adjacent minerals
- allyl mercaptan — a colorless liquid, C 3 H 6 S, having a strong, garlicky odor, used in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals.
- almighty dollar — money regarded as a major goal in life or as the basis of power: Love of the almighty dollar has ruined many people.
- almirante brown — a city in E Argentina, near Buenos Aires.
- alopecia areata — loss of hair in circumscribed patches.
- alpes-maritimes — a department of the SE corner of France in Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region. Capital: Nice. Pop: 1 045 973 (2003 est). Area: 4298 sq km (1676 sq miles)
- alpha geminorum — Castor
- alpha privative — (in Greek grammar) the letter alpha (or an- before vowels) used as a negative or privative prefix. It appears in English words derived from Greek, as in atheist, anaesthetic
- alpha radiation — alpha particles emitted from a radioactive isotope
- alpine accentor — a small bird of the sparrow family, Prunella collaris, found especially in mountain regions of S Europe and Asia
- alsace-lorraine — an area of NE France, comprising the modern regions of Alsace and Lorraine: under German rule 1871–1919 and 1940–44. Area: 14 522 sq km (5607 sq miles)
- alta california — a former Spanish colony of New Spain, in the modern-day states of California, Nevada, and N Arizona: ceded by Mexico to the United States 1848.
- altar of repose — a pedestal or niche upon which the sacraments are preserved from Maundy Thursday to Good Friday.
- alternativeness — The state of being alternative or representing alternatives.
- aluminum borate — a white, granular, water-insoluble powder, 2Al 2 O 3 ⋅B 2 O 3 ⋅3H 2 O, used chiefly in the manufacture of crown glass.
- aluminum bronze — any of several alloys containing a high percentage of copper with from 5 to 11 percent aluminum and varying amounts of iron, nickel, manganese, and other elements.
- amaranth family — the plant family Amaranthaceae, typified by herbaceous, often weedy plants having alternate or opposite leaves and small, chaffy flowers without petals in brightly colored dense clusters, including the cockscomb, pigweed, and amaranth.
- amaryllidaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Amaryllidaceae, a family of widely cultivated flowering plants having bulbs and including the amaryllis, snowdrop, narcissus, and daffodil
- ambrose channel — a ship channel at the entrance to New York harbor, near Sandy Hook. 7½ miles (12 km) long.
- ambrosia beetle — any of various small beetles of the genera Anisandrus, Xyleborus, etc, that bore tunnels into solid wood, feeding on fungi growing in the tunnels: family Scolytidae (bark beetles)
- ambulance nurse — a nurse who works as part of an ambulance crew