15-letter words containing n, a, s
- at arm's length — If you hold something at arm's length, you hold it away from your body with your arm straight.
- at first glance — If you say that something is true or seems to be true at first glance, you mean that it seems to be true when you first see it or think about it, but that your first impression may be wrong.
- at pistol point — being under or using the threat of being shot
- at right angles — If two things are at right angles, they are situated so that they form an angle of 90° where they touch each other. You can also say that one thing is at right angles to another.
- at sb's bidding — If you do something at someone's bidding, you do it because they have asked you to do it.
- at sbs instance — If you do something at someone's instance, you do it because they have ordered or requested you to do it.
- at short notice — Notice is used in expressions such as 'at short notice', 'at a moment's notice' or 'at twenty-four hours' notice', to indicate that something can or must be done within a short period of time.
- at the controls — If someone is at the controls of a machine or other piece of equipment, they are operating it.
- at the hands of — If someone experiences a particular kind of treatment, especially unpleasant treatment, at the hands of a person or organization, they receive it from them.
- atlantic salmon — a valuable food and game fish, Salmo salar, mainly of northern coastal Atlantic waters or, when spawning, in freshwater streams tributary to the ocean.
- atlas mountains — a mountain system of N Africa, between the Mediterranean and the Sahara. Highest peak: Mount Toubkal, 4165 m (13 664 ft)
- atrabiliousness — The state or quality of being characterized by melancholy or glumness.
- audubon society — a North American organization devoted to the conservancy of birds
- auf wiedersehen — goodbye, until we see each other again
- augmented sixth — an interval greater than a major sixth by a chromatic half step.
- australian alps — a mountain range in SE Australia, in E Victoria and SE New South Wales. Highest peak: Mount Kosciuszko, 2195 m (7316 ft)
- australian mist — a breed of medium-sized cat with a short spotted or marbled coat
- australian pine — casuarina
- austria-hungary — the Dual Monarchy established in 1867, consisting of what are now Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and parts of Poland, Romania, Ukraine, and Italy. The empire was broken up after World War I
- authentications — Plural form of authentication.
- autocannibalism — The eating of part of one's own body.
- autofluorescent — Of, pertaining to, or exhibiting autofluorescence.
- autotransformer — a transformer in which part of the winding is common to both primary and secondary circuits
- autotransfusion — a process in which a patient receives some of his or her own blood in a transfusion rather than a donor's blood
- autotransplants — Plural form of autotransplant.
- babinski effect — the reflex curling upwards of the toes (instead of inwards) when the sole of the foot is stroked, normal in infants below the age of two but a pathological condition in adults
- bacchanalianism — the practice of bacchanalian behaviour; drunken revelry
- back plastering — the introduction of partitions of lath and plaster between the inner and outer surfaces of a stud wall in order to improve the insulating properties of the wall.
- back-scratching — a reciprocal exchange of favors, aid, or compliments
- bag on the side — An extension to an established hack that is supposed to add some functionality to the original. Usually derogatory, implying that the original was being overextended and should have been thrown away, and the new product is ugly, inelegant, or bloated. Also "to hang a bag on the side [of]". "C++? That's just a bag on the side of C." "They want me to hang a bag on the side of the accounting system."
- bait and switch — Bait and switch is used to refer to a sales technique in which goods are advertised at low prices in order to attract customers, although only a small number of the low-priced goods are available.
- bait-and-switch — denoting a deceptive method of selling, by which customers, attracted to a store by sale items, are told either that the advertised bargain item is out of stock or is inferior to a higher-priced item that is available.
- balanoposthitis — An inflammation of the glans penis and the prepuce.
- bandpass filter — A bandpass filter is a filter designed to pass all frequencies within a band of frequencies.
- bandstop filter — A bandstop filter is a filter designed to eliminate all frequencies within a band of frequencies.
- bangtail muster — a roundup of cattle to be counted, each one having the hairs on its tail docked as it is counted
- barbizon school — a group of French painters of landscapes of the 1840s, including Théodore Rousseau, Daubigny, Diaz, Corot, and Millet
- barley sandwich — a drink of beer, esp at lunch time
- barn conversion — the adaptation of a farm barn into a building serving a different use, such as a house or commercial premises
- barn-door skate — an Atlantic skate, Raja laevis, that grows to a length of 4 feet (1.2 meters) or more.
- barry mountains — a mountain range in SE Australia, in E Victoria: part of the Australian Alps
- base technology — (company) The company which developed and distributes Liana. E-mail: Jack Krupansky <[email protected]> (owner). Address: Base Technology, Attn: Jack Krupansky, 1500 Mass. Ave. NW #114 Washington, DC 2005, USA. 800-786-9505 Telephone: +1 800 876 9505.
- basic anhydride — a compound formed by removing water from a more complex compound: an oxide of a nonmetal (acid anhydride) or a metal (basic anhydride) that forms an acid or a base, respectively, when united with water.
- basic education — (in India) education in which all teaching is correlated with the learning of a craft
- basic statement — protocol (def 6).
- basse-normandie — a region of NW France, on the English Channel: consists of the Cherbourg peninsula in the west rising to the Normandy hills in the east; mainly agricultural
- basses-pyrenees — former name of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
- bat-wing sleeve — formed, shaped, etc., like the wing of a bat.
- bathing costume — A bathing costume is a piece of clothing that is worn for swimming, especially by women and girls.
- bathurst island — an island off the coast of N Nunavut, Canada, in the Arctic Archipelago: present south of the North Magnetic Pole nearby. 7609 sq. mi. (19,707 sq. km).