16-letter words containing n, o, s, u
- demolition squad — a group of demolishers
- demutualizations — Plural form of demutualization.
- depressurization — to remove the air pressure from (a pressurized compartment of an aircraft or spacecraft).
- descent function — If a recursive function is of the form f x = ... f (d x) ... then d is known as the descent function.
- dimension lumber — building lumber cut to standard or specified sizes.
- dinosaurs mating — (humour) The activity said to occur when yet another big iron merger or buy-out occurs; reflects a perception by hackers that these signal another stage in the long, slow dying of the mainframe industry. Also described as "elephants mating": lots of noise and action at a high level, with an eventual outcome in the somewhat distant future. In its glory days of the 1960s, it was "IBM and the Seven Dwarves": Burroughs, Control Data, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Univac. Early on, RCA sold out to Univac and GE also sold out, and it was "IBM and the BUNCH" (an acronym for Burroughs, Univac, NCR, Control Data, and Honeywell) for a while. Honeywell was bought out by Bull. Univac in turn merged with Sperry to form Sperry/Univac, which was later merged (although the employees of Sperry called it a hostile takeover) with Burroughs to form Unisys in 1986 (this was when the phrase "dinosaurs mating" was coined). In 1991 AT&T absorbed NCR, only to spit it out again in 1996. Unisys bought Convergent Technologies in 1988 and later others. More such earth-shaking unions of doomed giants seem inevitable.
- discombobulating — Present participle of discombobulate.
- discombobulation — to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate: The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers.
- discountenancing — Present participle of discountenance.
- discourteousness — The state or quality of being discourteous.
- discussion board — a website or section of a website that is used for public discussion of a specific topic and on which users can submit or read messages: You should post your questions on a parenting message board and get support from other parents.
- discussion group — group assembled to discuss sth
- disequilibration — to put out of equilibrium; unbalance: A period of high inflation could disequilibrate the monetary system.
- disingenuousness — The state or quality of being disingenuous.
- disputatiousness — The state or quality of being disputatious or argumentative; contentiousness.
- disqualification — an act or instance of disqualifying.
- distance modulus — a measure of the distance, r, of a celestial object too far away to show measurable parallax. It is given by m–M = 5 log(r/10), where m is its apparent magnitude (corrected for interstellar absorption) and M is its absolute magnitude
- distributionally — In a distributional manner.
- district council — the local ruling body of an urban or rural district.
- divisional court — a high court in which at least two judges sit
- do business with — trade or deal with
- do oneself proud — to do extremely well
- dominus vobiscum — the Lord be with you.
- double monastery — a religious community of both men and women who live in separate establishments under the same superior and who worship in a common church.
- double precision — using twice the normal amount of storage, as two words rather than one, to represent a number.
- double-breasting — the practice of employing nonunion workers, especially in a separate division, to supplement the work of higher-paid union workers.
- dual personality — a disorder in which an individual possesses two dissociated personalities.
- duplessis-mornay — Philippe [fee-leep] /fiˈlip/ (Show IPA), Mornay, Philippe de.
- dysfunctionality — (uncountable) The condition of being dysfunctional.
- easter communion — the act of receiving communion in church on Easter Day - considered special because of the primacy of Easter among Christian festivals and because many people regard taking Easter communion as a basic token of membership of their church
- eastern european — relating to, situated in or coming from Eastern Europe
- elburz mountains — a mountain range in N Iran, parallel to the SW and S shores of the Caspian Sea. Highest peak: Mount Demavend, 5671 m (18 606 ft)
- electronic music — music: synthesized
- embourgeoisement — (chiefly UK) The taking-up of middle-class attitudes or values; bourgeoisification; the process of becoming affluent.
- enough is enough — expressing exasperation
- equidistribution — An equal distribution.
- escutcheon plate — a plate or shield that surrounds a keyhole, door handle, light switch, etc, esp an ornamental one protecting a door or wall surface
- ethnolinguistics — The field of linguistic anthropology which studies the language of a specific ethnic group.
- exclusion clause — (in a contract) something that serves to limit liabilities
- exemption clause — a clause in a contract that exempts one party from liability for something
- exhaust manifold — An exhaust manifold is a heat-resistant tube that connects an engine to an exhaust pipe.
- extemporaneously — In an extemporaneous manner; without prior preparation or planning.
- fashion business — the business dealing with style in clothes, cosmetics, behaviour, etc, esp the latest or most admired style
- fashion industry — the industry that deals with the world of fashion
- ferruginous duck — a common European duck, Aythyra nyroca, having reddish-brown plumage with white wing bars
- figure-conscious — concerned to keep an attractively slim body shape
- finished product — the product that emerges at the end of a manufacturing process
- fire regulations — rules intended to make sure that people and property stay safe in the event of a fire
- fissure eruption — the emergence of lava from a fissure in the ground rather than from a volcanic cone or vent
- fluorescent lamp — a tubular electric discharge lamp in which light is produced by the fluorescence of phosphors coating the inside of the tube.