22-letter words containing n, o, t, a, l
- st-pierre and miquelon — group of islands in the Atlantic, south of Newfoundland, constituting a political unit of France: includes the islands of St-Pierre (c. 10 sq mi, 26 sq km) & Miquelon & several islets: 93 sq mi (241 sq km); pop. 6,000
- start the ball rolling — to open or initiate (an action, discussion, movement, etc)
- statute of limitations — a statute defining the period within which legal action may be taken.
- student volunteer army — a students' voluntary organization that aims to undertake useful work in communities, founded in 2010 to help clear up after a damaging earthquake in Christchurch
- supplementary question — a question asked in Parliament by an MP during Questions to the Prime Minister
- talk someone's arm off — to talk to someone at great length or without pause
- talk through one's hat — a shaped covering for the head, usually with a crown and brim, especially for wear outdoors.
- tapered roller bearing — a rolling bearing that uses tapered rollers running in coned races and is able to accept axial thrust as well as providing shaft location
- tell it to the marines — of or relating to the sea; existing in or produced by the sea: marine vegetation.
- temporary life annuity — an annuity that ceases upon the death of the annuitant or upon the expiration of a period of time, whichever occurs first.
- the atlantic provinces — certain of the Canadian provinces with coasts facing the Gulf of St Lawrence or the Atlantic: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador
- the continental system — Napoleon's plan in 1806 to blockade Britain by excluding her ships from ports on the mainland of Europe
- the golden gate bridge — a bridge crossing the strait between the Pacific and San Francisco Bay, with a central span of 1280 m (4200 ft)
- the houston ship canal — a canal linking Houston to the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
- the medical profession — the occupation of working as a doctor of medicine
- the mythical man-month — (publication) Fred Brooks's excellent 1975 book on software engineering. See also Brooks's Law.
- the-leaning-tower-pisa — a round, marble campanile in Pisa, Italy, begun in 1174 and now 17 feet (5.2 meters) out of the perpendicular in its height of 179 feet (54 meters).
- thermonuclear reaction — a nuclear-fusion reaction that takes place between the nuclei of a gas, especially hydrogen, heated to a temperature of several million degrees.
- thiamine-hydrochloride — a white, crystalline, water-soluble compound of the vitamin-B complex, containing a thiazole and a pyrimidine group, C 12 H 17 ClN 4 OS, essential for normal functioning of the nervous system, a deficiency of which results chiefly in beriberi and other nerve disorders: occurring in many natural sources, as green peas, liver, and especially the seed coats of cereal grains, the commercial product of which is chiefly synthesized in the form of its chloride (thiamine chloride or thiamine hydrochloride) for therapeutic administration, or in nitrate form (thiamine mononitrate) for enriching flour mixes.
- to drop someone a line — If you drop someone a line, you write to them.
- to lead someone astray — If you are led astray by someone or something, you behave badly or foolishly because of them.
- to open the floodgates — If events open the floodgates to something, they make it possible for that thing to happen much more often or much more seriously than before.
- to overplay one's hand — If someone overplays their hand, they act more confidently than they should because they believe that they are in a stronger position than they actually are.
- to play fast and loose — If you say that someone is playing fast and loose, you are expressing disapproval of them for behaving in a deceitful, immoral, or irresponsible way.
- to seal someone's fate — If something seals a person's or thing's fate, it makes it certain that they will fail or that something unpleasant will happen to them.
- to swallow one's pride — If you swallow your pride, you decide to do something even though you think it will cause you to lose some respect.
- toey as a roman sandal — very anxious
- total allergy syndrome — a condition in which a person suffers from a large number of symptoms that are claimed to be caused by allergies to various substances used or encountered in modern life
- transactional analysis — a form of individual or group psychotherapy focusing on social interactions, psychological games, and analysis of relationships as persons shift among the roles of parent, child, and adult. Abbreviation: TA.
- transformational rules — rules that specify in purely syntactic terms a method by which theorems may be derived from the axioms of a formal system
- transition probability — the probability of going from a given state to the next state in a Markov process.
- trichlorofluoromethane — chlorotrifluoromethane.
- trifluorochloromethane — chlorotrifluoromethane.
- unconventional warfare — warfare that is conducted within enemy lines through guerrilla tactics or subversion, usually supported at least in part by external forces.
- unemployment insurance — a government program that provides a limited number of payments to eligible workers who are involuntarily unemployed.
- unidirectional current — direct current
- united empire loyalist — any of the American colonists who settled in Canada during or after the War of American Independence because of loyalty to the British Crown
- universal postal union — an international organization, formed in Bern, Switzerland (1875), that administers and regulates international postal service. Abbreviation: UPU.
- universal product code — a bar code that indicates price, product classification, etc., and can be read electronically, as at checkout counters in supermarkets. Abbreviation: UPC.
- unprofessional conduct — activity that is contrary to the accepted code of conduct of a profession
- urban development zone — an area that is designated as being a site for urban development
- urban district council — a council of an urban district that, in conjunction with a county council, has responsibilities for local government issues
- van der waals equation — an equation of state relating the pressure, volume, and absolute temperature of a gas, taking into account the finite size of the molecules and the attractive force between them.
- verification principle — (in the philosophy of the logical positivists) the doctrine that nontautologous statements are meaningful only if it is in principle possible to establish empirically whether they are true or false
- video display terminal — Computers. a computer terminal consisting of a screen on which data or graphics can be displayed. Abbreviation: VDT.
- vitreoretinal traction — friction on the internal limiting membrane of the retina of the eye by adherent vitreous fibrils in vitreous humour detachment
- voluntary manslaughter — the unlawful killing of one human being by another with malice aforethought but in mitigating circumstances
- voluntary organization — an organization that is composed of or functions with the aid of volunteers and which provides aid or services to individuals, groups or countries
- wardour street english — affectedly archaic speech or writing
- wear out one's welcome — a kindly greeting or reception, as to one whose arrival gives pleasure: to give someone a warm welcome.