19-letter words containing n, o, v, a
- conventional weapon — a nonnuclear weapon.
- conventional wisdom — The conventional wisdom about something is the generally accepted view of it.
- conventionalization — to make conventional.
- convergent boundary — a major geologic discontinuity or suture marking the juncture of lithospheric plates that have been joined by plate tectonics.
- conversational lisp — (language) (CLISP) A mixed English-like, ALGOL-like surface syntax for Interlisp.
- corporate venturing — the provision of venture capital by one company for another in order to obtain information about the company requiring capital or as a step towards acquiring it
- counter-advertising — the act or practice of calling public attention to one's product, service, need, etc., especially by paid announcements in newspapers and magazines, over radio or television, on billboards, etc.: to get more customers by advertising.
- countersurveillance — The art of evading surveillance.
- countervailing duty — an extra import duty imposed by a country on certain imports, esp to prevent dumping or to counteract subsidies in the exporting country
- creative accounting — Creative accounting is when companies present or organize their accounts in such a way that they gain money for themselves or give a false impression of their profits.
- cultural revolution — (in China) a mass movement (1965–68), in which the youthful Red Guard played a prominent part. It was initiated by Mao Tse-tung to destroy the power of the bureaucrats and to revolutionize the attitudes and behaviour of the people
- davy jones's locker — the bottom of the sea; grave of those drowned at sea or buried there
- declaration of love — a statement made by one person to another in which they say they are in love with the other person
- detective constable — a police officer who investigates crime and who is of the lowest rank
- development company — a company that buys land and builds houses, offices, shops, or factories on it, or buys existing buildings and makes them more modern
- devils-on-horseback — a savoury of prunes wrapped in bacon slices and served on toast
- diamond anniversary — a 60th, or occasionally 75th, anniversary
- dig one's own grave — If you say that someone is digging their own grave, you are warning them that they are doing something foolish or dangerous that will cause their own failure.
- disadvantageousness — The state or quality of being disadvantageous.
- diversional therapy — the structured use of leisure time in recreation and play as a form of or supplement to conventional therapy
- dominant wavelength — the wavelength of monochromatic light that would give the same visual sensation if combined in a suitable proportion with an achromatic light
- ecumenical movement — See under ecumenical (def 4).
- educational adviser — a person who provides advice and training to teachers about teaching methods and educational policies
- electronegativities — Plural form of electronegativity.
- elevator controller — An archetypal dumb embedded-systems application, like toaster (which superseded it). During one period (1983--84) in the deliberations of ANSI X3J11 (the C standardisation committee) this was the canonical example of a really stupid, memory-limited computation environment. "You can't require "printf(3)" to be part of the default run-time library - what if you're targeting an elevator controller?" Elevator controllers became important rhetorical weapons on both sides of several holy wars.
- energy conservation — concerted formal or government action or policy to make sure that energy is not wasted
- environmental audit — the systematic examination of an organization's interaction with the environment, to assess the success of its conservation or antipollution programme
- environmental lobby — a group of people who promote environmental issues to government, the public, and business
- evaluation strategy — reduction strategy
- evaporative cooling — a method of reducing temperature that uses evaporation
- fall in love (with) — to begin to feel love (for)
- fallacy of division — the fallacy of inferring that a property of the whole is also a property of parts or members of the whole (opposed to fallacy of composition).
- february revolution — Russian Revolution (def 1).
- february-revolution — Also called February Revolution. the uprising in Russia in March, 1917 (February Old Style), in which the Czarist government collapsed and a provisional government was established.
- fellow-servant rule — the common-law rule that the employer is not liable to an employee for injuries resulting from the negligence of a fellow employee.
- flag of convenience — the foreign flag under which merchant ships register in order to save on taxes or wages, or to avoid government regulations.
- flavor of the month — Informal. the subject of intense, usually temporary interest; the current fashion.
- florida velvet bean — a tropical vine, Mucuna deeringiana, of the legume family, having showy, purple flowers in drooping clusters and black, hairy pods: grown as an ornamental.
- geneva nomenclature — an internationally accepted system for naming organic carbon compounds.
- giovanni da bologna — Giovanni da [jee-uh-vah-nee duh;; Italian jaw-vahn-nee dah] /ˌdʒi əˈvɑ ni də;; Italian dʒɔˈvɑn ni dɑ/ (Show IPA), (Jean de Boulogne; Giambologna) c1525–1608, Italian sculptor, born in France.
- giovanni da fiesole — Giovanni da [Italian jaw-vahn-nee dah] /Italian dʒɔˈvɑn ni dɑ/ (Show IPA), Angelico, Fra.
- give a person a fit — to surprise a person in an outrageous manner
- grade point average — a measure of scholastic attainment computed by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number of credits or hours of course work taken.
- gravitational field — the attractive effect, considered as extending throughout space, of matter on other matter.
- grievance committee — a group of representatives chosen from a labor union or from both labor and management to consider and remedy workers' grievances.
- grievance procedure — the established series of steps to be taken in dealing with a grievance raised with an employer by an employee
- hang five (or ten) — to ride a surfboard with the toes of one (or both) feet draped over the front edge of the board
- haute vulgarisation — vulgarization, or popularization, on a higher level, esp. as done by academics, scholars, etc.
- have a bone to pick — to have grounds for a quarrel
- have a few too many — If you say that someone has had a few too many or has had a few, you mean that they have drunk too many alcoholic drinks.