16-letter words containing n, u
- on the up-and-up — to, toward, or in a more elevated position: to climb up to the top of a ladder.
- on your doorstep — If a place is on your doorstep, it is very near to where you live. If something happens on your doorstep, it happens very close to where you live.
- onboard computer — onboard a vehicle, ship, plane, train or spacecraft
- once upon a time — at one time in the past; formerly: I was a farmer once; a once powerful nation.
- one's cup of tea — the dried and prepared leaves of a shrub, Camellia sinensis, from which a somewhat bitter, aromatic beverage is prepared by infusion in hot water.
- one-way function — (cryptography, mathematics) A function which is easy to compute but whose inverse is very difficult to compute. Such functions have important applications in cryptography, specifically in public-key cryptography. See also: trapdoor function.
- oneida community — a society of religious perfectionists established by John Humphrey Noyes, in 1848 at Oneida, N.Y., on the theory that sin can be eliminated through social reform: dissolved and reorganized in 1881 as a joint-stock company.
- online thesaurus — a thesaurus or dictionary of words with the same or nearly the same meanings, or synonyms, and their opposites, or antonyms, such as Thesaurus.com, available on the Internet or the World Wide Web, accessed through a web browser, and used by entering a query term into a search box on the site. An online thesaurus provides immediate electronic access to lists of alternate terms for the queried word, covering its various shades of meaning: This online thesaurus showed me that smart, as an adjective, not only means intelligent, but also stylish, or lively, and gave long lists of other words for each meaning.
- open punctuation — punctuation characterized by sparing use of stops, esp of the comma
- operating budget — money allocated to a project
- operating manual — a leaflet of instructions on how to use something (such as an electrical appliance, etc)
- opportunity cost — the money or other benefits lost when pursuing a particular course of action instead of a mutually-exclusive alternative: The company cannot afford the opportunity cost attached to policy decisions made by the current CEO.
- opportunity shop — a shop selling second-hand goods for charitable funds
- optical illusion — something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality.
- order in council — (in Britain and various other Commonwealth countries) a decree of the Cabinet, usually made under the authority of a statute: in theory a decree of the sovereign and Privy Council
- ordinary jubilee — the celebration of any of certain anniversaries, as the twenty-fifth (silver jubilee) fiftieth (golden jubilee) or sixtieth or seventy-fifth (diamond jubilee)
- organized labour — labour carried out by workers in trade unions, or the workers themselves
- organophosphorus — Denoting synthetic organic compounds containing phosphorus, especially pesticides and nerve gases of this kind.
- orthodoxy sunday — a solemn festival held on the first Sunday of Lent (Orthodoxy Sunday) commemorating the restoration of the use of icons in the church (a.d. 842) and the triumph over all heresies.
- osculating plane — the plane containing the circle of curvature of a point on a given curve.
- ostentatiousness — characterized by or given to pretentious or conspicuous show in an attempt to impress others: an ostentatious dresser.
- out of condition — If someone is out of condition, they are unhealthy and unfit, because they do not do enough exercise.
- out of the money — If an investment is out of the money, it would be a loss if it was sold.
- out of your mind — If you say that someone is out of their mind, you mean that they are mad or very foolish.
- out on one's ear — dismissed unceremoniously
- outsmart oneself — to have one's efforts at cunning or cleverness result in one's own disadvantage
- over the counter — If a medicine can be bought over the counter, you do not need a prescription to buy it.
- over-communicate — to impart knowledge of; make known: to communicate information; to communicate one's happiness.
- over-consumption — the act of consuming, as by use, decay, or destruction.
- over-cultivation — the act or art of cultivating.
- over-nourishment — something that nourishes; food, nutriment, or sustenance.
- over-speculation — the contemplation or consideration of some subject: to engage in speculation on humanity's ultimate destiny.
- over-the-counter — unlisted on or not part of an organized securities exchange: over-the-counter stocks; the over-the-counter market. Abbreviation: OTC.
- overaccumulation — Accumulation of too much.
- overcautiousness — the quality or state of being too cautious, wary, or careful
- overenthusiastic — full of or characterized by enthusiasm; ardent: He seems very enthusiastic about his role in the play.
- overnumerousness — very many; being or existing in great quantity: numerous visits; numerous fish.
- oversubscription — to subscribe for more of than is available, expected, or required: The charity drive was oversubscribed by several thousand dollars.
- overurbanization — the act or fact of urbanizing, or taking on the characteristics of a city: Urbanization has led to more air pollution and increasing childhood asthma.
- oxidation number — the state of an element or ion in a compound with regard to the electrons gained or lost by the element or ion in the reaction that formed the compound, expressed as a positive or negative number indicating the ionic charge of the element or ion.
- oxonium compound — a salt formed by the reaction of an acid with an organic compound containing a basic oxygen atom.
- pacific sturgeon — a dark gray sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus, inhabiting marine and fresh waters along the northwestern coast of North America, valued as a food and sport fish.
- paediatric nurse — a nurse who specializes in the care of children
- paint-by-numbers — formulaic; showing no original thought or creativity
- painted trillium — a North American trillium, Trillium undulatum, having white flowers streaked with pink or purple.
- pairs tournament — an event in a sport such as tennis or darts open to pairs of competitors
- palmer peninsula — former name of Antarctic Peninsula.
- palomar mountain — mountain in SW Calif., near San Diego: site of an astronomical observatory: 6,140 ft (1,871 m)
- pancreatic juice — a thick, colorless, very alkaline fluid secreted by the pancreas, containing enzymes that break down protein, fat, and starch.
- panel discussion — a formal discussion before an audience for which the topic, speakers, etc., have been selected in advance.