16-letter words containing o, a, n, s
- knapsack problem — the problem of determining which numbers from a given collection of numbers have been added together to yield a specific sum: used in cryptography to encipher (and sometimes decipher) messages.
- knights of labor — a secret workingmen's organization formed in 1869 to defend the interests of labor.
- knights of malta — the order of Hospitalers.
- know one's place — a particular portion of space, whether of definite or indefinite extent.
- know what's what — to know how one thing or things in general work
- kolyma mountains — a mountain range in NE Siberia, Russia, near the Sea of Okhotsk, rising to over 6000 feet (1830 meters).
- kunlun mountains — mountain system in W China, between Tibet & Xinjiang: highest peak, c. 25,300 ft (7,711 m)
- labour relations — Labour relations refers to the relationship between employers and employees in industry, and the political decisions and laws that affect it.
- labour-intensive — Labour-intensive industries or methods of making things involve a lot of workers. Compare capital-intensive.
- lactovegetarians — Plural form of lactovegetarian.
- language isolate — isolate (def 9).
- lapsang souchong — a large-leafed variety of China tea with a slightly smoky flavour
- lattice constant — a parameter, either a measure of length or angle, that defines the size and shape of the unit cell of a crystal lattice.
- law of exponents — the theorem stating the elementary properties of exponents, as the property that the product of the same bases, each raised to an exponent, is equal to the base raised to the sum of the exponents: xa ⋅ xb = xa + b .
- law of parsimony — a principle according to which an explanation of a thing or event is made with the fewest possible assumptions.
- lawson criterion — (in a hypothetical nuclear fusion reactor) the requirement that in order for the energy produced by fusion to exceed the energy expended in causing the fusion, the product of the density of the fuel and the time during which it is confined at that density (Lawson product) must be greater than a certain number that depends on the kind of fuel used.
- lay oneself open — to make oneself vulnerable (to criticism, attack, etc)
- lead by the nose — the part of the face or facial region in humans and certain animals that contains the nostrils and the organs of smell and functions as the usual passageway for air in respiration: in humans it is a prominence in the center of the face formed of bone and cartilage, serving also to modify or modulate the voice.
- leading question — a question so worded as to suggest the proper or desired answer.
- league champions — the team that has come top of the league
- leaps and bounds — You can use in leaps and bounds or by leaps and bounds to emphasize that someone or something is improving or increasing quickly and greatly.
- learning process — a process of learning
- leave of absence — permission to be absent from duty, employment, service, etc.; leave.
- legal separation — judicial separation.
- leptosporangiate — (of ferns) having each sporangium developing from a single cell, rather than from a group, and normally with specialized explosive spore dispersal
- libation-bearers — Choëphori.
- liberal unionist — a Liberal who opposed Gladstone's policy of Irish Home Rule in 1886 and after
- lignin sulfonate — a brown powder consisting of a sulfonate salt made from waste liquor of the sulfate pulping process of soft wood: used in concrete, leather tanning, as an additive in oil-well drilling mud, and as a source of vanillin.
- listen to reason — be persuaded
- loan translation — the process whereby a compound word or expression is created by literal translation of each of the elements of a compound word or expression in another language, as marriage of convenience from French mariage de convenance.
- logical constant — one of the connectives of a given system of formal logic, esp those of the sentential calculus, not, and, or, and if … then …
- lonely hearts ad — an advertisement placed by someone who is trying to find a lover or a friend
- long-established — having a long history; old
- long-nosed skate — a fish; Raja oxyrinchus
- long-tail claims — Long-tail claims are claims that are made or settled a long time after the insurance policy has expired.
- lord howe island — an island in the S Pacific, E of Australia: a dependency of New South Wales. 5 sq. mi. (13 sq. km).
- lords-and-ladies — (used with a singular verb) cuckoopint.
- lost river range — a mountain range in E central Idaho. Highest peak, Borah Peak (also highest in the state), 12,662 feet (3862 meters).
- louisiana french — French as spoken in Louisiana; Cajun. Abbreviation: LaF.
- lourenco marques — former name of Maputo.
- low-carbon steel — steel containing between 0.04 and 0.25 per cent carbon
- luminosity class — a classification of stars of a given spectral type according to their luminosity, breaking them down into dwarfs, giants, and supergiants.
- macpherson strut — an automobile suspension-system component that consists of a strut combined with a spring and shock absorber and connects the wheel to the frame of the vehicle.
- macro-linguistic — a field of study concerned with language in its broadest sense and including cultural and behavioral features associated with language.
- macroinstruction — macro (def 5).
- macrolinguistics — a field of study concerned with language in its broadest sense and including cultural and behavioral features associated with language.
- macrorestriction — In physical gene mapping, the digestion of DNA of high molecular weight with a restriction enzyme having a low number of restriction sites.
- magazine section — a magazinelike section in the Sunday editions of many newspapers, containing articles rather than news items and often letters, reviews, stories, puzzles, etc.
- magmatic stoping — the process by which country rock is broken up and engulfed by the upward movement of magma
- magnesiochromite — (mineral) A chromite species with the formula MgCr2O4.