16-letter words containing o, a, r, s, m
- depolymerisation — (chemistry) alternative spelling of depolymerization.
- devonshire cream — clotted cream.
- diamond district — the part of a town where diamond merchants and jewellers have their businesses
- diastereoisomers — Plural form of diastereoisomer.
- 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.
- diplomatic corps — the entire body of diplomats accredited to and resident at a court or capital.
- direct-mail shot — the posting of unsolicited sales literature to potential customers' homes or business addresses
- discriminatorily — characterized by or showing prejudicial treatment, especially as an indication of bias related to age, color, national origin, religion, sex, etc.: discriminatory practices in housing; a discriminatory tax.
- domestic partner — either member of an unmarried, cohabiting, and especially homosexual couple that seeks benefits usually available only to spouses.
- domestic prelate — an honorary distinction conferred by the Holy See upon clergy, entitling them to some of the privileges of a bishop.
- domestic servant — person employed to do household chores
- 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.
- dramatic society — an amateur dramatics club
- drop a bombshell — If someone drops a bombshell, they give you a sudden piece of bad or unexpected news.
- duplessis-mornay — Philippe [fee-leep] /fiˈlip/ (Show IPA), Mornay, Philippe de.
- dynamic response — The dynamic response of a machine, structure, or process is how it reacts over time to something that is done to it.
- 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
- 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)
- electrical storm — thunder, lightning
- electromagnetics — Electricity and magnetism, collectively, as a field of study.
- electromagnetism — The interaction of electric currents or fields and magnetic fields.
- electromechanics — the engineering aspects of devices that are controlled by either static or magnetic electric charges
- electromyographs — Plural form of electromyograph.
- endarterectomies — Plural form of endarterectomy.
- environmentalism — A political and social ideology that seeks to prevent the environment from degradation by human activity.
- environmentalist — A person who is concerned with or advocates the protection of the environment.
- experimentations — Plural form of experimentation.
- extemporaneously — In an extemporaneous manner; without prior preparation or planning.
- extrachromosomal — Happening outside a chromosome.
- extradimensional — (jargon, science fiction) Originating outside the known physical reality of the universe.
- family of curves — a collection of curves whose equations differ only by values assigned a parameter or parameters.
- farewell to arms — a novel (1929) by Ernest Hemingway.
- farmhouse cheese — cheese that is made by traditional methods, on or as if on a farm
- farmington hills — a city in SE Michigan.
- feme-sole trader — a married woman who is entitled to carry on business on her own account and responsibility, independently of her husband.
- ferdinand marcos — Ferdinand E(dralin) [ed-ruh-lin] /ˈɛd rə lɪn/ (Show IPA), 1917–1989, Philippine political leader: president 1965–86.
- fermat's theorem — the theorem that an integer raised to a prime power leaves the same remainder as the integer itself when divided by the prime.
- fisherman's knot — a knot for joining two ropes of equal thickness consisting of an overhand knot or double overhand knot by each rope round the other, so that the two knots jam when pulled tight
- flash eliminator — a device fitted to the muzzle of a firearm to reduce the flash made by the ignited propellant gases
- flashbulb memory — the clear recollections that a person may have of the circumstances associated with a dramatic event
- flight simulator — a device used in pilot and crew training that provides a cockpit environment and sensations of flight under actual conditions.
- fluorescent lamp — a tubular electric discharge lamp in which light is produced by the fluorescence of phosphors coating the inside of the tube.
- for good measure — a unit or standard of measurement: weights and measures.
- fort sam houston — a military reservation and U.S. Army training center in San Antonio, Tex.
- four-course meal — A four-course meal is a meal that consists of four parts served one after the other.
- four-dimensional — of a space having points, or a set having elements, which require four coordinates for their unique determination.
- four-masted brig — jackass bark (def 2).
- french cameroons — Cameroun (def 2).
- from one's heart — very sincerely or deeply
- garlic mushrooms — mushrooms, often pan-fried, cooked with garlic