18-letter words containing o, l, e, a
- analogue recording — a sound recording process in which an audio input is converted into an analogous electrical waveform
- andorre la vieille — French name for the capital of Andorra, situated in the west of the principality. Pop: 22 035 (2003 est)
- angel of the north — a steel sculpture of an angel with outstretched wings, created in 1998 by British sculptor Antony Gormley, which stands on a hilltop outside Gateshead, NE England. It stands 20 m (85 ft) high and has a wingspan of 54 m (175 ft)
- angle of deviation — the angle between the direction of the refracted ray and the direction of the incident ray when a ray of light passes from one medium to another
- angle of elevation — elevation (def 8a).
- angle of incidence — the angle that a line or beam of radiation makes with the normal to the surface at the point of incidence
- angular dispersion — a measure of the angular separation of light rays of different wavelength or color traversing a prism or diffraction grating, equal to the rate of change of the angle of deviation with respect to the change in wavelength.
- anti-commercialism — the principles, practices, and spirit of commerce.
- anti-revolutionary — of, pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of a revolution, or a sudden, complete, or marked change: a revolutionary junta.
- anticholinesterase — any of a group of substances that inhibit the action of cholinesterase
- aphrodite of melos — a Greek statue of Venus in marble, c200 b.c., found in 1820 on Melos and now in the Louvre, Paris.
- apocryphal gospels — accounts of Christ's life that are not recognized as part of the New Testament
- apostolic delegate — a representative of the pope sent to countries that do not have full or regular diplomatic relations with the Holy See
- apparent solar day — the period of time between two successive passages of the sun's center across the same meridian.
- appellate division — the section of a court that hears appeals, sometimes existing as an intermediate court between a trial court and a court of last resort.
- apple of one's eye — a person or thing that is very precious or much loved
- application server — 1.
A designer's or developer's suite of software that helps programmers isolate the business logic in their programs from the platform-related code. Application servers can handle all of the application logic and connectivity found in client-server applications. Many application servers also offer features such as transaction management, clustering and failover, and load balancing; nearly all offer ODBC support. 2. Production programs run on a mid-sized computer that handle all application operations between browser-based computers and an organisation's back-end business applications or databases. The application server works as a translator, allowing, for example, a customer with a browser to search an online retailer's database for pricing information. 3. The device on which application server software runs. Application Service Providers offer commercial access to such devices. - applied psychology — psychology that is put to practical use
- arbitration clause — a clause in a contract laying down that disputes between the parties should be settled by arbitration
- arctic archipelago — group of mostly large islands in the Arctic Ocean off the N coast of Canada
- aristotelian logic — the logical theories of Aristotle as developed in the Middle Ages, concerned mainly with syllogistic reasoning: traditional as opposed to modern or symbolic logic
- aristotles-lantern — a complex arrangement of muscles and calcareous teeth and plates forming an eversible organ in most echinoids, functioning in mastication.
- as far as possible — to the greatest possible extent
- as sound as a bell — If something is as sound as a bell it is healthy and not damaged in any way.
- asbestos longjohns — (humour) Notional garments donned by Usenet posters just before emitting a remark they expect will elicit flamage. This is the most common of the asbestos coinages. Also "asbestos underwear", "asbestos overcoat", etc.
- asciibetical order — (jargon, programming) /as'kee-be'-t*-kl or'dr/ Used to indicate that data is sorted in ASCII collated order rather than alphabetical order. The main difference is that, in ASCII, all the upper case letters come before any of the lower case letters so, e.g., "Z" comes before "a".
- assignment problem — (mathematics, algorithm) (Or "linear assignment") Any problem involving minimising the sum of C(a, b) over a set P of pairs (a, b) where a is an element of some set A and b is an element of set B, and C is some function, under constraints such as "each element of A must appear exactly once in P" or similarly for B, or both. For example, the a's could be workers and the b's projects. The problem is "linear" because the "cost function" C() depends only on the particular pairing (a, b) and is independent of all other pairings.
- ast computers, llc — (company) The private company formed in January 1999 when Mr. Beny Alagem, the former chairman of Packard Bell NEC, Inc., bought the name and intellectual property of AST Research, Inc.. AST Computers, LLC provide hardware, software, and services for small US businesses. Address: Los Angeles, CA, USA.
- at boardroom level — among directors
- at someone's elbow — very close to someone; easy to reach
- athletic supporter — jockstrap
- australian doubles — an unusual formation in doubles in which the server's partner is positioned on the same side of the court as the server.
- australopithecines — Plural form of australopithecine.
- authorized capital — the total amount of value of the shares that a company is allowed to distribute
- auxiliary equation — characteristic equation (def 1b).
- auxiliary-equation — Mathematics. the characteristic polynomial of a given matrix, equated to zero. Also called auxiliary equation. an equation with one variable and equated to zero, which is derived from a given linear differential equation and in which the coefficient and power of the variable in each term correspond to the coefficient and order of a derivative in the original equation.
- awnless bromegrass — Hungarian bromegrass.
- axile placentation — a type of placenta structure in an ovary with the ovules forming at the angles where the septa join the central placenta
- axiological ethics — the branch of ethics dealing primarily with the relative goodness or value of the motives and end of any action.
- axis of revolution — an axis in a plane, about which an area is revolved to form a solid of revolution.
- ayatollah khomeini — Ayatollah Ruhollah [roo-hoh-luh;; Persian roo-haw-lah] /ruˈhoʊ lə;; Persian ˌru hɔˈlɑ/ (Show IPA), 1900?–89, Islamic leader of Iran 1979–89.
- bach flower remedy — an alternative medicine consisting of a distillation from various flowers, designed to counteract negative states of mind and restore emotional balance
- bachelor apartment — a flat consisting of one room that is used as a sitting room and bedroom, as well as a kitchenette and a bathroom
- bachelor's-buttons — any of various plants of the daisy family with button-like flower heads
- bachelorette party — A bachelorette party is a party for a woman who is getting married very soon, to which only women are invited.
- balance an account — If you balance an account, you adjust entries in the account in order to make the credit and debit totals equal.
- balanced computing — (jargon) Matching computer tools to job activities so that the computer system structure parallels the organisation structure and work functions. Both personal computers and employees operate in a decentralised environment with monitoring of achievement of management objectives from centralised corporate systems.
- balanced scorecard — A balanced scorecard is a type of management report which includes both financial and non-financial measures.
- band-tailed pigeon — a wild pigeon, Columba fasciata, of western North America, having a gray band on its tail.
- barium thiosulfate — a white, crystalline, water-insoluble, poisonous solid, BaS 2 O 3 ⋅H 2 O, used chiefly in the manufacture of explosives, matches, paints, and varnishes.