19-letter words containing o, r, a, i
- alternative history — a genre of fiction in which the author speculates on how the course of history might have been altered if a particular historical event had had a different outcome
- alternative society — a society or social group that espouses values different from those of the established social order.
- aluminium hydroxide — a white crystalline powder derived from bauxite and used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics, aluminium and its salts, and in dyeing. Formula: Al(OH)3 or Al2O3.3H2O
- american book award — any of several awards given annually since 1980 to an author whose book is judged the best in its category: administered by the Association of American Publishers. Abbreviation: ABA, A.B.A.
- american directoire — a style of American furniture making and related crafts from c1805 to c1815, corresponding to the French Directoire and English Regency styles.
- american revolution — a sequence of actions by American colonists from 1763 to 1775 protesting British domination and culminating in the Revolutionary War
- american smoke tree — a small tree, Cotinus obovatus, of the cashew family, of the central southern U.S., having yellowish flowers and clusters of fleshy fruit with silky plumes.
- ammonium bifluoride — a white, crystalline, water-soluble, poisonous solid, NH 4 HF 2 , used chiefly for cleaning and sterilizing brewing and dairy equipment.
- anaerobic digestion — the conversion of biodegradable waste matter into compost in the absence of oxygen
- analytical geometry — the branch of geometry that uses algebraic notation and analysis to locate a geometric point in terms of a coordinate system; coordinate geometry
- anarcho-syndicalism — syndicalism.
- anarcho-syndicalist — syndicalism.
- angioneurotic edema — swelling that occurs just beneath the surface of the skin or mucous membranes.
- angle of depression — depression (def 11).
- angle of reflection — the angle that a beam of reflected radiation makes with the normal to a surface at the point of reflection
- angle of refraction — the angle that a refracted beam of radiation makes with the normal to the surface between two media at the point of refraction
- anno urbis conditae — in a (specified) year from the founding of the city: the ancient Romans reckoned dates from Rome's founding, c. 753 b.c.
- anterograde amnesia — amnesia caused by brain damage in which the memory loss relates to events occurring after the damage
- anthropic principle — the cosmological theory that the presence of life in the universe limits the ways in which the very early universe could have evolved
- anthropocentrically — regarding the human being as the central fact of the universe.
- anthropomorphically — ascribing human form or attributes to a being or thing not human, especially to a deity.
- anti-comintern pact — a pact formed in 1936, based on agreements between Germany and Japan to oppose communism and the Third International: Italy and Spain subsequently became signatories.
- anti-prohibitionist — a person who favors or advocates prohibition.
- anticholinesterases — Plural form of anticholinesterase.
- anticipatory breach — a declaration by one party to a contract that it does not intend to fulfil its obligations to the second party, who can then accept this declaration and choose not to be bound by the contract
- antimony trisulfide — a black or orange-red crystalline compound, Sb2S3, used as a pigment, in pyrotechnics and matches, for fireproofing fabrics and paper, etc.
- antoine louis barye — Antoine Louis [ahn-twan lwee] /ɑ̃ˈtwan lwi/ (Show IPA), 1795–1875, French sculptor and painter.
- apollonius of perga — ?261–?190 bc, Greek mathematician, remembered for his treatise on conic sections
- appetitive behavior — activity that increases the likelihood of satisfying a specific need, as restless searching for food by a hungry predator (distinguished from consummatory behavior).
- application program — a computer program that is written and designed for a specific need or purpose
- appointments bureau — an office responsible for filling appointments
- apres moi le deluge — after me the deluge
- arbitration service — a service which provides an impartial referee to settle disputes
- arecibo observatory — an observatory in Puerto Rico at which the world's largest dish radio telescope (diameter 305 m) is situated. It is operated by the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center
- aristotle's lantern — a complex arrangement of muscles and calcareous teeth and plates forming an eversible organ in most echinoids, functioning in mastication.
- armed response unit — (in Britain) a unit of police officers who are trained to use firearms in situations where unarmed police officers would be in danger
- armillaria root rot — a widespread rot caused by the honey mushroom, Armillariella mellea, seriously damaging to the roots of various hardwoods, conifers, and other trees.
- aromatase inhibitor — any of a class of drugs that inhibit the action of aromatase: used in the treatment of breast and ovarian cancer
- arsenic trichloride — a colorless or yellow, oily, poisonous liquid, AsCl 3 , used chiefly as an intermediate in the manufacture of organic arsenicals.
- artemis microkernel — (operating system) A microkernel currently under development by Dave Hudson <[email protected]>, scheduled for release under GPL in May 1995. It is targeted at embedded applications on Intel 80386, Intel 486 and Pentium based systems.
- as sick as a parrot — If you say that you feel as sick as a parrot, you feel very disappointed about something.
- ask for a signature — If you ask for a signature, you ask someone to write their name, in their own characteristic way, on a document.
- assistant professor — An assistant professor is a college teacher who ranks above an instructor but below an associate professor.
- associate professor — An associate professor is a college teacher who ranks above an assistant professor but below a professor.
- associative storage — a storage device in which the information is identified by content rather than by an address
- astra digital radio — (audio) Digital Radio over satellite, compatible with analog television transmissions. Alternatively the normal TV subcarriers can be modulated by a MPEG-1 Layer-2 48 kHz 192 kbps signal. Quality is better than analog carriers and only needs half the bandwidth (analog stereo = 2 carrier, digital stereo = 1 carrier). Quality is limited and the data rate can't be increased.
- at one's discretion — as one wishes
- at one's fingertips — readily available and within one's mental grasp
- at your convenience — at a time suitable to you
- atmospheric braking — a technique of reentry in which the vehicle is maneuvered in the upper atmosphere so as to lose velocity by utilizing drag without overheating.