18-letter words containing o, r, l, a, n
- literae humaniores — (at Oxford University) the faculty concerned with Greek and Latin literature, ancient history, and philosophy; classics
- local area network — a system for linking private telecommunications equipment, as in a building or cluster of buildings.
- lone-parent family — a family in which there is only one parent
- lonely hearts club — a club for people who are trying to find a lover or a friend
- long-stay car park — a car park (eg at an airport) where cars can be left for a long time
- lose one's marbles — If you say that someone has lost their marbles, you mean that their ideas or behaviour are very strange, as if they have become insane.
- louisiana purchase — a treaty signed with France in 1803 by which the U.S. purchased for $15,000,000 the land extending from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.
- magnetocrystalline — (physics) Describing the interaction between the magnetization and the crystal structure of a material.
- magnetoelectricity — electricity developed by the action of magnets.
- magnetorheological — (physics) describing a substance whose rheological properties are modified by a magnetic field.
- maison-de-molieres — Comédie Française.
- major tranquilizer — antipsychotic (def 2).
- make a beeline for — head directly towards
- make allowance for — the act of allowing.
- mandelbrot, benoit — Benoit Mandelbrot
- marine archaeology — the branch of archaeology that deals with the recovery of ancient objects found beneath the sea, as shipwrecks or remains from submerged islands, and with the techniques of underwater exploration, excavation, and retrieval.
- maternity hospital — birthing facility
- medical dictionary — a specialized dictionary covering terms used in the health professions by doctors, nurses, and others involved in allied health care services. A dictionary with authoritative spellings and definitions is a particularly crucial resource in medicine, where a misspelling or misunderstanding can have unfortunate consequences for people under care. Print dictionaries in this field may be sorted alphabetically or may be categorized according to medical specializations or by the various systems in the body, as the immune system and the respiratory system. The online Medical Dictionary on Dictionary.com allows alphabetical browsing in the combined electronic versions of more than one authoritative medical reference, insuring access to correct spellings, as well as immediate, direct access to a known search term typed into the search box on the site: A medical dictionary reveals that large numbers of medical terms are formed from the same Latin and Greek parts combined and recombined.
- medical profession — the body of people who work as doctors of medicine
- mental reservation — an unexpressed doubt or qualification about a situation, person, etc.
- mental retardation — Usually Offensive. a developmental disorder characterized in varying degrees by a subnormal ability to learn, a substantially low IQ, and impaired social adjustment.
- menthol cigarettes — cigarettes that are flavoured with menthol
- metabolic syndrome — Pathology. a group of medical conditions present simultaneously in a patient, as high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol levels, and an excess of abdominal fat, that increases a person's risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Also called insulin resistance syndrome.
- mezzo-soprano clef — a C clef locating middle C on the line next to the lowest line of the staff.
- microcrystallinity — The condition of being microcrystalline.
- microencapsulation — the process of enclosing chemical substances in microcapsules.
- microenvironmental — Pertaining to a microenvironment.
- microgravitational — Of or pertaining to microgravitation.
- micropalaeontology — the branch of palaeontology concerned with the study of microscopic fossils
- military policeman — A military policeman is a member of the military police.
- mineralocorticoids — Plural form of mineralocorticoid.
- minister of health — a person appointed to head the government department of health
- minor tranquilizer — antianxiety drug.
- moccasin telegraph — the transmission of rumour or secret information; the grapevine
- molecular genetics — a subdivision of genetics concerned with the structure and function of genes at the molecular level.
- molecular medicine — the study of disease or injury at the molecular or cellular level.
- monophosphorylated — (biochemistry) phosphorylated with a single unit of phosphoric acid.
- monte carlo method — a technique for numerically approximating the solution of a mathematical problem by studying the distribution of some random variable, often generated by a computer.
- monterosso al mare — a group of five coastal villages (Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore) on the Ligurian Sea in NW Italy, near La Spezia.
- montgomery village — a city in central Maryland.
- mordovian republic — a constituent republic of W central Russia, in the middle Volga basin. Capital: Saransk. Pop: 888 700 (2002). Area: 26 200 sq km (10 110 sq miles)
- morning-after pill — a contraceptive pill containing only an estrogen and used by women within a few hours after sexual intercourse.
- napoleon bonaparte — Jérôme [juh-rohm;; French zhey-rohm] /dʒəˈroʊm;; French ʒeɪˈroʊm/ (Show IPA), 1784–1860, king of Westphalia 1807 (brother of Napoleon I).
- national agreement — written formal agreements covering rates of pay and other terms and conditions of employment that are the result of collective bargaining at national level between one or more trade unions and employers in a sector of the economy
- national guardsman — guardsman (def 2).
- national insurance — In Britain, national insurance is the state system of paying money to people who are ill, unemployed, or retired. It is financed by money that the government collects from people who work, or from their employers.
- natural convection — Natural convection is the loss of heat from a hot solid or liquid into air which is not artificially agitated.
- natural philosophy — natural science.
- nebular hypothesis — the theory that the solar system evolved from a mass of nebular matter: prominent in the 19th century following its precise formulation by Laplace.
- neovascularization — the development of new blood vessels, especially in tissues where circulation has been impaired by trauma or disease.