17-letter words containing o, r
- april fool's joke — (humour, event) (AFJ) Elaborate April Fool's hoaxes are a long-established tradition on Usenet and Internet; see kremvax for an example. In fact, April Fool's Day is the *only* seasonal holiday marked by customary observances on the hacker networks.
- arcanum arcanorum — secret of secrets.
- archconfraternity — a confraternity having the right to associate itself with confraternities that are similar to it, and to impart to them its privileges and indulgences.
- archconservatives — Plural form of archconservative.
- architectonically — In terms of architectonics.
- aristolochiaceous — belonging to the Aristolochiaceae, the birthwort family of plants.
- arlington heights — village in NE Ill.: suburb of Chicago: pop. 76,000
- armaments factory — a factory for producing armaments
- armature reaction — a change in the magnetic field of a dynamo caused by the magnetic field induced by the current flowing through the armature.
- armchair shopping — buying goods using a computer, telephone, or television in the home or via the postal system
- aromatic compound — an organic compound that contains one or more benzene or equivalent heterocyclic rings: many such compounds have an agreeable odor.
- around the corner — If you say that something is around the corner, you mean that it will happen very soon. In British English, you can also say that something is round the corner.
- arresting officer — the police officer making an arrest
- arsenic poisoning — poisoning by arsenic
- articulated joint — Anatomy. a flexible joint.
- articulated lorry — a lorry made in two separate sections, a tractor and a trailer, connected by a pivoted bar
- articulatory loop — a short-term memory system that enables a person to remember short strings of words by rehearsing them repeatedly in his head
- artificial person — a human being, whether an adult or child: The table seats four persons.
- artistic director — a person in charge of the artistic direction of a theatre company
- as far as it goes — If you say that something is good as far as it goes or true so far as it goes, you mean that it is good or true only to a limited extent.
- as the crow flies — If you say that a place is a particular distance away as the crow flies, you mean that it is that distance away measured in a straight line.
- ascend the throne — to become king or queen
- ascertained goods — specific goods
- ashton-under-lyne — a town in NW England, in Tameside unitary authority, Greater Manchester. Pop: 43 236 (2001)
- ask for the check — If you ask for the check, you ask the waitperson in a restaurant to bring you a piece of paper on which the price of your meal is written.
- asperger syndrome — a developmental disorder characterized by severely impaired social skills, repetitive behaviors, and often, a narrow set of interests, but not involving delayed development of linguistic and cognitive abilities: now considered one of the autism spectrum disorders.
- associate of arts — a degree granted especially by junior colleges after completion of two years of study. Abbreviation: A.A.
- association fiber — any of several nerve fibers connecting different areas of the cerebral cortex in the same hemisphere.
- associative array — (programming) (Or "hash", "map", "dictionary") An array where the indices are not just integers but may be arbitrary strings.
- assyro-babylonian — of or relating to Assyria and Babylonia.
- astral projection — the departure of the astral body from the physical body, in order to travel to the astral plane
- astronomical unit — a unit of distance used in astronomy equal to the mean distance between the earth and the sun. 1 astronomical unit is equivalent to 1.495 × 1011 metres or about 9.3 × 107 miles
- astronomical year — year (def 4b).
- astrophotographer — A person, especially an astronomer, who takes photographs of the stars.
- at close quarters — If you do something at close quarters, you do it very near to a particular person or thing.
- at cross purposes — an opposing or contrary purpose.
- at cross-purposes — If people are at cross-purposes, they do not understand each other because they are working towards or talking about different things without realizing it.
- at one's own risk — If you tell someone that they are doing something at their own risk, you are warning them that, if they are harmed, it will be their own responsibility.
- at swords' points — ready to quarrel or fight
- at the request of — in accordance with the specific demand or wish of (someone)
- at the service of — To be at the service of a person or organization means to be available to help or be used by that person or organization.
- at their own game — If you beat someone at their own game, you use the same methods that they have used, but more successfully, so that you gain an advantage over them.
- attachment theory — a set of concepts that explain the emergence of an emotional bond between an infant and primary caregiver and the way in which this bond affects the child’s behavioral and emotional development into adulthood. See also attachment (def 3a).
- attendance record — the record of how often a person has attended an institution such as a school
- attorneys-in-fact — a person authorized by power of attorney to act on the authorizer's behalf outside a court of law.
- attraction sphere — centrosphere (sense 1)
- audio description — a facility provided for visually impaired people in which a film, television programme, or play is described through audio technology
- audubon's warbler — a common North American wood warbler, Dendroica coronata, having yellow spots on the rump, crown, and sides, including a white-throated eastern subspecies (myrtle warbler) and a yellow-throated western subspecies (Audubon's warbler)
- aurea mediocritas — the golden mean.
- australian ballot — an official ballot listing candidates for election to public office and issues, levies, etc., distributed inside the polling place to be marked by the voter in secret: it originated in Australia and is widely used in the U.S.