19-letter words containing o, s, i, v
- matthias i corvinus — ?1440–90, king of Hungary (1458–90): built up the most powerful kingdom in Central Europe. A patron of Renaissance art, he founded the Corvina library, one of the finest in Europe
- maturation division — a stage in meiosis during which the chromosomal number of the reproductive cell is reduced to one chromosome from each original chromosome pair.
- memory like a sieve — a very poor memory
- mild silver protein — a compound of silver and a protein, applied to mucous membranes as a mild antiseptic.
- minor seventh chord — a chord consisting of a minor triad with an added minor seventh above the root
- most favored nation — a nation to which privileges of trade are extended under a government policy of giving the same privileges to all nations that are given to any one of them, sometimes depending on whether certain conditions, as of reciprocity, are met
- most-favored-nation — of or relating to the status, treatment, terms, etc., that are embodied in or conferred by a most-favored-nation clause.
- motivation research — the application of the knowledge and techniques of the social sciences, especially psychology and sociology, to understanding consumer attitudes and behavior: used as a guide in advertising and marketing.
- moving spirit/force — The moving spirit or moving force behind something is the person or thing that caused it to start and to keep going, or that influenced people to take part in it.
- mushroom ventilator — a ventilator having at the top of a vertical shaft a broad rounded cap that can be screwed down to close it.
- nail polish remover — solvent for removing nail polish
- national serviceman — a soldier undertaking compulsory military service
- new york university — (NYU) Established in 1831, New York University today includes thirteen schools, colleges and divisions located in New York City's borough of Manhattan, as well as research centers and programs in the surrounding suburbs and abroad.
- no shrinking violet — If you say that someone is no shrinking violet, you mean that they are not at all shy.
- nominative absolute — a construction consisting in English of a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun in the nominative case followed by a predicate lacking a finite verb, used as a loose modifier of the whole sentence, as the play done in The play done, the audience left the theater.
- non-interventionism — abstention by a nation from interference in the affairs of other nations or in those of its own political subdivisions.
- observation balloon — a balloon that is used for gathering information and reconnaissance purposes and spotting aircraft
- old church slavonic — the oldest attested Slavic language, an ecclesiastical language written first by Cyril and Methodius in a Bible translation of the 9th century and continued in use for about two centuries. It represents the South Slavic, Bulgarian dialect of 9th-century Salonika with considerable addition of other South and West Slavic elements. Abbreviation: OCS.
- olive-backed thrush — Swainson's thrush.
- outstation movement — the programme to resettle native Australians on their tribal lands
- over-sentimentality — the quality or state of being sentimental or excessively sentimental.
- perfect progressive — a verb form including the auxiliary have followed by been and a present participle, noting the continuation of an activity or event, its incompleteness or interruption, and its connection to the temporal point of reference, as in I've been waiting for over an hour, They had been talking about her before she came into the room, or In July, he will have been living here for two years.
- pneumogastric nerve — the vagus nerve.
- popular sovereignty — the doctrine that sovereign power is vested in the people and that those chosen to govern, as trustees of such power, must exercise it in conformity with the general will.
- postal savings bank — any of the savings banks formerly operated by local post offices and limited to small accounts.
- primitive methodist — a member of a Protestant denomination (Primitive Methodist Church) founded in England in 1812 and later established in the U.S., characterized by its adherence to the basic doctrines, principles, and practices taught by John Wesley.
- private prosecution — a prosecution started by a private individual rather than by the police
- privatization issue — an issue of shares available for purchase by members of the public when a publicly owned organization is transferred to the private sector
- professional advice — advice given by someone trained in a particular and relevant profession or job
- progressive judaism — Reform Judaism.
- pseudo-conservative — disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
- pseudo-intransitive — denoting an occurrence of a normally transitive verb in which a direct object is not explicitly stated or forms the subject of the sentence, as in Margaret is cooking or these apples cook well
- psychological novel — a novel that focuses on the complex mental and emotional lives of its characters and explores the various levels of mental activity.
- pyorrhea alveolaris — a chronic periodontitis of the gums and tooth sockets, characterized by the formation of pus and, usually, by loosening of the teeth
- pyorrhea-alveolaris — Pathology. a discharge of pus.
- radius of curvature — the absolute value of the reciprocal of the curvature at a point on a curve.
- reactive depression — depression occurring in response to some situational stress, as loss of one's job.
- removable hard disk — (storage) A type of magnetic disk, or possibly magneto-optical disk which is not permanently attached to the disk drive (not a fixed disk) but which can be taken out and replaced, allowing many disks to be used in the same drive. The term "removable disk" would seem to be applicable to floppy disks but is generally reserved for hard disks in suitable cartridges such as those made by Syquest, Iomega and others. Removable disk packs were common on minicomputers such as the PDP-11 in use in the 1970s except that the drives were the size of washing machines and the disk packs as big as car wheels. Removable disks became popular on microcomputers in the 1990s as a cheap way of expanding disk space, transporting large amounts of data between computers and storing backups. Large, cheap fixed hard disks and USB memory sticks have made removable disks less attractive.
- reserved occupation — in time of war, an occupation from which one will not be called up for military service
- resistance movement — a movement fighting (for freedom, etc), often secretly or illegally, against an invader in an occupied country or against the country's government, etc
- restorative justice — a theory and method in criminal justice in which it is arranged that the victim and the community receive restitution from the offender.
- reversible reaction — a reaction that, depending on ambient conditions, can proceed in either of two directions: the production of the reaction products from the reactants, or the production of the original reactants from the formed reaction products. Compare equilibrium (def 4).
- ride roughshod over — shod with horseshoes having projecting nails or points.
- sacrifice operative — a euphemistic term for a suicide bomber
- san salvador island — an island in the central Bahamas: the first land in the New World seen by Christopher Columbus (1492). Area: 156 sq km (60 sq miles)
- saturation coverage — news coverage (of an event, etc) that is very thorough in order not to miss any details
- segmentation cavity — blastocoel.
- selective attention — mental focus on sth in particular
- self-levelling foot — (on furniture, washing-machines, etc) a foot that adjusts to let the item in question stand in a steady position
- sell down the river — a natural stream of water of fairly large size flowing in a definite course or channel or series of diverging and converging channels.