16-letter words containing r, e, n, o, l
- dear john letter — a letter from someone (esp to a man) breaking off a love affair
- debenture holder — a person or organization holds a debenture
- decentralisation — Alternative spelling of decentralization.
- decentralization — to distribute the administrative powers or functions of (a central authority) over a less concentrated area: to decentralize the national government.
- decimal fraction — a fraction whose denominator is some power of 10, usually indicated by a dot (decimal point or point) written before the numerator: as 0.4 = 4/10; 0.126 = 126/1000.
- decision problem — (theory) A problem with a yes/no answer. Determining whether some potential solution to a question is actually a solution or not. E.g. "Is 43669" a prime number?". This is in contrast to a "search problem" which must find a solution from scratch, e.g. "What is the millionth prime number?". See decidability.
- declare war (on) — to make a formal declaration of being at war (with)
- deconstructively — In a deconstructive manner.
- deflationary gap — a situation in which total spending in an economy is insufficient to buy all the output that can be produced with full employment
- deflecting force — the apparent deflection (Coriolis acceleration) of a body in motion with respect to the earth, as seen by an observer on the earth, attributed to a fictitious force (Coriolis force) but actually caused by the rotation of the earth and appearing as a deflection to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and a deflection to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.
- delayed reaction — response after an interval
- delta conversion — delta reduction
- demilitarisation — The removal of a military force, usually at the end of hostilities or as part of a treaty.
- demilitarization — to deprive of military character; free from militarism.
- demineralisation — Alternative spelling of demineralization.
- demineralization — to remove minerals from; deprive of mineral content.
- demoiselle crane — a gray crane, Anthropoides virgo, of northern Africa, Europe, and Asia, having long, white plumes behind each eye.
- demolition derby — a competition in which contestants drive old cars into each other until there is only one car left running
- demonstrableness — The quality of being demonstrable.
- denaturalization — The act or process of denaturalizing, of changing or destroying the quality (nature) of a thing.
- dendrochronology — the study of the annual rings of trees, used esp to date past events
- denuclearization — The act or process of denuclearizing.
- deoxyribonucleic — (genetics) Of or pertaining to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or its derivatives.
- departure lounge — In an airport, the departure lounge is the place where passengers wait before they get onto their plane.
- depolymerisation — (chemistry) alternative spelling of depolymerization.
- depolymerization — (chemistry) The decomposition of a polymer into smaller fragments.
- depression glass — cheap glassware mass-produced during the Depression of the 1930s, usually molded in patterns in pale colors, and collectible since the early 1970s
- deradicalization — the practice of encouraging those with extreme and violent religious or political ideologies to adopt more moderate views
- destroying angel — a white slender very poisonous basidiomycetous toadstool, Amanita virosa, having a pronounced volva, frilled, shaggy stalk, and sickly smell
- deuterocanonical — of or constituting a second or subsequent canon; specif., designating certain Biblical books accepted as canonical in the Roman Catholic Church, but held by Protestants to be apocryphal
- developing world — Third World: poor countries
- development area — (in Britain) an area suffering from high unemployment and economic depression, because of the decline of its main industries, that is given government help to establish new industries
- device control 1 — control-Q
- device control 2 — (character) (DC2) The mnemonic for ASCII character 18, one of the four Device Control characters.
- device control 3 — control-S
- device control 4 — (character) (DC4) The mnemonic for ASCII character 20, one of the four Device Control characters.
- devonshire split — a kind of yeast bun split open and served with whipped cream or butter and jam
- diacetylmorphine — heroin.
- diagonal process — a form of argument in which a new member of a set is constructed from a list of its known members by making the nth term of the new member differ from the nth term of the nth member. The new member is thus different from every member of the list
- dichlorobiphenyl — (organic compound) Either of twelve isomers of the polychlorinated biphenyl containing two chlorine atoms.
- dictionary flame — [Usenet] An attempt to sidetrack a debate away from issues by insisting on meanings for key terms that presuppose a desired conclusion or smuggle in an implicit premise. A common tactic of people who prefer argument over definitions to disputes about reality. Compare spelling flame.
- diethyl carbinol — a colorless, liquid isomer of amyl alcohol, (CH3CH2)2CHOH, used in drugs and as a solvent
- dimension lumber — building lumber cut to standard or specified sizes.
- dimethylcarbinol — isopropyl alcohol.
- director general — the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.
- director-general — the executive head of an organization or of a major subdivision, as a branch or agency, of government.
- disequilibration — to put out of equilibrium; unbalance: A period of high inflation could disequilibrate the monetary system.
- dishonorableness — The property of being dishonorable.
- dispersal prison — a prison organized and equipped to accommodate a proportion of the most dangerous and highest security risk prisoners
- displaced person — a person driven or expelled from his or her homeland by war, famine, tyranny, etc. Abbreviation: DP, D.P.