16-letter words containing r, u, s, m
- cogito, ergo sum — I think, therefore I am; the basis of Descartes' philosophy
- combined honours — (in British education) a degree course that includes more than one subject
- commensurability — The quality of being commensurable or commensurate.
- commensurateness — The state or quality of being commensurate.
- communitarianism — A theory or system of social organization based on small self-governing communities.
- community spirit — willingness and desire to participate in activities that promote a community
- composite number — a positive integer that can be factorized into two or more other positive integers
- computer science — the study of computers and their application
- computer studies — a course of study devoted to using and programming computers
- configurationism — Gestalt psychology
- consumer durable — Consumer durables are goods which are expected to last a long time, and are bought infrequently.
- consumer society — You can use consumer society to refer to a society where people think that spending money on goods and services is very important.
- continuous miner — continuous cutter.
- cosmetic surgery — Cosmetic surgery is surgery done to make a person look more attractive.
- costume designer — a person who designs costumes for plays and films
- counterarguments — Plural form of counterargument.
- countermovements — Plural form of countermovement.
- counterstatement — a statement made to deny or refute another statement.
- counterterrorism — Counterterrorism consists of activities that are intended to prevent terrorist acts or to get rid of terrorist groups.
- couvade syndrome — a psychosomatic condition in which the spouse or partner of a pregnant woman experiences symptoms of childbirth or pregnancy
- crash test dummy — a dummy used in crash tests
- cream puff paste — paste made with eggs, water or milk, butter, and flour, used in making éclairs, profiteroles, and other kinds of puffs.
- criminal assault — a punishable offence of attempting to harm another person through physical contact
- criminal justice — the system of law enforcement, involving police, lawyers, courts, and corrections, used for all stages of criminal proceedings and punishment.
- cumberland sauce — a cold sauce made from orange and lemon juice, port, and redcurrant jelly, served with ham, game, or other meat
- curmudgeonliness — The state or condition of being curmudgeonly.
- customary tenant — a tenant occupying a property under the customs of the manor, often a low-status tenant with little security of tenure
- customer profile — a description or analysis of a typical or ideal customer for one's business
- customer service — Customer service refers to the way that companies behave towards their customers, for example how well they treat them.
- customer support — Customer support is a service provided to help customers resolve any technical problems that they may have with a product or service.
- dandruff shampoo — a preparation of soap or detergent used to wash the hair and which helps to control and reduce dandruff
- delirium tremens — a severe psychotic condition occurring in some persons with chronic alcoholism, characterized by delirium, tremor, anxiety, and vivid hallucinations
- demerara (sugar) — a coarse, light-brown sugar
- dimension lumber — building lumber cut to standard or specified sizes.
- dinosaurs mating — (humour) The activity said to occur when yet another big iron merger or buy-out occurs; reflects a perception by hackers that these signal another stage in the long, slow dying of the mainframe industry. Also described as "elephants mating": lots of noise and action at a high level, with an eventual outcome in the somewhat distant future. In its glory days of the 1960s, it was "IBM and the Seven Dwarves": Burroughs, Control Data, General Electric, Honeywell, NCR, RCA, and Univac. Early on, RCA sold out to Univac and GE also sold out, and it was "IBM and the BUNCH" (an acronym for Burroughs, Univac, NCR, Control Data, and Honeywell) for a while. Honeywell was bought out by Bull. Univac in turn merged with Sperry to form Sperry/Univac, which was later merged (although the employees of Sperry called it a hostile takeover) with Burroughs to form Unisys in 1986 (this was when the phrase "dinosaurs mating" was coined). In 1991 AT&T absorbed NCR, only to spit it out again in 1996. Unisys bought Convergent Technologies in 1988 and later others. More such earth-shaking unions of doomed giants seem inevitable.
- distributed term — a term applying equally to every member of the class it designates, as doctors in no doctors are overworked
- double monastery — a religious community of both men and women who live in separate establishments under the same superior and who worship in a common church.
- drumhead service — a religious service attended by members of a military unit while in the field
- duplessis-mornay — Philippe [fee-leep] /fiˈlip/ (Show IPA), Mornay, Philippe de.
- east gwillimbury — a town in S Ontario, in S Canada.
- easter communion — the act of receiving communion in church on Easter Day - considered special because of the primacy of Easter among Christian festivals and because many people regard taking Easter communion as a basic token of membership of their church
- elburz mountains — a mountain range in N Iran, parallel to the SW and S shores of the Caspian Sea. Highest peak: Mount Demavend, 5671 m (18 606 ft)
- electronic music — music: synthesized
- embourgeoisement — (chiefly UK) The taking-up of middle-class attitudes or values; bourgeoisification; the process of becoming affluent.
- extemporaneously — In an extemporaneous manner; without prior preparation or planning.
- family of curves — a collection of curves whose equations differ only by values assigned a parameter or parameters.
- farmer's reducer — a solution of ferricyanide and hypo for reducing density and increasing contrast in a negative.
- farmhouse cheese — cheese that is made by traditional methods, on or as if on a farm
- feminine caesura — a caesura occurring immediately after an unstressed or short syllable.
- first-time buyer — someone who is buying his or her first house