15-letter words containing s, d, a
- nuisance ground — a garbage dump.
- object database — a database format in which information is shown in the form of objects
- object distance — the distance between the lens of a camera and an object being photographed.
- obsidian dating — a method of dating obsidian artifacts or debitage by calculating how long it has taken to produce a given thickness of a hydration layer within such matter.
- obsidional coin — siege piece.
- occipitomastoid — (anatomy) Relating to, or connecting the occipital and mastoid bones.
- odontostomatous — having jaws that resemble teeth
- off one's guard — to keep safe from harm or danger; protect; watch over: to guard the ruler.
- off one's hands — for which one is no longer responsible
- oil-based paint — any paint made with a drying oil or solvent such as linseed
- olbers' paradox — the paradox that if the universe consisted of an infinite number of stars equally distributed through space, then every line of sight would come from a star and the night sky would glow uniformly, which is observationally not true.
- old age pension — An old age pension is a regular amount of money that people receive from the government when they have retired from work.
- old clothes man — a person who deals in second-hand clothes
- old man's beard — fringe tree.
- old wives' tale — a traditional belief, story, or idea that is often of a superstitious nature.
- old-established — established for a long time
- old-man's-beard — fringe tree.
- old-man-the-sea — (in The Arabian Nights' Entertainments) an old man who clung to the shoulders of Sindbad the Sailor for many days and nights.
- oligohydramnios — (medicine) A deficit of amniotic fluid in the amniotic sac, causing distinctive deformations of the foetus.
- oligosaccharide — any carbohydrate yielding few monosaccharides on hydrolysis, as two, three, or four.
- on the decrease — decreasing
- one-dimensional — having one dimension only.
- one-night stand — a single performance in one locale, as by a touring theatrical company, before moving on to the next engagement.
- onward progress — progress that advances or improves (a situation, etc)
- open admissions — a policy of admitting applicants to an institution, especially a university, regardless of previous academic record or grades.
- operationalised — Simple past tense and past participle of operationalise.
- opinionatedness — The state or condition of being opinionated.
- orangeman's day — the 12th of July, celebrated by Protestants in Northern Ireland to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne (1690)
- orangemen's day — July 12, an annual celebration in Northern Ireland and certain cities having a large Irish section, especially Liverpool, to mark both the victory of William III over James II at the Battle of the Boyne, July 1, 1690, and the Battle of Augbrim, July 12, 1690.
- ordinal numbers — Also called ordinal numeral. any of the numbers that express degree, quality, or position in a series, as first, second, and third (distinguished from cardinal number).
- ordinary seaman — a seaman insufficiently skilled to be classified as an able-bodied seaman. Abbreviation: O.D., O.S., o.s.
- ordinary shares — British. a share of common stock.
- ordnance survey — mapmaking agency
- organic disease — a disease in which there is a structural alteration (opposed to functional disease).
- organized chaos — a complex situation or process that appears chaotic while having enough order to achieve progress or goals
- ortega saavedra — (José) Daniel [haw-se dah-nyel] /hɔˈsɛ dɑˈnyɛl/ (Show IPA), born 1945, Nicaraguan political leader: president 1985–90.
- outdoorsmanship — a person devoted to outdoor sports and recreational activities, as hiking, hunting, fishing, or camping.
- outside caliper — a caliper whose legs turn inward so that it can measure outside dimensions, as the diameter of a rod.
- outside forward — one of two attacking players who usually play on the far side of the field; wing.
- outstandingness — prominent; conspicuous; striking: an outstanding example of courage.
- over one's head — the upper part of the body in humans, joined to the trunk by the neck, containing the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
- over-advertised — to announce or praise (a product, service, etc.) in some public medium of communication in order to induce people to buy or use it: to advertise a new brand of toothpaste.
- overcompensated — to compensate or reward excessively; overpay: Some stockholders feel the executives are being overcompensated and that bonuses should be reduced.
- overforwardness — the quality of being too familiar
- oxidation state — the state of an element or ion in a compound with regard to the electrons gained or lost by the element or ion in the reaction that formed the compound, expressed as a positive or negative number indicating the ionic charge of the element or ion.
- oyster toadfish — See under toadfish (def 1).
- pac-man defense — a defensive tactic against a hostile takeover in which the targeted company makes its own bid to take over the hostile firm.
- pacific islands — a U.S. trust territory in the Pacific Ocean, comprising the Mariana, Marshall, and Caroline Islands: approved by the United Nations 1947; since 1976 constituents of the trusteeship have established or moved toward self-government. 717 sq. mi. (1857 sq. km).
- packet-switched — packet switching
- packing density — a measure of the amount of data that can be held by unit length of a storage medium, such as magnetic tape