18-letter words containing s, e, r, v, i
- devil's paintbrush — a perennial European hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum) with leafless flower stalks bearing a cluster of orange-red heads: now a common weed in N U.S. and Canada
- digital switchover — the process of changing the method of transmitting television from analogue to digital format
- diplomatic service — diplomatic corps
- distracted driving — driving a vehicle while engaging in an activity that has the potential to distract the driver from the task of driving: Bans on cell phone use in cars will help to reduce the dangers of distracted driving.
- distribution curve — the curve or line of a graph in which cumulative frequencies are plotted as ordinates and values of the variate as abscissas.
- divine inspiration — insight provided by higher power
- domain name server — (spelling) Domain Name System.
- driver's education — high-school driving classes
- eclipsing variable — a variable star whose changes in brightness are caused by periodic eclipses of two stars in a binary system.
- ecosystem services — the important benefits for human beings that arise from healthily functioning ecosystems, notably production of oxygen, soil genesis, and water detoxification
- emergency services — The emergency services are the public organizations whose job is to take quick action to deal with emergencies when they occur, especially the fire brigade, the police, and the ambulance service.
- employment service — (in the United States) a government department established to collect and supply to the unemployed information about job vacancies and to employers information about availability of prospective workers
- epstein-barr virus — a virus belonging to the herpes family that causes infectious mononucleosis; it is also implicated in the development of Burkitt's lymphoma and Hodgkin's disease
- equine herpesvirus — a viral disease of horses that may cause respiratory signs, abortion, neonatal death, and paresis. A vaccine is available against this disease
- evapotranspiration — The process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants.
- evolution strategy — (ES) A kind of evolutionary algorithm where individuals (potential solutions) are encoded by a set of real-valued "object variables" (the individual's "genome"). For each object variable an individual also has a "strategy variable" which determines the degree of mutation to be applied to the corresponding object variable. The strategy variables also mutate, allowing the rate of mutation of the object variables to vary. An ES is characterised by the population size, the number of offspring produced in each generation and whether the new population is selected from parents and offspring or only from the offspring. ES were invented in 1963 by Ingo Rechenberg, Hans-Paul Schwefel at the Technical University of Berlin (TUB) while searching for the optimal shapes of bodies in a flow.
- exclusive brethren — one of the two main divisions of the Plymouth Brethren, which, in contrast to the Open Brethren, restricts its members' contacts with those outside the sect
- financial services — A company or organization that provides financial services is able to help you do things such as make investments or buy a pension or mortgage.
- fischer von erlach — Johann Bernhard [yaw-hahn bern-hahrt] /ˈyɔ hɑn ˈbɛrn hɑrt/ (Show IPA), 1656–1723, Austrian architect.
- fissure of sylvius — lateral fissure.
- forced perspective — the use of objects or images that are larger or smaller than they should be, to suggest that they are nearer or further away than they really are
- foreign investment — investment from foreign countries
- geodetic surveying — the surveying of the earth's surface, making allowance for its curvature and giving an accurate framework for smaller-scale surveys
- give a person five — to greet or congratulate someone by slapping raised hands
- give sb the creeps — If someone or something gives you the creeps, they make you feel very nervous or frightened.
- give sb their head — If you give someone their head, you allow them to do what they want to do, without trying to advise or stop them.
- give someone a row — to scold someone; tell someone off
- give someone curry — to assault (a person) verbally or physically
- government housing — housing owned and managed by the federal or state government, which is rented out to tenants, esp as a form of affordable housing
- governor's council — a council chosen to assist or inform a governor on legislative or executive matters.
- gravitational lens — a heavy, dense body, as a galaxy, that lies along our line of sight to a more distant object, as a quasar, and whose gravitational field refracts the light of that object, splitting it into multiple images as seen from the earth.
- gravity escapement — an escapement, used especially in large outdoor clocks, in which the impulse is given to the pendulum by means of a weight falling through a certain distance.
- gulliver's travels — a social and political satire (1726) by Jonathan Swift, narrating the voyages of Lemuel Gulliver to four imaginary regions: Lilliput, Brobdingnag, Laputa, and the land of the Houyhnhnms.
- have words with sb — If one person has words with another, or if two or more people have words, they have a serious discussion or argument, especially because one has complained about the other's behaviour.
- hemidemisemiquaver — a sixty-fourth note.
- hold a reservation — If a hotel holds a reservation, it keeps a room for someone, and does not give it to someone else.
- hypersensitiveness — The state of being hypersensitive.
- in inverted commas — If you say in inverted commas after a word or phrase, you are indicating that it is inaccurate or unacceptable in some way, or that you are quoting someone else.
- indentured servant — a person who came to America and was placed under contract to work for another over a period of time, usually seven years, especially during the 17th to 19th centuries. Generally, indentured servants included redemptioners, victims of religious or political persecution, persons kidnapped for the purpose, convicts, and paupers.
- industrial vehicle — a vehicle designed for use in industry
- internet go server — (games, networking) (IGS) A place for Go players to meet and play via the Internet.
- inverse square law — one of several laws relating two quantities such that one quantity varies inversely as the square of the other, as the law that the illumination produced on a screen by a point source varies inversely as the square of the distance of the screen from the source.
- investment manager — financial advisor
- invisible earnings — earnings from services provided rather than goods
- involuntary muscle — muscle: contracts involuntarily
- isidore of seville — Saint (Isidorus Hispalensis) a.d. c570–636, Spanish archbishop, historian, and encyclopedist.
- iverson's language — APL, which went unnamed for many years.
- james baird weaver — James Baird, 1833–1912, U.S. politician: congressman 1879–81, 1885–89.
- king james version — Authorized Version.
- language universal — a trait or property of language that exists, or has the potential to exist, in all languages.