16-letter words containing s, i, m, o, d
- developmentalism — An economic theory which states that the best way for Third World countries to develop is through fostering a strong and varied internal market and to impose high tariffs on imported goods.
- developmentalist — an expert in or advocate of developmental psychology.
- devonshire cream — clotted cream.
- diamond district — the part of a town where diamond merchants and jewellers have their businesses
- diastereoisomers — Plural form of diastereoisomer.
- 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.
- diplomatic corps — the entire body of diplomats accredited to and resident at a court or capital.
- direct-mail shot — the posting of unsolicited sales literature to potential customers' homes or business addresses
- discombobulating — Present participle of discombobulate.
- discombobulation — to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate: The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers.
- discovery method — a largely unstructured, situational method or philosophy of teaching whereby students are permitted to find solutions to problems on their own or at their own pace, often jointly in group activities, either independent of or under the guidance of a teacher.
- discriminatorily — characterized by or showing prejudicial treatment, especially as an indication of bias related to age, color, national origin, religion, sex, etc.: discriminatory practices in housing; a discriminatory tax.
- displacement ton — a unit for measuring the displacement of a vessel, equal to a long ton of 2240 pounds (1016 kg) or 35 cu. ft. (1 cu. m) of seawater.
- distance modulus — a measure of the distance, r, of a celestial object too far away to show measurable parallax. It is given by m–M = 5 log(r/10), where m is its apparent magnitude (corrected for interstellar absorption) and M is its absolute magnitude
- dolichocephalism — (medicine) The quality or condition of being dolichocephalic.
- domain selection — (systems analysis) The prioritisation and selection of one or more domains for which specific software reuse engineering projects are to be initiated.
- domestic partner — either member of an unmarried, cohabiting, and especially homosexual couple that seeks benefits usually available only to spouses.
- domestic prelate — an honorary distinction conferred by the Holy See upon clergy, entitling them to some of the privileges of a bishop.
- domestic science — home economics.
- domestic servant — person employed to do household chores
- domestic service — the work of household servants
- dominus vobiscum — the Lord be with you.
- dramatic society — an amateur dramatics club
- duchess of malfi — a tragedy (1614?) by John Webster.
- duplessis-mornay — Philippe [fee-leep] /fiˈlip/ (Show IPA), Mornay, Philippe de.
- dynamic response — The dynamic response of a machine, structure, or process is how it reacts over time to something that is done to it.
- endarterectomies — Plural form of endarterectomy.
- exhaust manifold — An exhaust manifold is a heat-resistant tube that connects an engine to an exhaust pipe.
- extradimensional — (jargon, science fiction) Originating outside the known physical reality of the universe.
- ferdinand marcos — Ferdinand E(dralin) [ed-ruh-lin] /ˈɛd rə lɪn/ (Show IPA), 1917–1989, Philippine political leader: president 1965–86.
- four-dimensional — of a space having points, or a set having elements, which require four coordinates for their unique determination.
- four-masted brig — jackass bark (def 2).
- fourth dimension — Physics, Mathematics. a dimension in addition to length, width, and depth, used so as to be able to employ geometrical language in discussing phenomena that depend on four variables: Time is considered a fourth dimension for locating points in space-time.
- glycosylceramide — (organic chemistry) Any glycosyl derivative of a ceramide.
- goldsmith beetle — a brilliant golden scarabaeid beetle, Cetonia aurata, of Europe.
- goodwill mission — a group of people sent to a foreign country to express goodwill
- gross misconduct — a proven crime in connection with employment that is serious enough to require dismissal
- gynandromorphism — an individual exhibiting morphological characteristics of both sexes.
- hard times token — any of a series of U.S. copper tokens, issued 1834–41, bearing a political inscription or advertising message and serving as currency during coin shortages.
- homme d'affaires — a businessman.
- hookworm disease — any of certain bloodsucking nematode worms, as Ancylostoma duodenale and Necator americanus, parasitic in the intestine of humans and other animals.
- housemaid's knee — inflammation of the bursa over the front of the kneecap.
- hyperandrogenism — (medicine) An abnormally high production of androgens.
- immethodicalness — Lack of method; the quality of being immethodical.
- immunodepressant — preventing or diminishing the immune response
- immunosuppressed — the inhibition of the normal immune response because of disease, the administration of drugs, or surgery.
- in so many words — a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning. Words are composed of one or more morphemes and are either the smallest units susceptible of independent use or consist of two or three such units combined under certain linking conditions, as with the loss of primary accent that distinguishes black·bird· from black· bird·. Words are usually separated by spaces in writing, and are distinguished phonologically, as by accent, in many languages.
- incommodiousness — The state or quality of being incommodious.
- indiscrimination — an act or instance of not discriminating.