14-letter words containing s, l, a
- asymmetrically — not identical on both sides of a central line; unsymmetrical; lacking symmetry: Most faces are asymmetric.
- asymptotically — of or relating to an asymptote.
- asynchronously — In an asynchronous manner.
- at a loose end — If you are at a loose end, you are bored because you do not have anything to do and cannot think of anything that you want to do. In American English, you usually say that you are at loose ends.
- at close range — If you see or hit something at close range or from close range, you are very close to it when you see it or hit it. If you do something at a range of half a mile, for example, you are half a mile away from it when you do it.
- at first blush — when first seen; as a first impression
- at loggerheads — If two or more people or groups are at loggerheads, they disagree very strongly with each other.
- at one's elbow — within easy reach
- at one's heels — just behind or following closely
- at one's peril — If you say that someone does something at their peril, you are warning them that they will probably suffer as a result of doing it.
- at&t bell labs — Bell Laboratories
- athlete's foot — Athlete's foot is a fungal infection in which the skin between the toes becomes cracked or peels off.
- atlas autocode — (language) The Autocode for the Ferranti Atlas, which may have been the first commercial computer with hardware-paged virtual memory. Whereas other autocodes were basically assembly languages, Atlas Autocode was high-level and block-structured, resembling a cross between Fortran and ALGOL 60. It had call-by value, loops, declarations, complex numbers, pointers, heap and stack storage generators, dynamic arrays, and extensible syntax.
- attainableness — The state or quality of being attainable.
- augean stables — the stables, not cleaned for 30 years, where King Augeas kept 3000 oxen. Hercules diverted the River Alpheus through them and cleaned them in a day
- auld lang syne — Auld Lang Syne is a Scottish song about friendship that is traditionally sung as clocks strike midnight on New Year's Eve.
- aussie battler — an Australian working-class person
- austrian blind — a window blind consisting of rows of vertically gathered fabric that may be drawn up to form a series of ruches
- autotransplant — autograft.
- availabilities — suitable or ready for use; of use or service; at hand: I used whatever tools were available.
- avalokitesvara — a male Bodhisattva, widely revered and identified with various persons and gods.
- average clause — a clause in an insurance policy that distributes the insurance among several items, usually in proportion to their value
- avogadro's law — the principle that equal volumes of all gases contain the same number of molecules at the same temperature and pressure
- axial skeleton — the bones that together comprise the skull and the vertebral column
- axis of diesel — a name given to a bloc of countries (Russia, Iran, and Venezuela) whose reserves of oil enhance their political importance
- baby blue-eyes — a native Calif. wildflower (Nemophila menziesii) of the waterleaf family with bell-shaped flowers
- baby-blue-eyes — any of several plants of the genus Nemophila, of western North America, especially N. menziesii, a low-growing plant having blue, white-centered flowers.
- baccalaureates — Plural form of baccalaureate.
- bachelor chest — a chest of drawers, esp., one for men's shirts, sweaters, underwear, etc.
- backing vocals — a vocal accompaniment for a pop singer
- backstrap loom — a simple horizontal loom, used especially in Central and South America, on which one of two beams holding the warp yarn is attached to a strap that passes across the weaver's back.
- bacteriologist — a branch of microbiology dealing with the identification, study, and cultivation of bacteria and with their applications in medicine, agriculture, industry, and biotechnology.
- balance spring — hairspring.
- ball of muscle — a very strong, fit, or forceful person
- ballast pocket — a depression that is formed beneath the ballast layer by penetration of ballast particles into the subgrade and that tends to collect moisture.
- ballet slipper — a heelless cloth or leather slipper worn by ballet dancers.
- ballistic wind — a single wind vector that would have the same net effect on the trajectory of a projectile as the varying winds encountered in flight.
- ballon d'essai — a project or policy put forward experimentally to gauge reactions to it
- balloon sleeve — a sleeve fitting tightly from wrist to elbow and becoming fully rounded from elbow to shoulder
- balsam of peru — an aromatic balsam that is obtained from the tropical South American leguminous tree Myroxylon pereirae and is similar to balsam of Tolu
- balsam of tolu — tolu
- balsaminaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Balsaminaceae, a family of flowering plants, including balsam and touch-me-not, that have irregular flowers and explosive capsules
- balto-slavonic — a hypothetical subfamily of Indo-European languages consisting of Baltic and Slavonic. It is now generally believed that similarities between them result from geographical proximity rather than any special relationship
- baptismal font — a large bowl for baptismal water, usually mounted on a pedestal
- baptismal name — Christian name (def 1).
- baptismal vows — the solemn promises made during baptism, either by the person baptized or by his or her sponsors
- baranof island — an island off SE Alaska, in the western part of the Alexander Archipelago. Area: 4162 sq km (1607 sq miles)
- barbara liskov — (person) Professor Barbara Liskov was the first US woman to be awarded a PhD in computing, and her innovations can be found in every modern programming language. She currently (2009) heads the Programming Methodology Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Professor Liskov's design innovations have, over the decades, made software more reliable and easier to maintain. She has invented two computer progamming languages: CLU, an object-orientated language, and Argus, a distributed programming language. Liskov's research forms the basis of modern programming languages such as Java, C# and C++. One of the biggest impacts of her work came from her contributions to the use of data abstraction, a method for organising complex programs. See Liskov substitution principle. In June 2009 she will receive the A. M. Turing Award.
- barium sulfate — an odorless, tasteless, white powder, BaSO4, insoluble in water: it is used as a paint pigment, as a filler for paper, textiles , etc., and as an opaque substance that is ingested to aid in making diagnostic X-rays of the stomach and intestine
- barium sulfide — a gray or yellowish-green, water-soluble, poisonous powder, BaS, used chiefly as a depilatory and as an intermediate in the synthesis of pigments, especially lithopone.