14-letter words containing t, h, i, o
- khaki election — a general election held during or immediately after a war, esp one in which the war has an effect on how people vote
- kill the clock — an instrument for measuring and recording time, especially by mechanical means, usually with hands or changing numbers to indicate the hour and minute: not designed to be worn or carried about.
- kinetheodolite — a type of theodolite containing a cine camera instead of a telescope and giving continuous film of a moving target together with a record of its altitude and azimuth: used in tracking a missile, satellite, etc
- kinetic theory — the theory that the minute particles of all matter are in constant motion and that the temperature of a substance is dependent on the velocity of this motion, increased motion being accompanied by increased temperature: according to the kinetic theory of gases, the elasticity, diffusion, pressure, and other physical properties of a gas are due to the rapid motion in straight lines of its molecules, to their impacts against each other and the walls of the container, to weak cohesive forces between molecules, etc.
- kitchen police — soldiers detailed by roster or as punishment to assist in kitchen duties.
- kochel listing — the chronological number of a composition of Mozart as assigned in the catalog of the composer's works compiled in the 19th century by the Austrian musicologist Ludwig von Köchel (1800–1877) and since revised several times. Abbreviation: K.
- labyrinthodont — any member of several orders of small to large lizardlike terrestrial and freshwater amphibians, some ancestral to land vertebrates, forming the extinct subclass Labyrinthodonta that flourished from the Devonian through the Triassic periods, characterized by a solid, flattened skull and conical teeth.
- lachrymatories — Plural form of lachrymatory.
- laughing stock — object of others' amusement
- laughingstocks — Plural form of laughingstock.
- le misanthrope — a comedy (1666) by Molière.
- lecythidaceous — relating to the Lecythidaceae family of large trees, native to tropical South America and Madagascar
- legislatorship — The office or position of a legislator.
- leucocythaemia — leukaemia
- lexicographist — (chiefly, archaic) A student specialising in the discipline of lexicography; lexicographer.
- light reaction — the stage of photosynthesis during which light energy is absorbed by chlorophyll and transformed into chemical energy stored in ATP
- light-coloured — having a light colour
- light-horseman — a light-armed cavalry soldier.
- line of flight — the flight path of something travelling from one place to another
- lithochromatic — relating to or produced by painting on stone
- lithographical — Of or pertaining to lithography.
- lithologically — From a lithological point of view.
- little bighorn — a river flowing N from N Wyoming to S Montana into the Bighorn River: General Custer and troops defeated near its juncture by Indians 1876. 80 miles (130 km) long.
- living history — any of various activities involving the re-enactment of historical events or the recreation of living conditions of the past
- lothian region — a former local government region in SE central Scotland, formed in 1975 from East Lothian, most of Midlothian, and West Lothian; replaced in 1996 by the council areas of East Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian, and Edinburgh
- lyophilisation — Alternative spelling of lyophilization.
- lyophilization — (of tissue, blood, serum, or the like) to dry by freezing in a high vacuum.
- macaroni wheat — durum wheat.
- machicolations — Plural form of machicolation.
- machine pistol — a fully automatic pistol; submachine gun.
- macintosh iicx — (computer) (Mac IIcx) A version of Apple's Macintosh II personal computer, introduced in 1989, with a Motorola 68030 processor running at 16 MHz and up to 128 MB of RAM (120 ns, 30-pin DRAM chips). The IIcx requires System 6.0.3 or later and requires "Mode 32" or "32-bit Enabler" to use more than 8MB of RAM. It was discontinued 1991, and in 1996 is still considered one of the best-designed Macs ever.
- magnetic epoch — a geologically long period of time during which the magnetic field of the earth retains the same polarity. The magnetic field may reverse during such a period for a geologically short period of time (a magnetic event)
- magnetic north — north as indicated by a magnetic compass, differing in most places from true north.
- magnetospheric — Of, pertaining to, or happening within the magnetosphere.
- maitre d'hotel — a headwaiter.
- major mitchell — an Australian cockatoo, Kakatoe leadbeateri, with a white-and-pink plumage
- malnourishment — Malnutrition, undernourishment.
- mastigophorous — carrying a cane or whip
- maternity home — a house in which a pregnant woman can live until her baby is born, esp one for women who became pregnant out of wedlock and whose baby is going to be put up for adoption
- mephistopheles — Medieval Demonology. one of the seven chief devils and the tempter of Faust.
- merionethshire — a historic county in Gwynedd, in N Wales.
- mesh stockings — stockings with a netted pattern or made out of a netted material such as lace or netted nylon
- metabolic heat — animal heat.
- metachromatism — change of color, especially that due to variation in the temperature of a body.
- metamorphizing — Present participle of metamorphize.
- metamorphosing — to change the form or nature of; transform.
- metamorphosise — (UK, nonstandard) To metamorphose.
- metamorphosize — (US, nonstandard) To undergo the process of metamorphosis; to metamorphose.
- metaphorically — a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in “A mighty fortress is our God.”. Compare mixed metaphor, simile (def 1).
- metaphosphoric — applied to an acid (HPO3) containing a molecule less of water than orthophosphoric acid