17-letter words containing u, a, e
- alternative music — independent pop music
- altitude sickness — a condition affecting some persons at high altitudes, caused by insufficient oxygen in the blood and characterized by dizziness, nausea, and shortness of breath.
- altitude training — training performed at high altitude to prepare an athlete's body to cope with a reduced supply of oxygen
- aluminum chloride — a yellow-white, crystalline, water-soluble solid that in its white hydrated form, AlCl 3 ⋅6H 2 O, is used chiefly as a wood preservative and in its yellow-white anhydrous form, AlCl 3 , chiefly as a catalyst.
- aluminum silicate — any of a group of naturally occurring, water-insoluble substances, obtained from clay or synthesized, containing varying amounts of oxides of aluminum and silicon, Al 2 O 3 and Si 2 O 3 , and used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, paints, printing inks, rubber, and plastics.
- amateur dramatics — theatrical performances by amateur players
- ambulance service — the public organization that operates ambulances in a country
- american chestnut — any of the several deciduous trees constituting the genus Castanea, of the beech family, having toothed, oblong leaves and bearing edible nuts enclosed in a prickly bur, and including C. dentata (American chestnut) which has been virtually destroyed by the chestnut blight, C. sativa (European chestnut) C. mollissima (Chinese chestnut) and C. crenata (Japanese chestnut)
- american foxhound — one of an American breed of medium-sized dogs having a smooth, glossy coat usually black, tan, and white in color, a square-cut muzzle, hanging ears, and a moderately high-set tail, used for hunting both in packs or individually, tailing the game by scent.
- american mulberry — See under mulberry (def 2).
- aminoglutethimide — a hormone antagonist, C 13 H 16 N 2 O 2 , used in the treatment of Cushing's syndrome and breast cancer.
- ammonium chloride — a white soluble crystalline solid used chiefly as an electrolyte in dry batteries and as a mordant and soldering flux. Formula: NH4Cl
- ammonium selenate — a colorless, crystalline, water-soluble solid, (NH 4) 2 SeO 4 , used as a mothproofing agent.
- ammonium stearate — a tan, waxlike, water-insoluble solid, C 18 H 39 NO 2 , used chiefly in the manufacture of cosmetics.
- ammonium sulphate — a white soluble crystalline solid used mainly as a fertilizer and in water purification. Formula: (NH4)2SO4
- analogue computer — (computer, hardware) A machine or electronic circuit designed to work on numerical data represented by some physical quantity (e.g. rotation or displacement) or electrical quantity (e.g. voltage or charge) which varies continuously, in contrast to digital signals which are either 0 or 1. For example, the turning of a wheel or changes in voltage can be used as input. Analogue computers are said to operate in real time and are used for research in design where many different shapes and speeds can be tried out quickly. A computer model of a car suspension allows the designer to see the effects of changing size, stiffness and damping.
- andes (mountains) — mountain system extending the length of W South America: highest peak, Aconcagua
- andrew fluegelman — (person) A successful attorney, editor of PC World Magazine, and author of the MS-DOS communications program PC-TALK III, written in 1982. He once owned the trademark "freeware" but it wasn't enforced after his disappearance. In 1985, Fluegelman was diagnosed with cancer. He was last seen a week later, on 1985-07-06, when he left his Marin County home to go to his office in Tiburon. He called his wife later that day and has not been heard from since. His car was found at Vista Point on the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge.
- angostura bitters — a bitter aromatic tonic made from gentian and various spices and vegetable colourings, used as a flavouring in alcoholic drinks
- angular frequency — the frequency of a periodic process, wave system, etc, expressed in radians per second
- angular leaf spot — a disease of plants, characterized by angular, watery spots on the leaves and fruit, caused by any of several bacteria, as Pseudomonas lachrymans.
- anthraquinone dye — any of the class of dyes derived from anthraquinone, used for dyeing textiles, especially cotton, rayon, and silk.
- anti-bureaucratic — of, relating to, or characteristic of a bureaucrat or a bureaucracy; arbitrary and routine.
- anti-intellectual — hostile to or opposed to intellectual persons or matters, ideas, activities, etc.
- antirevolutionary — opposed to revolution, esp opposed to a particular revolution and the people who are carrying it out
- anzhero-sudzhensk — a city in the S Russian Federation in Central Asia.
- aperture priority — an automatic exposure system in which the photographer selects the aperture and the camera then automatically sets the correct shutter speed
- aperture-priority — of or relating to a semiautomatic exposure system in which the photographer presets the aperture and the camera selects the shutter speed.
- appointed actuary — An appointed actuary is an actuary appointed by a life insurance company, whose main role is to carry out a regular valuation of the reserves held to pay future policy benefits.
- argumentativeness — fond of or given to argument and dispute; disputatious; contentious: The law students were an unusually argumentative group.
- aristolochiaceous — belonging to the Aristolochiaceae, the birthwort family of plants.
- armature reaction — a change in the magnetic field of a dynamo caused by the magnetic field induced by the current flowing through the armature.
- around the corner — If you say that something is around the corner, you mean that it will happen very soon. In British English, you can also say that something is round the corner.
- arsenic disulfide — an orange-red, water-insoluble, poisonous powder, As 4 S 4 , As 2 S 2 , or AsS, used chiefly in the manufacture of fireworks.
- articulated joint — Anatomy. a flexible joint.
- articulated lorry — a lorry made in two separate sections, a tractor and a trailer, connected by a pivoted bar
- arunachal pradesh — a state in NE India, formed in 1986 from the former Union Territory. Capital: Itanagar. Pop: 1 091 117 (2001). Area: 83 743 sq km (32 648 sq miles)
- ashby-de-la-zouch — a town in central England, in Leicestershire: Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned (1569) in the castle. Pop: 11 409 (2001)
- ashton-under-lyne — a town in NW England, in Tameside unitary authority, Greater Manchester. Pop: 43 236 (2001)
- assateague island — a narrow island in SE Maryland and E Virginia on Chincoteague Bay: annual wild pony roundup. 33 miles (53 km) long.
- assembly language — a low-level programming language that allows a programmer complete control of the machine code to be generated
- asset-backed fund — a fund in which the money is invested in property, shares, etc, rather than being deposited with a bank or building society
- at close quarters — If you do something at close quarters, you do it very near to a particular person or thing.
- at cross purposes — an opposing or contrary purpose.
- at cross-purposes — If people are at cross-purposes, they do not understand each other because they are working towards or talking about different things without realizing it.
- at the request of — in accordance with the specific demand or wish of (someone)
- audience research — research into the make-up and habits of the audience of a particular television or radio programme or network
- audio description — a facility provided for visually impaired people in which a film, television programme, or play is described through audio technology
- audubon's warbler — a common North American wood warbler, Dendroica coronata, having yellow spots on the rump, crown, and sides, including a white-throated eastern subspecies (myrtle warbler) and a yellow-throated western subspecies (Audubon's warbler)
- augmented reality — an artificial environment created through the combination of real-world and computer-generated data