17-letter words containing v, a
- national covenant — an agreement (1638) among Scottish Presbyterians to uphold their faith in Scotland.
- native frangipani — an Australian evergreen tree, Hymenosporum flavum, with large fragrant yellow flowers: family Pittosporaceae
- naval air station — military airbase for the navy
- naval observatory — an astronomical observatory located in Washington, D.C., operated by the U.S. government, and responsible for the U.S. time service.
- navigation lights — lights on an aircraft
- navigation system — A navigation system is an instrument that determines the position of a vehicle and the route to a particular place.
- negative catalyst — an inhibitor.
- negative eugenics — the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics)
- negative feedback — Electronics. the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback) or to aid the input (positive feedback) acoustic feedback.
- negative particle — a word that indicates negativity, for example 'not' in English or 'ne pas' in French
- negative polarity — the grammatical character of a word or phrase, such as ever or any, that may normally be used only in a semantically or syntactically negative or interrogative context
- negative theology — a theological approach or tradition in which the nature of God is thought to be unknowable and is only understood through negative statements. See also apophasis (def 2).
- negative transfer — the obstruction of or interference with new learning because of previous learning, as when a U.S. tourist in England learns to drive on the left side of the road.
- nervous breakdown — (not in technical use) any disabling mental disorder requiring treatment.
- net present value — an assessment of the long-term profitability of a project made by adding together all the revenue it can be expected to achieve over its whole life and deducting all the costs involved, discounting both future costs and revenue at an appropriate rate
- neurodegenerative — Resulting in or characterized by degeneration of the nervous system, especially the neurons in the brain.
- neurotransmissive — Relating to neurotransmission.
- never looked back — If you say that someone did something and then never looked back, you mean that they were very successful from that time on.
- new age traveller — New Age travellers are people who live in tents and vehicles and travel from place to place, and who reject many of the values of modern society.
- nikita khrushchev — Nikita S(ergeyevich) [ni-kee-tuh sur-gey-uh-vich;; Russian nyi-kyee-tuh syir-gye-yuh-vyich] /nɪˈki tə sɜrˈgeɪ ə vɪtʃ;; Russian nyɪˈkyi tə syɪrˈgyɛ yə vyɪtʃ/ (Show IPA), 1894–1971, Russian political leader: premier of the U.S.S.R. 1958–64.
- nikolaus von cusa — Nicholas (def 1).
- non-argumentative — fond of or given to argument and dispute; disputatious; contentious: The law students were an unusually argumentative group.
- non-authoritative — having due authority; having the sanction or weight of authority: an authoritative opinion.
- non-communicative — inclined to communicate or impart; talkative: He isn't feeling very communicative today.
- non-controversial — of, relating to, or characteristic of controversy, or prolonged public dispute, debate, or contention; polemical: a controversial book.
- non-demonstrative — characterized by or given to open exhibition or expression of one's emotions, attitudes, etc., especially of love or affection: She wished her fiancé were more demonstrative.
- non-environmental — the aggregate of surrounding things, conditions, or influences; surroundings; milieu.
- non-retroactivity — operative with respect to past occurrences, as a statute; retrospective: a retroactive law.
- nonrepresentative — a person or thing that represents another or others.
- observation tower — lookout, observation point
- odds-on favourite — a person, team, horse, etc that is regarded as the most likely to win a competition
- official receiver — an officer appointed by the Insolvency Service to receive the income and manage the estate of a bankrupt pending the appointment of a trustee in bankruptcy
- omnia vincit amor — love conquers all things
- on the heavy side — tending to be too heavy
- orthovanadic acid — an oxyacid of vanadium, known chiefly in the form of its vanadate salts. Formula: H3VO4
- otto von bismarck — Otto von [ot-oh von;; German aw-toh fuh n] /ˈɒt oʊ vɒn;; German ˈɔ toʊ fən/ (Show IPA), 1815–98, German statesman: first chancellor of modern German Empire 1871–90.
- over my dead body — expressing complete refusal
- over-appreciation — gratitude; thankful recognition: They showed their appreciation by giving him a gold watch.
- over-compensation — a pronounced striving to neutralize and conceal a strong but unacceptable character trait by substituting for it an opposite trait.
- over-conservative — disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
- overconcentration — the act of concentrating; the state of being concentrated.
- overdetermination — the concept that a single emotional symptom or event, as a dream or a slip of the tongue, may be caused by more than one factor.
- overhead camshaft — a camshaft in an automotive engine that is located in the cylinder head over the engine block rather than in the block. Abbreviation: OHC.
- overhead lighting — lighting which throws light downwards by being situated on the ceiling or having a downward shade, etc
- overreach oneself — to fail because of trying to do more than one can
- oversquare engine — An oversquare engine is an engine which has a cylinder bore that is larger than its stroke.
- overstep the mark — If someone oversteps the mark, they behave in a way that is considered unacceptable.
- palace revolution — a challenge to or overthrow of a sovereign or other leader by members of the ruling family or group.
- paleoconservative — a person advocating an older, traditional type of conservatism, especially in politics.
- parallel universe — Physics. any of a hypothetical collection of undetectable universes that are like our known universe but have branched off from our universe due to a quantum-level event. See also multiverse.