19-letter words containing y, o
- international style — the general form of architecture developed in the 1920s and 1930s by Gropius, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and others, characterized by simple geometric forms, large untextured, often white, surfaces, large areas of glass, and general use of steel or reinforced concrete construction.
- introduction agency — a company whose business is to match romantic partners for a fee
- invasion of privacy — an encroachment upon the right to be let alone or to be free from publicity.
- isobutyl propionate — a colorless liquid, C 7 H 14 O 2 , used chiefly as a paint, varnish, and lacquer solvent.
- it serves you right — If you say it serves someone right when something unpleasant happens to them, you mean that it is their own fault and you have no sympathy for them.
- jamaica honeysuckle — a climbing vine, Passiflora laurifolia, of tropical America, having red-spotted white flowers nearly 4 inches (10 cm) wide, with a white and violet-colored crown, and edible yellow fruit.
- jockey for position — If someone is jockeying for position, they are using whatever methods they can in order to get into a better position than their rivals.
- john maynard keynes — John Maynard, 1st Baron, 1883–1946, English economist and writer.
- joint-stock company — an association of individuals in a business enterprise with transferable shares of stock, much like a corporation except that stockholders are liable for the debts of the business.
- keep an eye out for — the organ of sight, in vertebrates typically one of a pair of spherical bodies contained in an orbit of the skull and in humans appearing externally as a dense, white, curved membrane, or sclera, surrounding a circular, colored portion, or iris, that is covered by a clear, curved membrane, or cornea, and in the center of which is an opening, or pupil, through which light passes to the retina.
- keyboard instrument — any musical instrument that is played using a keyboard
- kinematic viscosity — the coefficient of viscosity of a fluid divided by the density, usually measured in stokes.
- kingdom of burgundy — a kingdom in E France, established in the early 6th century ad, eventually including the later duchy of Burgundy, Franche-Comté, and the Kingdom of Provence: known as the Kingdom of Arles from the 13th century
- kirlian photography — a photographic process that supposedly records electrical discharges naturally emanating from living objects, producing an auralike glow surrounding the object on a photographic plate or film with which the object is in direct contact.
- knickerbocker glory — a rich confection consisting of layers of ice cream, jelly, cream, and fruit served in a tall glass
- knock someone bandy — to amaze or astound
- lady baltimore cake — a white layer cake using only the beaten whites of eggs and spread with a fruitnut filling consisting of raisins, figs, walnuts or pecans, and sometimes candied cherries.
- lady of the evening — a prostitute.
- land of opportunity — Arkansas (used as a nickname).
- language laboratory — a special room or rooms with sound-recording and -reproducing equipment for use by students to practice speaking foreign languages, usually with an instructor monitoring the program.
- lay down one's arms — to stop fighting; surrender
- lay one's finger on — to indicate, identify, or locate accurately
- lead someone astray — If someone or something leads you astray, they make you believe something that is not true, causing you to make a wrong decision.
- leukoencephalopathy — (medicine) Any disease that effects the white matter of the brain.
- liberation theology — a 20th-century Christian theology, emphasizing the Biblical and doctrinal theme of liberation from oppression, whether racial, sexual, economic, or political.
- library of congress — one of the major library collections in the world, located in Washington, D.C., and functioning in some ways as the national library of the U.S. although not officially designated as such: established by Congress in 1800 for service to its members, but now also serving government agencies, other libraries, and the public.
- life-support system — A life-support system is the same as a life-support machine.
- lipopolysaccharides — Plural form of lipopolysaccharide.
- lobby correspondent — a political correspondent who reports from parliament
- long live/ long may — You use long live and long may in expressions such as 'long live the Queen' and 'long may it continue' to express your support for someone or something and your hope that they will live or last a long time.
- longitudinal parity — (storage, communications) An extra byte (or word) appended to a block of data in order to reveal corruption of the data. Bit n of this byte indicates whether there was an even or odd number of "1" bits in bit position n of the bytes in the block. The parity byte is computed by XORing the data bytes in the block. Longitudinal parity allows single bit errors to be detected.
- lose no opportunity — If you say that someone loses no opportunity to do or say a particular thing, you are emphasizing that they do it or say it whenever it is possible.
- lose your virginity — When you lose your virginity, you have sex for the first time.
- luminous efficiency — the perceived brightness of light as a ratio of the total luminous flux to total radiant flux of the source; a measure of brightness obtained by dividing the source's luminous flux by the consumption of its energy.
- lupus erythematosus — any of several autoimmune diseases, especially systemic lupus erythematosus, characterized by red, scaly skin patches.
- lymphoproliferation — (medicine) the excessive production of lymphocytes.
- lymphoproliferative — Characterized by lymphoproliferation.
- lyon office of arms — Heralds' Office.
- magnesium hydroxide — a white, crystalline, slightly water-soluble powder, Mg(OH) 2 , used chiefly in medicine as an antacid and as a laxative.
- magnetohydrodynamic — Of or pertaining to magnetohydrodynamics.
- maratha confederacy — a loose league of states in central and western India, c1750–1818.
- mary mcleod bethune — Mary McLeod [muh-kloud] /məˈklaʊd/ (Show IPA), 1875–1955, U.S. educator and civil-rights leader.
- mary wollstonecraft — Mary (Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin) 1759–97, English author and feminist (mother of Mary Shelley).
- maternity allowance — (in the British National Insurance scheme) a payment made to a pregnant woman who usually works but does not qualify for statutory maternity pay, normally from 11 weeks before confinement for a period of 18 weeks
- maximum maytag mode — (storage, humour) (From the US brand of washing machine) What a washing machine or, by extension, any hard disk is in when it's being used so heavily that it's shaking like an old Maytag with an unbalanced load. If prolonged for any length of time, can lead to disks becoming walking drives.
- mayor of the palace — one of a line of hereditary administrative lieutenants to the Merovingian kings who eventually took over royal function and title in the Frankish kingdoms; a palatine.
- medroxyprogesterone — a progesterone derivative, C 2 4 H 3 4 O 4 , used in the treatment of abnormal uterine bleeding and secondary amenorrhea, as a contraceptive of long duration, and in the treatment of certain cancers.
- memory like a sieve — a very poor memory
- mercury-vapour lamp — a lamp in which an electric discharge through a low pressure of mercury vapour is used to produce a greenish-blue light. It is used for street lighting and is also a source of ultraviolet radiation
- methyl ethyl ketone — a colorless, flammable liquid, C 4 H 8 O, produced by synthesis or fermentation: used chiefly as a solvent, as a paint remover, and in the manufacture of plastics. Abbreviation: MEK.