16-letter words containing ra
- appearance money — Appearance money is money paid to a famous person such as a sports star or film star for taking part in a public event.
- appliance garage — a kitchen compartment or cabinet designed for housing frequently used small electric appliances.
- appraisal method — a method used for the appraisal of an employee
- arachidonic acid — a fatty acid occurring in animal cells: the metabolic precursor of several groups of biologically active substances, including prostaglandins
- aratus of sicyon — 271–213 b.c, Greek general: leader of the Achaean League.
- archival storage — a method of retaining information outside of the internal memory of a computer
- aristocratically — In an aristocratic manner.
- armed neutrality — military preparedness without commitment, especially as the expressed policy of a neutral nation in wartime; readiness to counter with force an invasion of rights by any belligerent power.
- aromatherapeutic — Of or pertaining to aromatherapy.
- ars gratia artis — art for art's sake
- as right as rain — If you say that someone is as right as rain, you mean that they are completely well or healthy again, for example when they have recovered from an illness or a shock.
- asparaginic acid — aspartic acid.
- asparagus beetle — either of two leaf beetles of the genus Crioceris that feed on the asparagus plant in both the larval and adult stages.
- asparagus spears — the succulent young shoots of Asparagus officinalis, which may be cooked and eaten
- astrophotography — the photography of celestial bodies used in astronomy
- at daggers drawn — If you say that two people are at daggers drawn, you mean they are having an argument and are still very angry with each other.
- attorney general — A country's Attorney General is its chief law officer, who advises its government or ruler.
- aurora australis — the aurora seen around the South Pole
- australian crawl — a stroke in which the feet are kicked like paddles while the arms reach forward and pull back through the water
- australian rules — a game resembling rugby football, played in Australia between teams of 18 men each on an oval pitch, with a ball resembling a large rugby ball. Players attempt to kick the ball between posts (without crossbars) at either end of the pitch, scoring six points for a goal (between the two main posts) and one point for a behind (between either of two outer posts and the main posts). They may punch or kick the ball and run with it provided that they bounce it every ten yards
- australopithecus — an extinct genus of small-brained,large-toothed bipedal hominids that lived in Africa between one and four million years ago.
- autobiographical — An autobiographical piece of writing relates to events in the life of the person who has written it.
- autoethnographic — Using ethnographic techniques to describe one's own life, or events in which one is a participant.
- automatic camera — a camera in which the lens aperture or the shutter speed or both are automatically adjusted to the prevailing conditions
- autoradiographic — Of or pertaining to an autoradiograph, a radiographic image produced by the decay of a radioactive substance.
- autotransformers — Plural form of autotransformer.
- autotransfusions — Plural form of autotransfusion.
- auxiliary rafter — a rafter reinforcing a principal rafter.
- average adjuster — a person who calculates average claims, esp for marine insurance
- aversion therapy — a method of suppressing an undesirable habit, such as excessive smoking, by causing the subject to associate an unpleasant effect, such as an electric shock or nausea, with the habit
- babe-in-a-cradle — a tall orchid, Epiblema grandiflorum, of SW Australia with lilac to mauve flowers
- badminton racket — the type of racket used in games of badminton
- balance of trade — A country's balance of trade is the difference in value, over a period of time, between the goods it imports and the goods it exports.
- balance transfer — the act of transferring debt from one credit card to another, assuming that the second card has better terms or interest rates than the first
- ballistic camera — a camera for tracking missiles launched at night.
- basilar membrane — a membrane inside the cochlea that vibrates in response to sound
- bathythermograph — a device for measuring the temperature of the ocean at any specific depth down to c. 1,800 m (c. 5,900 ft)
- battery-operated — powered, driven, or operated with batteries
- bayonet practice — drill in the use of a bayonet
- beat to the draw — to be quicker than (another) in doing something, as in drawing one's weapon
- beauty therapist — a person whose job is to carry out treatments to improve a person's appearance, such as facials, manicures, removal of unwanted hair, etc
- beaux' stratagem — a comedy (1707) by George Farquhar.
- behavior therapy — therapy employing behavior modification
- behavioural sink — a small area in which people or animals live in overcrowded conditions
- bertrand russell — (person) (1872-1970) A British mathematician, the discoverer of Russell's paradox.
- beta abstraction — [lambda-calculus] The conversion of an expression to an application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. Some subterm of the original expression becomes the argument of the abstraction and the rest becomes its body. E.g. 4+1 --> (\ x . x+1) 4 The opposite of beta abstraction is beta reduction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion.
- biblical aramaic — the form of Aramaic that was the common language of Palestine in New Testament times. It was widespread throughout the Persian Empire from the 5th century and is found in the later books of the Old Testament (esp Daniel 2:4–7:28)
- binary operation — a mathematical operation in which two elements are combined to yield a single result: Addition and multiplication are binary operations on the set of real numbers.
- biodegradability — capable of decaying through the action of living organisms: biodegradable paper; biodegradable detergent.
- biodeterioration — biodegradation.