16-letter words starting with a
- at full throttle — If you say that something is done at full throttle, you mean that it is done with great speed and enthusiasm.
- at liberty to do — If someone is at liberty to do something, they have been given permission to do it.
- at one's leisure — when one has free time
- at the last gasp — at the point of death
- at the same time — If two or more things exist, happen, or are true at the same time, they exist, happen, or are true together although they seem to contradict each other.
- at the sharp end — If you say that someone is at the sharp end of a particular activity or type of work, you mean that they are involved in the most difficult or dangerous aspects of it.
- at-risk register — an official list of people or things considered to be exposed to possible threat, such as children in potentially abusive households or historic buildings in need of maintenance
- athanasian creed — a profession of faith widely used in the Western Church which, although formerly attributed to Athanasius, probably originated in Gaul between 381 and 428 ad
- atherothrombotic — (medicine) Pertaining to or caused by atherothrombosis, the sudden disruption of an atherosclerotic plaque.
- atlantic charter — the joint declaration issued by F. D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill on Aug 14, 1941, consisting of eight principles to guide a postwar settlement
- atlantic croaker — a person or thing that croaks.
- atmospheric tide — a movement of atmospheric masses caused by the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon and by daily solar heating.
- atomic mass unit — a unit of mass used to express atomic and molecular weights that is equal to one twelfth of the mass of an atom of carbon-12. It is equivalent to 1.66 × 10–27 kg
- atomic physicist — a scientist specializing in atomic physics
- atomic structure — the concept of an atom as a central positively charged nucleus consisting of protons and neutrons surrounded by a number of electrons. The number of electrons is equal to the number of protons: the whole entity is thus electrically neutral
- atrioventricular — of, relating to, or affecting both the atria and the ventricles of the heart
- attendance order — (in Britain) an order issued by a court requiring a young offender to attend a specified place at specified times in order to carry out unpaid work, usually as an alternative to being fined
- attendance sheet — an official document for listing those attending a meeting, class, course, etc
- attitude of mind — Your attitude of mind is your general way of thinking and feeling.
- attitude problem — a frame of mind perceived by others to be hostile or uncooperative
- attorney general — A country's Attorney General is its chief law officer, who advises its government or ruler.
- attorney-in-fact — a person authorized by power of attorney to act on the authorizer's behalf outside a court of law.
- attributive noun — a noun that occurs before and modifies another noun, as toy in toy store or tour in tour group.
- atwood's machine — a device consisting of two unequal masses connected by a string passed over a pulley, used to illustrate the laws of motion.
- auckland islands — a group of six uninhabited islands, south of New Zealand. Area: 611 sq km (234 sq miles)
- auction pinochle — a variety of pinochle for three to five players in which, for every hand, there are three active players, each dealt 15 cards, with the highest bidder winning the contract and playing against the other two active opponents.
- audience chamber — a room where a monarch or head of state conducts formal interviews
- audience figures — the number of people regularly watching a television programme or listening to a radio programme
- audio conference — a meeting that is conducted by the use of audio telecommunications
- audiovisual aids — training or educational materials directed at both the sense of hearing and the sense of sight; films, recordings, photographs, etc., used in classroom instruction, library collections, or the like.
- auditory aphasia — aphasia in which there is no comprehension of spoken words; word deafness.
- auditory vesicle — the pouch that is formed by the invagination of an ectodermal placode and that develops into the internal ear.
- aulnay-sous-bois — a town in N central France, a suburb NE of Paris.
- aung san suu kyi — born 1945, Burmese politician; cofounder (1988) and general secretary (1988–91 and from 1995) of the National League for Democracy: Nobel peace prize 1991; released (2010) from a lengthy house arrest; elected to the Burmese House of Representatives in 2012
- aureate language — a style of poetic diction, used originally in 15th-century English poetry, characterized by the use of ornate phrases and Latinized coinages.
- 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.
- austro-hungarian — of or relating to the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918)
- authentification — The process of making, or establishing as, authentic.
- authoritarianism — Authoritarianism is the state of being authoritarian or the belief that people with power, especially the State, have the right to control other people's actions.
- authority figure — a person whose real or apparent authority over others inspires or demands obedience and emulation: Parents, teachers, and police officers are traditional authority figures for children.
- autobiographical — An autobiographical piece of writing relates to events in the life of the person who has written it.
- autobogotiphobia — bogotify
- autodidactically — a person who has learned a subject without the benefit of a teacher or formal education; a self-taught person.
- autoethnographic — Using ethnographic techniques to describe one's own life, or events in which one is a participant.
- autofluorescence — (biology, microscopy) Self-induced fluorescence.
- autoimmunization — antibody production by an organism in response to and against any of its own tissues, cells, or cell components.
- autointoxication — self-poisoning caused by absorption of toxic products originating within the body