17-letter words containing a, b, s, c
- liberal democrats — (in Britain) a political party with centrist policies; established in 1988 as the Social and Liberal Democrats when the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party; renamed Liberal Democrats in 1989
- librocubicularist — (rare) A person who reads in bed.
- lombrosian school — a school of criminology, promulgating the theories and employing the methods developed by Lombroso.
- malagasy republic — former name of Madagascar.
- massachusetts bay — an inlet of the Atlantic, off the E coast of Massachusetts.
- microdermabrasion — A cosmetic treatment in which the face is sprayed with exfoliant crystals to remove dead epidermal cells.
- nicholas bourbaki — the pseudonym of a group of mainly French mathematicians that, since 1939, has been producing a monumental work on advanced mathematics, Eléments de Mathématique
- nuclear submarine — undersea vessel powered by atomic energy
- objectionableness — The quality of being objectionable.
- on someone's back — criticizing or pestering someone
- on the pig's back — successful; established
- opisthobranchiate — (zoology) Of or pertaining to the Opisthobranchiata.
- 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.
- outside broadcast — An outside broadcast is a radio or television programme that is not recorded or filmed in a studio, but in another building or in the open air.
- paleobiochemistry — the study of biochemical processes that occurred in fossil life forms.
- passive obedience — unquestioning obedience to authority
- performance bonus — a monetary bonus paid to staff who have performed well in their job
- pitot-static tube — a device combining a Pitot tube with a static tube: used to measure airspeed.
- pocket battleship — a small heavily armed and armored warship serving as a battleship because of limitations imposed by treaty.
- positive 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.
- postbaccalaureate — bachelor's degree.
- pressurized cabin — the cabin of an aircraft in which the air has been pressurized
- pseudo-biological — pertaining to biology.
- public assistance — government aid to the poor, disabled, or aged or to dependent children, as financial assistance or food stamps.
- purple shore crab — any of numerous crabs that live along the shoreline between the tidemarks, as Hemigrapsus nudus (purple shore crab) of the Pacific coast of North America.
- quarterback sneak — a play in which the quarterback charges into the middle of the line, usually immediately after receiving the ball from the center.
- rack one's brains — to strain in mental effort, esp to remember something or to find the solution to a problem
- red-backed shrike — a common Eurasian shrike, Lanius collurio, the male of which has a grey crown and rump, brown wings and back, and a black-and-white face
- san francisco bay — a bay in W California: the harbor of San Francisco; connected with the Pacific by the Golden Gate strait. 50 miles (80 km) long; 3–12 miles (5–19 km) wide.
- sanctions-busting — the deliberate disregarding of sanctions that are in force against a state, organization, etc
- sandro botticelli — Sandro [san-droh,, sahn-;; Italian sahn-draw] /ˈsæn droʊ,, ˈsɑn-;; Italian ˈsɑn drɔ/ (Show IPA), (Alessandro di Mariano dei Filipepi) 1444?–1510, Italian painter.
- saxe-coburg-gotha — a member of the present British royal family, from the establishment of the house in 1901 until 1917 when the family name was changed to Windsor.
- scrape the barrel — to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource
- second balkan war — Balkan War (def 2).
- secondary battery — storage battery.
- secondary boycott — a boycott by union members against their employer in order to induce the employer to bring pressure on another company involved in a labor dispute with the union.
- secondary rainbow — a faint rainbow formed by light rays that undergo two internal reflections in drops of rain, appearing above the primary rainbow and having its colors in the opposite order.
- self-belay device — (in climbing) a device used to pay out a safety rope as required
- self-incompatible — not capable of self-pollination.
- semi-biographical — of or relating to a person's life: He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
- smokeless tobacco — snuff1 (def 9).
- sodium bichromate — a red or orange crystalline, water-soluble solid, Na 2 Cr 2 O 7 ⋅2H 2 O, used as an oxidizing agent in the manufacture of dyes and inks, as a corrosion inhibitor, a mordant, a laboratory reagent, in the tanning of leather, and in electroplating.
- special constable — a person recruited for temporary or occasional police duties, esp in time of emergency
- spoonbill catfish — flathead catfish.
- squaw huckleberry — deerberry.
- subclavian artery — either of a pair of arteries, one on each side of the body, that carry the main supply of blood to the arms.
- subclavian groove — either of two grooves in the first rib, one for the main artery (subclavian artery) and the other for the main vein (subclavian vein) of the arm
- subject catalogue — a catalogue with entries arranged by subject in a classified sequence
- subscription rate — the price charged for a subscription
- subtractive color — cyan, yellow, or magenta, as used in the subtractive process of color photography.