17-letter words containing a, b, s, o, n
- non-subordination — the act of placing in a lower rank or position: The refusal to allow women to be educated was part of society's subordination of women to men.
- nonsense syllable — any of numerous letter combinations without meaning, used in learning experiments.
- nonunderstandable — Not understandable.
- northeast by east — a point on the compass 11°15′ east of northeast. Abbreviation: NEbE.
- objectionableness — The quality of being objectionable.
- observation tower — lookout, observation point
- off one's own bat — If someone does something off their own bat, they do it without anyone else suggesting it.
- old south arabian — a group of four closely related Semitic languages, having a writing system and used from about the eighth to the fifth centuries b.c. in the southern part of Arabia.
- on one's deathbed — about to die
- 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.
- passive obedience — unquestioning obedience to authority
- performance bonus — a monetary bonus paid to staff who have performed well in their job
- plains of abraham — a high plain adjoining the city of Quebec, Canada: battlefield where the English under Wolfe defeated the French under Montcalm in 1759.
- rack one's brains — to strain in mental effort, esp to remember something or to find the solution to a problem
- rhode island bent — a European pasture grass, Agrostis tenuis, naturalized in North America, having red flower clusters.
- roseate spoonbill — a tropical New World spoonbill, Ajaia ajaja, having rose-colored plumage and a bare head.
- sable island pony — a variety of wild pony found on Sable Island, Nova Scotia
- saint bonaventure — Saint ("the Seraphic Doctor") 1221–74, Italian scholastic theologian.
- 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.
- save one's breath — the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.
- 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-incompatible — not capable of self-pollination.
- shake one's booty — to dance
- shopping bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- shopping-bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- sinbad the sailor — a merchant in The Arabian Nights who makes seven adventurous voyages
- special constable — a person recruited for temporary or occasional police duties, esp in time of emergency
- split keyboarding — the act or practice of editing data from one terminal on another terminal
- spoonbill catfish — flathead catfish.
- squash vine borer — the larva of a clearwing moth, Melittia satyriniformis, that bores into the stems of squash and related plants.
- steamboat springs — a town in NW Colorado: ski resort.
- strawberry blonde — woman: with reddish fair hair
- 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
- subordinated debt — a debt that an unsecured creditor can only claim, in the event of a liquidation, after the claims of secured creditors have been paid
- subscription rate — the price charged for a subscription
- sunbury-on-thames — a town in SE England, in N Surrey. Pop: 27 415 (2001)
- sunday observance — the fact of keeping Sunday as a special day when people go to church
- surrender to bail — to present oneself at court at the appointed time after having been on bail
- symbolic language — a specialized language dependent upon the use of symbols for communication and created for the purpose of achieving greater exactitude, as in symbolic logic or mathematics.
- synovial membrane — anatomy: connective tissue
- take some beating — to be difficult to improve upon
- take to one's bed — to remain in bed, esp because of illness