17-letter words containing a, e, o, n, s
- have it in for sb — If someone has it in for you, they dislike you and try to cause problems for you.
- have no words for — to be incapable of describing
- heart of darkness — a short novel (1902) by Joseph Conrad.
- hexacosanoic acid — cerotic acid.
- high-carbon steel — steel containing between 0.5 and 1.5 per cent carbon
- histamine blocker — any of various substances that act at a specific receptor site to block certain actions of histamine.
- hodgkin's disease — a type of cancer characterized by progressive chronic inflammation and enlargement of the lymph nodes of the neck, armpit, groin, and mesentery, by enlargement of the spleen and occasionally of the liver and the kidneys, and by lymphoid infiltration along the blood vessels.
- hold one's breath — If you say that someone is holding their breath, you mean that they are waiting anxiously or excitedly for something to happen.
- hollandaise sauce — a sauce of egg yolks, butter, lemon juice, and seasonings.
- homeland security — national defence
- homogentisic acid — an intermediate compound in the metabolism of tyrosine and of phenylalanine, found in excess in the blood and urine of persons affected with alkaptonuria.
- hope against hope — the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope.
- hospital gangrene — Pathology. a contagious, often fatal gangrene, especially involving amputation stumps and war wounds, occurring usually in crowded, ill-kept hospitals, and caused by putrefactive bacteria.
- hottentot's bread — elephant's-foot.
- household ammonia — diluted ammonia, often having a small quantity of detergent, used in the home for cleaning.
- housekeeping cart — A housekeeping cart is a large metal basket on wheels which is used by a cleaner in a hotel to move clean bed linen, towels, and cleaning equipment.
- how the land lies — the prevailing conditions or state of affairs
- hubble's constant — the ratio of the recessional velocity of galaxies to their distance from the sun, with current measurements of its value ranging from 50 to 100 km/sec per megaparsec.
- hyperbolic secant — a hyperbolic function that is the reciprocal of cosh; sech
- hyperpolarisation — Alternative spelling of hyperpolarization.
- hypoglossal nerve — either one of the twelfth pair of cranial nerves, consisting of motor fibers that innervate the muscles of the tongue.
- hyposensitization — The state or process of being reduced in sensitivity especially to an allergen.
- icosidodecahedron — A semiregular polyhedron with twelve faces that are regular pentagons and twenty that are equilateral triangles.
- icositetrahedrons — Plural form of icositetrahedron.
- illinois waterway — a waterway system in N Illinois made up of canals and rivers connecting Lake Michigan in Chicago with the Mississippi River. 336 miles (541 km) long.
- immediate version — child version
- immigrant workers — people who work in a country they arrived to in order to settle there
- immunosuppressant — (pharmacology) Capable of immunosuppression, immunosuppressive.
- impersonalization — to make impersonal: The dial system impersonalized the telephone.
- impersonification — (archaic) the act of impersonating; impersonation.
- implosion therapy — a form of behavior therapy involving intensive recollection and review of anxiety-producing situations or events in a patient's life in an attempt to develop more appropriate responses to similar situations in the future.
- impressionability — easily impressed or influenced; susceptible: an impressionable youngster.
- imputation system — a former taxation system in which some, or all, of the corporation tax on a company was treated as a tax credit on account of the income tax paid by its shareholders on their dividends; discontinued from 1999
- in double harness — in a harness for two animals pulling the same carriage, plow, etc.
- in forma pauperis — as a poor person; i.e. without paying court costs
- in someone's face — the front part of the head, from the forehead to the chin.
- in the same canoe — of the same tribe
- in/into disrepair — If something is in disrepair or is in a state of disrepair, it is broken or in bad condition.
- inappropriateness — not appropriate; not proper or suitable: an inappropriate dress for the occasion.
- incline one's ear — to listen favourably (to)
- incompatibilities — not compatible; unable to exist together in harmony: She asked for a divorce because they were utterly incompatible.
- inconceivableness — The quality of being inconceivable.
- inconsequentially — The adverb form of inconsequential: to do something in a manner of little consequence.
- inconsiderateness — without due regard for the rights or feelings of others: It was inconsiderate of him to keep us waiting.
- indicator species — See at indicator (def 6).
- inefficaciousness — Lack of efficacy.
- inertial observer — a hypothetical observer who is not accelerated with respect to an inertial system. Newton's laws of motion and the special theory of relativity apply to the measurements which would be made by such observers
- insectivorous bat — any bat of the suborder Microchiroptera, typically having large ears and feeding on insects. The group includes common bats (Myotis species), vampire bats, etc
- inspector general — a comedy (1836) by Gogol.
- inspector-general — a comedy (1836) by Gogol.