17-letter words containing a, i, r, l, o
- geographical mile — nautical mile.
- geological survey — U.S. Government. a division of the Department of the Interior, created in 1879, that studies the nation's water and mineral resources, makes topographic surveys, and classifies and leases public lands.
- gestatorial chair — a ceremonial chair on which the pope is carried
- gigaelectron volt — one billion electron-volts. Abbreviation: GeV, Gev.
- glastonbury chair — a folding chair having legs crossed front-to-back and having arms connected to the back and to the front seat rail.
- go the extra mile — make an exceptional effort
- goldbeater's skin — the prepared outside membrane of the large intestine of the ox, used by goldbeaters to lay between the leaves of the metal while they beat it into gold leaf.
- golf ball printer — IBM 2741
- good-time charlie — an affable, sociable, pleasure-loving man.
- graafian follicle — one of the small vesicles containing a developing ovum in the ovary of a mammal.
- grand union canal — a canal in S England linking London and the Midlands: opened in 1801
- great vowel shift — a series of changes in the quality of the long vowels between Middle and Modern English as a result of which all were raised, while the high vowels (ē) and (o̅o̅), already at the upper limit, underwent breaking to become the diphthongs (ī) and (ou).
- great willow herb — either of two tall, large-flowered willow herbs, Epilobium angustifolium or E. hirsutum.
- guglielmo marconi — Guglielmo [goo-lyel-maw] /guˈlyɛl mɔ/ (Show IPA), Marchese, 1874–1937, Italian electrical engineer and inventor, especially in the field of wireless telegraphy: Nobel Prize in physics 1909.
- guinea-hen flower — checkered lily.
- haematocrystallin — Alternative form of hematocrystallin.
- haemoglobinometer — an instrument used to determine the haemoglobin content of blood
- hairy-tailed mole — a blackish North American mole, Parascalops breweri, having a short, hairy tail.
- half-round chisel — a cold chisel with a semicircular cutting edge used for making narrow channels
- hall of residence — Halls of residence are buildings with rooms or flats, usually built by universities or colleges, in which students live during the term.
- harmonic analysis — the calculation of Fourier series and their generalization.
- harmonic interval — an intervening period of time: an interval of 50 years.
- haroun-al-raschid — Harun al-Rashid.
- have feelings for — to be emotionally or sexually attracted to
- heavy mineral oil — a colorless, oily, almost tasteless, water-insoluble liquid, usually of either a standard light density (light mineral oil) or a standard heavy density (heavy mineral oil) consisting of mixtures of hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum by distillation: used chiefly as a lubricant, in the manufacture of cosmetics, and in medicine as a laxative.
- helicopter parent — a style of child rearing in which an overprotective mother or father discourages a child's independence by being too involved in the child's life: In typical helicopter parenting, a mother or father swoops in at any sign of challenge or discomfort.
- high-carbon steel — steel containing between 0.5 and 1.5 per cent carbon
- hippocampal gyrus — a convolution on the inner surface of the temporal lobe of the cerebrum, bordering the hippocampus.
- histamine blocker — any of various substances that act at a specific receptor site to block certain actions of histamine.
- historical method — the process of establishing general facts and principles through attention to chronology and to the evolution or historical course of what is being studied.
- historical school — a school of economists that arose in Germany in the 19th century in reaction to the principles of the classical economists, and that maintained that the factors making up an economy are variable and develop out of social institutions.
- historiographical — the body of literature dealing with historical matters; histories collectively.
- ho chi minh trail — a network of jungle paths winding from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia into South Vietnam, used as a military route by North Vietnam to supply the Vietcong during the Vietnam War.
- holding operation — a plan or procedure devised to prolong the existing situation
- hole in the heart — a defect of the heart in which there is an abnormal opening in any of the walls dividing the four heart chambers
- hollerith, herman — Herman Hollerith
- holy roman empire — a Germanic empire located chiefly in central Europe that began with the coronation of Charlemagne as Roman emperor in a.d. 800 (or, according to some historians, with the coronation of Otto the Great, king of Germany, in a.d. 962) and ended with the renunciation of the Roman imperial title by Francis II in 1806, and was regarded theoretically as the continuation of the Western Empire and as the temporal form of a universal dominion whose spiritual head was the pope.
- homeland security — national defence
- honorable mention — a citation conferred on a contestant, exhibit, etc., having exceptional merit though not winning a top honor or prize.
- horticulturalists — Plural form of horticulturalist.
- 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.
- hungarian goulash — goulash (def 1).
- hydrochloric acid — a colorless or faintly yellow, corrosive, fuming liquid, HCl, used chiefly in chemical and industrial processes.
- hydroelectrically — Using hydroelectric power.
- hydrofluoric acid — a colorless, fuming, corrosive liquid, HF, an aqueous solution of hydrogen fluoride, used chiefly for etching glass.
- hyperalimentation — overfeeding.
- hyperbolic secant — a hyperbolic function that is the reciprocal of cosh; sech
- hyperbolic spiral — rθ = a, (where a is a constant)
- hyperchlorination — Chemistry. to combine or treat with chlorine. to introduce chlorine atoms into an organic compound by an addition or substitution reaction.
- hyperinflationary — (economics) Having very high levels of inflation.