17-letter words containing a, n, l, y
- general secretary — the chief administrator of an organization
- geothermal energy — Geothermal energy is energy from temperature differences inside the earth's crust.
- glastonbury chair — a folding chair having legs crossed front-to-back and having arms connected to the back and to the front seat rail.
- glycosaminoglycan — any of a class of polysaccharides derived from hexosamine that form mucins when complexed with proteins: formerly called mucopolysaccharide.
- gulf war syndrome — a group of symptoms occurring in some Gulf War veterans, most commonly including headache and memory loss, muscle pain, skin disorders, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments, possibly caused by exposure to chemical weapons, vaccines, infectious diseases, or other factors.
- gunboat diplomacy — diplomatic relations involving the use or threat of military force, especially by a powerful nation against a weaker one.
- haematocrystallin — Alternative form of hematocrystallin.
- haemoglobinopathy — (medicine) Any of a group of inherited disorders in which haemoglobin does not function properly.
- hamiltonian cycle — Hamiltonian problem
- harmonic analysis — the calculation of Fourier series and their generalization.
- harvey wallbanger — a screwdriver cocktail topped with Galliano.
- 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.
- henry cabot lodge — Henry Cabot, 1850–1924, U.S. public servant and author: senator 1893–1924.
- henry of portugal — ("the Navigator") 1394–1460, prince of Portugal: sponsor of geographic explorations.
- 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
- hyaline cartilage — the typical, translucent form of cartilage, containing little fibrous tissue.
- hydrofluorocarbon — Any of a class of partly chlorinated and fluorinated hydrocarbons, used as an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons in foam production, refrigeration, and other processes.
- hydrothermal vent — an opening on the floor of the sea from which hot, mineral-rich solutions issue. Compare vent1 (def 2).
- hyperalimentation — overfeeding.
- hyperbolic secant — a hyperbolic function that is the reciprocal of cosh; sech
- 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.
- hyperintellectual — appealing to or engaging the intellect: intellectual pursuits.
- hyperpolarisation — Alternative spelling of hyperpolarization.
- hyperpolarization — The act or process of hyperpolarizing.
- hypochondriacally — In a hypochondriacal manner.
- hypoglossal nerve — either one of the twelfth pair of cranial nerves, consisting of motor fibers that innervate the muscles of the tongue.
- i wouldn't say no — You use 'I wouldn't say no' to indicate that you would like something, especially something that has just been offered to you.
- i'll thank you to — used ironically to intensify a command, request, etc
- idiosyncratically — pertaining to the nature of idiosyncrasy, or something peculiar to an individual: The best minds are idiosyncratic and unpredictable as they follow the course of scientific discovery.
- 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.
- illocutionary act — an act performed by a speaker by virtue of uttering certain words, as for example the acts of promising or of threatening
- illusionistically — In an illusionistic manner.
- 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.
- improvisationally — In an improvisational way.
- in broad daylight — openly, in full public view
- in the family way — a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not: the traditional family. a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for: a single-parent family.
- income inequality — a situation in which there is great disparity in income within a society
- incommunicability — incapable of being communicated, imparted, shared, etc.
- inconsequentially — The adverb form of inconsequential: to do something in a manner of little consequence.
- indecipherability — Quality of being indecipherable.
- indistinguishably — In an indistinguishable manner; so that separate components or differences cannot be discerned.
- individual medley — a race in which the total distance is either divided into three equal portions, in which each swimmer uses the backstroke for the first portion, the breaststroke for the second portion, and the freestyle for the third, or the total distance is divided into four equal portions, in which each swimmer uses the butterfly stroke for the first portion and then the other strokes used follow the same pattern as in the three-part medley. Compare medley relay (def 2).
- industrial injury — an injury sustained by an employee of an industrial company during the course of their work
- insurmountability — incapable of being surmounted, passed over, or overcome; insuperable: an insurmountable obstacle.
- interdisciplinary — combining or involving two or more academic disciplines or fields of study: The economics and history departments are offering an interdisciplinary seminar on Asia.
- interlibrary loan — a system by which one library obtains a work for a user by borrowing it from another library.
- intersectionality — the theory that the overlap of various social identities, as race, gender, sexuality, and class, contributes to the specific type of systemic oppression and discrimination experienced by an individual (often used attributively): Her paper uses a queer intersectionality approach.