17-letter words containing a, n, t, i, o, u
- revolutionary war — American Revolution.
- rhodope mountains — a mountain range in SE Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula extending along the border between Bulgaria and Greece. Highest peak: Golyam Perelik (Bulgaria), 2191 m (7188 ft)
- road construction — the building of roads
- roll with a punch — to move in the same direction as a punch thrown at one so as to lessen its force
- royal institution — a British society founded in 1799 for the dissemination of scientific knowledge
- rubber plantation — an estate in a tropical country where rubber trees are grown on a large scale
- safety precaution — a precaution that is taken in order to ensure that something is safe and not dangerous
- saint bonaventure — Saint ("the Seraphic Doctor") 1221–74, Italian scholastic theologian.
- samurai tradition — the body of customs, thought, practices, etc belonging to the samurai warrior caste of Japan
- sanctimoniousness — making a hypocritical show of religious devotion, piety, righteousness, etc.: They resented his sanctimonious comments on immorality in America.
- sanctions-busting — the deliberate disregarding of sanctions that are in force against a state, organization, etc
- saturation diving — a method of prolonged diving, using an underwater habitat to allow divers to remain in the high-pressure environment of the ocean depths long enough for their body tissues to become saturated with the inert components of the pressurized gas mixture that they breathe: when this condition is reached, the amount of time required for decompression remains the same, whether the dive lasts a day, a week, or a month.
- sawatch mountains — range of the Rocky Mountains, in central Colo.: highest peak, Elbert
- scan-in, scan-out — scan design
- second lieutenant — an Army, Air Force, or Marine officer of the lowest commissioned rank. Compare ensign (def 4).
- secondary quality — one of the qualities attributed by the mind to an object perceived, such as color, temperature, or taste.
- self-purification — a natural process of purifying, as the ability of a body of water to rid itself of pollutants.
- self-renunciation — renunciation of one's own will, interests, etc.
- selkirk mountains — a mountain range in SW Canada, in SE British Columbia. Highest peak: Mount Sir Sandford, 3533 m (11 590 ft)
- sexual generation — the gametophyte generation in the alternation of generations in plants that produces a zygote from male and female gametes.
- shirt-tail cousin — a distant cousin
- shouting distance — hailing distance.
- situational irony — irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected.
- situations vacant — Situations Vacant is the title of a column or page in a newspaper where jobs are advertised.
- snowmass mountain — a mountain in W central Colorado, in the Elk Mountains, in the S Rocky Mountains: ski resorts. 14,092 feet (4295 meters).
- social accounting — the analysis of the economy by sectors leading to the calculation and publication of economic statistics, such as gross national product and national income
- socratic elenchus — the drawing out of the consequences of a position in order to show them to be contrary to some accepted position
- sodium propionate — a transparent, crystalline, water-soluble powder, C 3 H 5 NaO 2 , used in foodstuffs to prevent mold growth, and in medicine as a fungicide.
- south farmingdale — a town on central Long Island, in SE New York.
- south lanarkshire — a council area of S Scotland, comprising the S part of the historical county of Lanarkshire: included within Strathclyde Region from 1975 to 1996: has uplands in the S and part of the Glasgow conurbation in the N: mainly agricultural. Administrative centre: Hamilton. Pop: 303 010 (2003 est). Area: 1771 sq km (684 sq miles)
- south sea islands — the islands in the S Pacific that constitute Oceania
- southern rhodesia — a former name (until 1964) of Zimbabwe (def 1).
- southern triangle — the constellation Triangulum Australe.
- spatial summation — the act or process of summing.
- special education — education that is modified or particularized for those with singular needs, as disabled or maladjusted people, slow learners, or gifted children.
- sperrin mountains — a mountain range in NW Northern Ireland
- spot-illustration — a rounded mark or stain made by foreign matter, as mud, blood, paint, ink, etc.; a blot or speck.
- stand-up comedian — performer: tells jokes
- standard function — a subprogram provided by a translator that carries out a task, for example the computation of a mathematical function, such as sine, square root, etc
- stannous chloride — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, SnCl 2 ⋅2H 2 O, used chiefly as a reducing and tinning agent, and as a mordant in dyeing with cochineal.
- stannous fluoride — a white, crystalline powder, SnF 2 , slightly soluble in water: used as a source of fluorine in the prevention of dental caries, especially as a toothpaste additive.
- statutory meeting — company shareholders' discussion
- stay of execution — If you are given a stay of execution, you are legally allowed to delay obeying an order of a court of law.
- stellar evolution — the sequence of changes that occurs in a star as it ages
- storm in a teacup — a violent fuss or disturbance over a trivial matter
- 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
- sudetes mountains — mountain range along the borders of N Czech Republic & SW Poland: highest peak, 5,259 ft (1,603 m)
- sufficient reason — the principle that nothing happens by pure chance, but that an explanation must always be available
- sun-2 workstation — (computer) A Unix workstation produced by Sun Microsystems, Inc., based on the Motorola 68000. Followed by the Sun-3 Workstation.