17-letter words containing a, n, u, l, s
- narrow-shouldered — having shoulders which do not extend very far from the neck; not broad-shouldered
- nasolacrimal duct — a membranous canal extending from the lacrimal sac to the nasal cavity, through which tears are discharged into the nose.
- national security — defence of a country
- natural harmonics — harmonics of a note produced on a stringed instrument by lightly touching an open or unstopped sounded string.
- natural resources — a naturally occurring source of wealth, as land or water.
- natural selection — the process by which forms of life having traits that better enable them to adapt to specific environmental pressures, as predators, changes in climate, or competition for food or mates, will tend to survive and reproduce in greater numbers than others of their kind, thus ensuring the perpetuation of those favorable traits in succeeding generations.
- natural-resources — a naturally occurring source of wealth, as land or water.
- neo-malthusianism — a view or doctrine advocating population control, especially by contraception.
- net present value — an assessment of the long-term profitability of a project made by adding together all the revenue it can be expected to achieve over its whole life and deducting all the costs involved, discounting both future costs and revenue at an appropriate rate
- nicholas bourbaki — the pseudonym of a group of mainly French mathematicians that, since 1939, has been producing a monumental work on advanced mathematics, Eléments de Mathématique
- nikolaus von cusa — Nicholas (def 1).
- non-institutional — of, relating to, or established by institution.
- non-instructional — the act or practice of instructing or teaching; education.
- nonconstitutional — of or relating to the constitution of a state, organization, etc.
- nonunderstandable — Not understandable.
- nuclear chemistry — the branch of chemistry concerned with nuclear reactions
- nuclear isomerism — isomerism (def 2).
- nuclear scientist — a scientist who studies nuclear physics
- nuclear submarine — undersea vessel powered by atomic energy
- nuclear threshold — the point in war at which a combatant brings nuclear weapons into use
- nuclear-isomerism — Chemistry. the relation of two or more compounds, radicals, or ions that are composed of the same kinds and numbers of atoms but differ from each other in structural arrangement (structural isomerism) as CH 3 OCH 3 and CH 3 CH 2 OH, or in the arrangement of their atoms in space and therefore in one or more properties. Compare optical isomerism, stereoisomerism.
- nursing auxiliary — someone who performs duties such as washing and dressing patients, making beds, etc, in an establishment such as a hospital
- 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.
- olympic mountains — a mountain range in NW Washington: part of the Coast Range. Highest peak: Mount Olympus, 2427 m (7965 ft)
- olympic peninsula — a large peninsula of W Washington
- opportunistically — adhering to a policy of opportunism; practicing opportunism.
- osculating circle — circle of curvature.
- out of all reason — unreasonable
- papanicolaou test — Pap test.
- parallel universe — Physics. any of a hypothetical collection of undetectable universes that are like our known universe but have branched off from our universe due to a quantum-level event. See also multiverse.
- penalty shoot-out — In football, a penalty shoot-out is a way of deciding the result of a game that has ended in a draw. Players from each team try to score a goal in turn until one player fails to score and their team loses the game.
- perpetual spinach — a variety of spinach that keeps producing edible leaves
- personal computer — a compact computer that uses a microprocessor and is designed for individual use, as by a person in an office or at home or school, for such applications as word processing, data management, financial analysis, or computer games. Abbreviation: PC.
- personal equation — the tendency to personal bias that accounts for variation in interpretation or approach and for which allowance must be made.
- physical pendulum — any apparatus consisting of a body of possibly irregular shape allowed to rotate freely about a horizontal axis on which it is pivoted (distinguished from simple pendulum).
- pittsburg landing — a village in SW Tennessee, on the Tennessee River: battle of Shiloh in 1862.
- plastics industry — the industry that makes plastics
- ploughman's lunch — a light lunch consisting of bread and cheese, and sometimes pickled onions.
- plug and feathers — an apparatus for splitting stone, consisting of two tapered bars (feathers) inserted into a hole drilled into the stone, between which a narrow wedge (plug) is hammered to spread them.
- pluvius insurance — insurance against rain
- postural drainage — a therapy for clearing congested lungs by placing the patient in a position for drainage by gravity, often accompanied by percussion with hollowed hands.
- prison population — all the people who are confined in prison
- production values — the quality of a media production (such as a film) in regards to elements such as colours, quality, style, etc
- professional foul — In football, if a player commits a professional foul, they deliberately do something which is against the rules in order to prevent another player from scoring a goal.
- psychoeducational — designating or of psychological methods, as intelligence tests, used in evaluating learning ability
- public assistance — government aid to the poor, disabled, or aged or to dependent children, as financial assistance or food stamps.
- purely and simply — You use purely and simply to emphasize that the thing you are mentioning is the only thing involved.
- put on a pedestal — an architectural support for a column, statue, vase, or the like.
- pyroligneous acid — a yellowish, acidic, water-soluble liquid, containing about 10 percent acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood: used for smoking meats.
- quality assurance — a system for ensuring a desired level of quality in the development, production, or delivery of products and services: Quality assurance for nursing homes begins with a set of standards. Abbreviation: QA.