17-letter words containing a, r, e, l
- 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.
- haematocrystallin — Alternative form of hematocrystallin.
- haemoglobinometer — an instrument used to determine the haemoglobin content of blood
- hairline fracture — a very fine crack in a bone
- hairy-tailed mole — a blackish North American mole, Parascalops breweri, having a short, hairy tail.
- half-breadth plan — a diagrammatic plan of one half of the hull of a vessel divided lengthwise amidships, showing water lines, stations, diagonals, and bow and buttock lines.
- 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.
- hammer and sickle — the emblem of the Soviet Union, adopted in 1923 and consisting of an insignia of a hammer with its handle across the blade of a sickle and a star above.
- hammered dulcimer — dulcimer (sense 1)
- hard rock geology — (loosely) of or relating to igneous or metamorphic rocks, as in mining (hard-rock mining) and geology (hard-rock geology)
- hard-shelled clam — quahog
- hard-shelled crab — a crab, esp. an edible sea crab, before it has shed its hard shell
- hardware platform — a group of compatible computers that can run the same software.
- harmonic interval — an intervening period of time: an interval of 50 years.
- harvey wallbanger — a screwdriver cocktail topped with Galliano.
- have feelings for — to be emotionally or sexually attracted to
- headline-grabbing — A headline-grabbing statement or activity is one that is intended to attract a lot of attention, especially from the media.
- health care proxy — a legal document in which a person can appoint someone to make decisions about medical treatment in the event that he or she is no longer mentally competent or able to communicate.
- 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.
- heimlich maneuver — an emergency rescue procedure for application to someone choking on a foreign object, in which the rescuer places a fist between the victim's lower ribs or upper abdomen from behind and exerts sudden pressure in the form of thrusts of sufficient force to help eject the object from the windpipe.
- 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.
- 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.
- heterochlamydeous — (of a plant) having a perianth consisting of distinct sepals and petals
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- household cavalry — (in Britain) cavalry units forming part of the ceremonial guard of the monarch.
- hyaline cartilage — the typical, translucent form of cartilage, containing little fibrous tissue.
- hydroelectrically — Using hydroelectric power.
- hydrotherapy pool — a pool of water used for hydrotherapy
- hydrothermal vent — an opening on the floor of the sea from which hot, mineral-rich solutions issue. Compare vent1 (def 2).
- hyper-peristalsis — the progressive wave of contraction and relaxation of a tubular muscular system, especially the alimentary canal, by which the contents are forced through the system.
- 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.
- hyperexcitability — an excessive reaction to stimuli.
- hyperinflationary — (economics) Having very high levels of inflation.
- hyperintellectual — appealing to or engaging the intellect: intellectual pursuits.
- hyperirritability — extreme irritability.