17-letter words containing a, s, h, t, o, r
- rhetorical stress — stress required by the meaning of a line, as distinguished from that required by the meter.
- rhode island bent — a European pasture grass, Agrostis tenuis, naturalized in North America, having red flower clusters.
- 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)
- roman catholicism — the faith, practice, and system of government of the Roman Catholic Church.
- rough puff pastry — a rich flaky pastry made with butter and used for pie-crusts, flans, etc
- rush-hour traffic — the large number of vehicles that move along roads, travelling to or from work at the beginning and end of the working day
- saint christopher — Saint, died a.d. c250, Christian martyr.
- saint john's wort — any of various plants or shrubs of the genus Hypericum, having yellow flowers and transparently dotted leaves.
- salt of the earth — an individual or group considered as representative of the best or noblest elements of society.
- save one's breath — the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.
- save shoe leather — to avoid wearing out shoes, as by taking a bus rather than walking
- saxe-coburg-gotha — a member of the present British royal family, from the establishment of the house in 1901 until 1917 when the family name was changed to Windsor.
- scarlet firethorn — a Eurasian evergreen, thorny shrub, Pyracantha coccinea, of the rose family, having white, hairy flower clusters and bright red berries.
- scattered showers — showers that are scattered across an area, or that occur at intervals throughout the day
- shetland pullover — a thick woollen sweater made from Shetland wool
- shirt-tail cousin — a distant cousin
- shoestring tackle — a tackle made around the ankles of the ball carrier.
- shooting practice — practice in shooting for soldiers or other people who shoot guns
- shortcrust pastry — a basic type of pastry that is made with half the quantity of fat to flour, and has a crisp but crumbly texture
- shorter catechism — one of the two catechisms established by the Westminster Assembly in 1647, used chiefly in Presbyterian churches.
- shorthold tenancy — letting of a dwelling for between one and five years at a fair rent
- shower attachment — a device fixed to taps to make a shower
- significant other — Sociology. a person, as a parent or peer, who has great influence on one's behavior and self-esteem.
- sinbad the sailor — a merchant in The Arabian Nights who makes seven adventurous voyages
- sister of charity — a member of one of several congregations of sisters founded in 1634 by St. Vincent de Paul.
- slap on the wrist — a sharp blow or smack, especially with the open hand or with something flat.
- socratic elenchus — the drawing out of the consequences of a position in order to show them to be contrary to some accepted position
- sodium bichromate — a red or orange crystalline, water-soluble solid, Na 2 Cr 2 O 7 ⋅2H 2 O, used as an oxidizing agent in the manufacture of dyes and inks, as a corrosion inhibitor, a mordant, a laboratory reagent, in the tanning of leather, and in electroplating.
- sodium dichromate — a red or orange crystalline, water-soluble solid, Na 2 Cr 2 O 7 ⋅2H 2 O, used as an oxidizing agent in the manufacture of dyes and inks, as a corrosion inhibitor, a mordant, a laboratory reagent, in the tanning of leather, and in electroplating.
- 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 west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- south-west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- southampton water — an inlet of the English Channel in S England
- southern rhodesia — a former name (until 1964) of Zimbabwe (def 1).
- southern sporades — a group of Greek islands in the Aegean, including the Dodecanese, lying off the SW coast of Turkey
- southern triangle — the constellation Triangulum Australe.
- spark photography — photography of fast-moving objects, as bullets, by the light of an electric spark.
- spectroheliograph — an apparatus for making photographs of the sun with a monochromatic light to show the details of the sun's surface and surroundings as they would appear if the sun emitted only that light.
- stag's-horn coral — staghorn coral.
- stage-door johnny — a man who often goes to a theater or waits at a stage door to court an actress.
- 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.
- star of bethlehem — the star that is supposed to have appeared above Bethlehem at the birth of Christ
- star-of-bethlehem — any of several plants belonging to the genus Ornithogalum, of the lily family, having grasslike leaves and clusters of white flowers.
- statutory holiday — a public holiday; a holiday all workers are entitled to
- stereolithography — a process for creating three-dimensional objects using a computer-controlled laser to build up the required structure, layer by layer, from a liquid photopolymer that solidifies.
- stereophotography — photography producing stereoscopic images.
- stochastic matrix — a square matrix with positive entries totaling 1 in each row.
- sulfurated potash — a yellowish-brown mixture consisting mainly of potassium polysulfides and potassium thiosulfate, used in treating mange.
- sunbury-on-thames — a town in SE England, in N Surrey. Pop: 27 415 (2001)