17-letter words containing a, u, r, e, s
- musical interlude — an interval in a play, event or occasion during which music is played
- mustard and cress — Mustard and cress is very young mustard plants and cress plants grown together and eaten in salad.
- naked singularity — an infinitely dense point mass without a surrounding black hole
- narrow-shouldered — having shoulders which do not extend very far from the neck; not broad-shouldered
- national security — defence of a country
- 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.
- nervous breakdown — (not in technical use) any disabling mental disorder requiring treatment.
- 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
- neurofibromatosis — a dominantly inherited genetic disorder characterized by flat brown patches on the skin, neurofibromas of the skin and internal organs, and in some cases skeletal deformity.
- neuropsychiatrist — A medical doctor specializing in neuropsychiatry; a medical doctor dealing with disorders that have both neurological and psychiatric features.
- neurotransmission — the transmission of a nerve impulse across a synapse.
- neurotransmissive — Relating to neurotransmission.
- neurotransmitters — Plural form of neurotransmitter.
- newspaper cutting — clipping from a news publication
- nikita khrushchev — Nikita S(ergeyevich) [ni-kee-tuh sur-gey-uh-vich;; Russian nyi-kyee-tuh syir-gye-yuh-vyich] /nɪˈki tə sɜrˈgeɪ ə vɪtʃ;; Russian nyɪˈkyi tə syɪrˈgyɛ yə vyɪtʃ/ (Show IPA), 1894–1971, Russian political leader: premier of the U.S.S.R. 1958–64.
- 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.
- nursery education — education provided at a school for young children, usually from three to five years old
- odds-on favourite — a person, team, horse, etc that is regarded as the most likely to win a competition
- opening arguments — the statements or arguments provided by lawyers at the beginning of a trial
- organ-pipe cactus — a treelike or columnar cactus, Lemaireocereus marginatus, of Mexico, having a central, erect spine surrounded by spreading spines in clusters of five to eight, and funnel-shaped, brownish-purple flowers.
- osculating circle — circle of curvature.
- out of all reason — unreasonable
- outside broadcast — An outside broadcast is a radio or television programme that is not recorded or filmed in a studio, but in another building or in the open air.
- oversquare engine — An oversquare engine is an engine which has a cylinder bore that is larger than its stroke.
- 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.
- parents anonymous — (in Britain) an association of local voluntary self-help groups offering help through an anonymous telephone service to parents who fear they will injure their children, or who have other problems in managing their children
- parker house roll — a soft dinner roll made by folding a flat disk of dough in half.
- pasteur institute — an organization in Paris that was founded in 1887. It does research on micro-organisms and diseases
- pasteur treatment — Pasteur's method of preventing certain diseases, esp. rabies, by increasing the strength of successive inoculations with a specific weakened or attenuated virus
- performance bonus — a monetary bonus paid to staff who have performed well in their job
- performance drugs — the drugs that are taken illegally by athletes to enhance their sporting performance
- pernicious anemia — Pernicious anemia is a very severe blood disease.
- 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.
- perspicaciousness — having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning: to exhibit perspicacious judgment.
- phototherapeutics — the branch of therapeutics that deals with the curative use of light rays.
- picture messaging — Picture messaging is the sending of photographs or pictures from one mobile phone to another.
- plateau's problem — the problem in the calculus of variations of finding the surface with the least area bounded by a given closed curve in space.
- 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
- point of purchase — designating or in use at a retail outlet where an item can be purchased; point-of-sale: point-of-purchase displays to entice the buyer.