17-letter words containing b, a, t, l
- say the unsayable — to express an opinion thought to be too controversial to mention
- scrape the barrel — to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource
- self-incompatible — not capable of self-pollination.
- semi-permeability — permeable only to certain small molecules: a semipermeable membrane.
- sinbad the sailor — a merchant in The Arabian Nights who makes seven adventurous voyages
- smokeless tobacco — snuff1 (def 9).
- sorolla y bastida — Joaquín [hwah-keen] /ʰwɑˈkin/ (Show IPA), 1863–1923, Spanish painter.
- special constable — a person recruited for temporary or occasional police duties, esp in time of emergency
- spiritual bouquet — the spiritual presentation of a good work to another person.
- split keyboarding — the act or practice of editing data from one terminal on another terminal
- spoonbill catfish — flathead catfish.
- 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.
- statue of liberty — a large copper statue, on Liberty Island, in New York harbor, depicting a woman holding a burning torch: designed by F. A. Bartholdi and presented to the U.S. by France; unveiled 1886.
- strawberry blonde — woman: with reddish fair hair
- stymphalian birds — a flock of predacious birds of Arcadia that were driven away and killed by Hercules as one of his labors.
- subclavian artery — either of a pair of arteries, one on each side of the body, that carry the main supply of blood to the arms.
- subject catalogue — a catalogue with entries arranged by subject in a classified sequence
- subtractive color — cyan, yellow, or magenta, as used in the subtractive process of color photography.
- surrender to bail — to present oneself at court at the appointed time after having been on bail
- tabernacle mirror — a mirror of c1800, having columns and a cornice, usually gilt, with a painted panel over the mirror.
- taiping rebellion — a movement of religious mysticism and agrarian unrest in China between 1850 and 1864 which weakened the Manchu dynasty but was eventually suppressed with foreign aid
- tapestry brussels — a carpet made with three-ply or four-ply worsted yarn drawn up in uncut loops to form a pattern over the entire surface (body Brussels) or made of worsted or woolen yarns on which a pattern is printed (tapestry Brussels)
- telephone banking — a facility enabling customers to make use of banking services, such as oral payment instructions, account movements, raising loans, etc, over the telephone rather than by personal visit
- temporomandibular — of, relating to, or situated near the hinge joint formed by the lower jaw and the temporal bone of the skull.
- tennessee warbler — a North American wood warbler, Vermivora peregrina, having a gray head, a greenish back, and white underparts.
- terrestrial globe — the planet Earth (usually preceded by the).
- thabana-ntlenyana — a mountain in Lesotho: the highest peak of the Drakensberg Mountains. Height: 3482 m (11 425 ft)
- the black country — the formerly heavily industrialized region of central England, northwest of Birmingham
- the establishment — a group or class of people having institutional authority within a society, esp those who control the civil service, the government, the armed forces, and the Church: usually identified with a conservative outlook
- the last sb heard — You can use expressions such as the last I heard and the last she heard to introduce a piece of information that is the most recent that you have on a particular subject.
- the tabloid press — (considered as a whole) newspapers with pages about 30 cm (12 inches) by 40 cm (16 inches), usually characterized by an emphasis on photographs and a concise and often sensational style
- the twelve tables — the earliest code of Roman civil, criminal, and religious law, promulgated in 451–450 bc
- the whole shebang — The whole shebang is the whole situation or business that you are describing.
- the-invisible-man — a novel (1897) by H.G. Wells.
- thread-legged bug — any of certain insects of the family Reduviidae, characterized by an elongated, slender body and long frail legs, the front pair of which are raptorial.
- tibetan highlands — Tibet, Plateau of.
- to be eaten alive — If you say that someone will be eaten alive, you mean that they will be completely destroyed or defeated by someone who is much stronger.
- to beat the clock — If you beat the clock, you finish doing something or succeed in doing something before the time allowed for doing it has ended.
- to eat humble pie — If you eat humble pie, you speak or behave in a way which tells people that you admit you were wrong about something.
- to play it by ear — If you play it by ear, you decide what to say or do in a situation by responding to events rather than by following a plan which you have decided on in advance.
- torricellian tube — a vertical glass tube partly evacuated and partly filled with mercury, the height of which is used as a measure of atmospheric pressure
- transferable vote — a vote that is transferred to a second candidate indicated by the voter if the first is eliminated from the ballot
- trobriand islands — a group of coral islands in the Solomon Sea, north of the E part of New Guinea: part of Papua New Guinea. Area: about 440 sq km (170 sq miles)
- trouble came back — (jargon) (TCB) An IBM term for an intermittent or difficult-to-reproduce problem that has failed to respond to neglect or shotgun debugging. Compare heisenbug.
- tubercle bacillus — the bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, causing tuberculosis.
- ultramicrobalance — a balance for weighing precisely, to a hundredth of a microgram or less, minute quantities of material.
- uncle tom's cabin — an antislavery novel (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
- uncomfortableness — causing discomfort or distress; painful; irritating.
- understandability — capable of being understood; comprehensible.