17-letter words containing b, e, h, a
- ivan the terrible — ("Ivan the Terrible") 1530–84, first czar of Russia 1547–84.
- joachim du bellay — Joachim [French zhaw-a-keem] /French ʒɔ aˈkim/ (Show IPA), Bellay, Joachim du.
- ladder-back chair — a chair with a back of two upright posts connected by horizontal slats
- lithium carbonate — a colorless crystalline compound, Li 2 CO 3 , slightly soluble in water: used in ceramic and porcelain glazes, pharmaceuticals, and luminescent paints.
- mark of the beast — the mark put on the forehead of those who worship the beast, the symbol of opposition to God.
- massachusetts bay — an inlet of the Atlantic, off the E coast of Massachusetts.
- mesembryanthemums — Plural form of mesembryanthemum.
- metabolic pathway — biochemistry: sequence of reactions within a cell or organism
- methemoglobinemia — (medicine) A form of toxic anemia characterized by the presence of methemoglobin in the blood.
- mikhail gorbachev — Mikhail S(ergeyevich) [mi-kahyl sur-gey-uh-vich,, mi-keyl;; Russian myi-khuh-yeel syir-gye-yi-vyich] /mɪˈkaɪl sɜrˈgeɪ ə vɪtʃ,, mɪˈkeɪl;; Russian myɪ xʌˈyil syɪrˈgyɛ yɪ vyɪtʃ/ (Show IPA), born 1931, Soviet political leader: general secretary of the Communist Party 1985–91; president of the Soviet Union 1988–91; Nobel Peace Prize 1990.
- monarch butterfly — a large, deep-orange butterfly, Danaus plexippus, having black and white markings, the larvae of which feed on the leaves of milkweed.
- nashville warbler — a North American wood warbler, Vermivora ruficapilla, having a gray head, an olive-green back, and yellow underparts.
- near-earth object — a comet or asteroid pushed by the gravitational attraction of nearby planets into an orbit that allows it to enter the earth's orbit and thereby pose a danger of collision. Abbreviation: NEO.
- neath port talbot — a county borough in S Wales, created from part of West Glamorgan in 1996. Administrative centre: Port Talbot. Pop: 135 300 (2003 est). Area: 439 sq km (169 sq miles)
- nonalcoholic beer — Nonalcoholic beer is beer that does not contain any alcohol.
- north miami beach — a city in SE Florida.
- northeast by east — a point on the compass 11°15′ east of northeast. Abbreviation: NEbE.
- numbering machine — a handheld device for stamping numbers onto objects
- old orchard beach — a resort town in S Maine.
- on one's deathbed — about to die
- on the barrelhead — upon being presented for sale; at the time of delivery
- on the pig's back — successful; established
- opisthobranchiate — (zoology) Of or pertaining to the Opisthobranchiata.
- out at the elbows — the bend or joint of the human arm between upper arm and forearm.
- palaeoethnobotany — the study of fossil seeds and grains to further archaeological knowledge, esp of the domestication of cereals
- paleobiochemistry — the study of biochemical processes that occurred in fossil life forms.
- paleobiogeography — the study of the distribution of ancient plants and animals and their relation to ancient geographic features.
- pay-cable channel — a television channel that has to be paid for
- peach bark beetle — a bark beetle, Phloeotribus liminaris, that feeds on and nests in peach and other drupaceous trees.
- pebbleweave cloth — an irregularly textured material made from twisted yarn
- phonetic alphabet — an alphabet containing a separate character for each distinguishable speech sound.
- pocket battleship — a small heavily armed and armored warship serving as a battleship because of limitations imposed by treaty.
- purple shore crab — any of numerous crabs that live along the shoreline between the tidemarks, as Hemigrapsus nudus (purple shore crab) of the Pacific coast of North America.
- push the boat out — to celebrate, esp lavishly and expensively
- red and the black — a novel (1832) by Stendhal.
- red-backed shrike — a common Eurasian shrike, Lanius collurio, the male of which has a grey crown and rump, brown wings and back, and a black-and-white face
- republic of china — People's Republic of, a country in E Asia. 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Capital: Beijing.
- republic-of-china — People's Republic of, a country in E Asia. 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Capital: Beijing.
- rhode island bent — a European pasture grass, Agrostis tenuis, naturalized in North America, having red flower clusters.
- right off the bat — Sports. the wooden club used in certain games, as baseball and cricket, to strike the ball. a racket, especially one used in badminton or table tennis. a whip used by a jockey. the act of using a club or racket in a game. the right or turn to use a club or racket.
- rub the wrong way — to subject the surface of (a thing or person) to pressure and friction, as in cleaning, smoothing, polishing, coating, massaging, or soothing: to rub a table top with wax polish; to rub the entire back area.
- rubarth's disease — a common, rapidly progressing viral hepatitis of dogs and other carnivores, often confused with canine distemper.
- save one's breath — the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.
- saved by the bell — a hollow instrument of cast metal, typically cup-shaped with a flaring mouth, suspended from the vertex and rung by the strokes of a clapper, hammer, or the like.
- 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.
- 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
- semi-biographical — of or relating to a person's life: He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
- september weather — weather characteristic of the month of September, esp in being unpredictable as summer is ending and autumn is beginning
- shake one's booty — to dance