17-letter words containing b, l, a, n
- national assembly — the body constituted by the French Third Estate in June 1789 after the calling of the Estates General. It was dissolved in Sept 1791 to be replaced by the new Legislative Assembly
- naval observatory — an astronomical observatory located in Washington, D.C., operated by the U.S. government, and responsible for the U.S. time service.
- 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)
- negotiating table — If you say that people are at the negotiating table, you mean that they are having discussions in order to settle a dispute or reach an agreement.
- neurobiologically — In terms of or by means of neurobiology.
- never looked back — If you say that someone did something and then never looked back, you mean that they were very successful from that time on.
- nicholas bourbaki — the pseudonym of a group of mainly French mathematicians that, since 1939, has been producing a monumental work on advanced mathematics, Eléments de Mathématique
- non-assignability — capable of being specified: The word has no assignable meaning in our language.
- non-biodegradable — capable of decaying through the action of living organisms: biodegradable paper; biodegradable detergent.
- nonalcoholic beer — Nonalcoholic beer is beer that does not contain any alcohol.
- nonsense syllable — any of numerous letter combinations without meaning, used in learning experiments.
- nonunderstandable — Not understandable.
- not bat an eyelid — When something surprising or shocking happens, if someone doesn't bat an eyelid in British English, or doesn't bat an eye in American English, they remain calm and do not show any reaction.
- nuclear submarine — undersea vessel powered by atomic energy
- objectionableness — The quality of being objectionable.
- old south arabian — a group of four closely related Semitic languages, having a writing system and used from about the eighth to the fifth centuries b.c. in the southern part of Arabia.
- on the barrelhead — upon being presented for sale; at the time of delivery
- oregon crab apple — a shrub or small tree, Malus fusca, of the rose family, of the northwestern coast of North America, having hairy leaves, white flowers, and yellow or green oblong fruit.
- palaeoethnobotany — the study of fossil seeds and grains to further archaeological knowledge, esp of the domestication of cereals
- pay-cable channel — a television channel that has to be paid for
- phantom limb pain — a phenomenon characterized by the experience of pain, discomfort, or other sensation in the area of a missing limb or other body part, as a breast.
- phonetic alphabet — an alphabet containing a separate character for each distinguishable speech sound.
- pillar-and-breast — room-and-pillar.
- pittsburg landing — a village in SW Tennessee, on the Tennessee River: battle of Shiloh in 1862.
- plains of abraham — a high plain adjoining the city of Quebec, Canada: battlefield where the English under Wolfe defeated the French under Montcalm in 1759.
- polyvinyl butyral — a white, water-insoluble, polyvinyl acetal made with butyraldehyde, used chiefly as an interlayer in the manufacture of safety glass.
- public accountant — an accountant whose services are available to the public at large, in contrast to one employed on a full-time basis by a company.
- public assistance — government aid to the poor, disabled, or aged or to dependent children, as financial assistance or food stamps.
- rainbow coalition — a political grouping together by several minority parties
- receiving blanket — a small blanket, usually of cotton, for wrapping an infant, especially following a bath.
- red and the black — a novel (1832) by Stendhal.
- reference library — A reference library is a library that contains books which you can look at in the library itself but which you cannot borrow.
- reflection nebula — a cloud of interstellar gas and dust that reflects the light of neighboring stars.
- 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.
- roseate spoonbill — a tropical New World spoonbill, Ajaia ajaja, having rose-colored plumage and a bare head.
- rubber plantation — an estate in a tropical country where rubber trees are grown on a large scale
- russell, bertrand — Bertrand Russell
- sable island pony — a variety of wild pony found on Sable Island, Nova Scotia
- salt-rising bread — a kind of bread leavened with a fermented mixture of salted milk, cornmeal, flour, sugar, and soda.
- sandro botticelli — Sandro [san-droh,, sahn-;; Italian sahn-draw] /ˈsæn droʊ,, ˈsɑn-;; Italian ˈsɑn drɔ/ (Show IPA), (Alessandro di Mariano dei Filipepi) 1444?–1510, Italian painter.
- say the unsayable — to express an opinion thought to be too controversial to mention
- second balkan war — Balkan War (def 2).
- self-incompatible — not capable of self-pollination.
- shopping bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- shopping-bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- sinbad the sailor — a merchant in The Arabian Nights who makes seven adventurous voyages
- special constable — a person recruited for temporary or occasional police duties, esp in time of emergency
- split keyboarding — the act or practice of editing data from one terminal on another terminal