17-letter words containing d, i, t, r, a
- statutory holiday — a public holiday; a holiday all workers are entitled to
- strange interlude — a play (1928) by Eugene O'Neill.
- stratified sample — a sample that is not drawn at random from the whole population, but separately from a number of disjoint strata of the population in order to ensure a more representative sample
- straw in the wind — If you say that an incident or piece of news is a straw in the wind, you mean that it gives an indication of what might happen in the future.
- stuttgart disease — an often fatal intestinal disease in dogs, caused by any of several spirochetes of the genus Leptospira.
- stymphalian birds — a flock of predacious birds of Arcadia that were driven away and killed by Hercules as one of his labors.
- subordinated debt — a debt that an unsecured creditor can only claim, in the event of a liquidation, after the claims of secured creditors have been paid
- surrender to bail — to present oneself at court at the appointed time after having been on bail
- sustained-release — (of a drug or fertilizer) capable of gradual release of an active agent over a period of time, allowing for a sustained effect; timed-release; long-acting; prolonged-action; slow-release.
- take in good part — to respond to (teasing) with good humour
- teacher education — training to become a teacher, usually at an institution of higher education
- technical drawing — the study and practice, esp as a subject taught in school, of the basic techniques of draughtsmanship, as employed in mechanical drawing, architecture, etc
- telescopic damper — a device with telescopic parts that reduce vibration in a motor vehicle
- temporomandibular — of, relating to, or situated near the hinge joint formed by the lower jaw and the temporal bone of the skull.
- terephthalic acid — a white, crystalline, water-insoluble solid, C 8 H 6 O 2 , the para isomer of phthalic acid: used chiefly in the manufacture of resins and textile fibers.
- the confederation — the original 13 states of the United States of America constituted under the Articles of Confederation and superseded by the more formal union established in 1789
- the driver's seat — the position of control or dominance
- the evil day/hour — If someone is putting off the evil day or the evil hour, they have to do something unpleasant and are trying to avoid doing it for as long as possible.
- the faint-hearted — people of a nervous disposition
- the silken ladder — a one-act opera by Rossini, telling the story of Giulia, who is secretly married to Dorvil; he visits her bedroom every night by climbing up a ladder made of silk. Giulia's guardian, Dormont, expects her to marry Blansac, but she introduces Blansac to her cousin Lucilla; after much confusion, the two couples are joyfully united
- 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
- therapeutic index — the ratio between the dosage of a drug that causes a lethal effect and the dosage that causes a therapeutic effect.
- thermal diffusion — the separation of constituents, often isotopes, of a fluid under the influence of a temperature gradient.
- thermal radiation — electromagnetic radiation emitted by all matter above a temperature of absolute zero because of the thermal motion of atomic particles.
- thiosulfuric acid — an acid, H 2 S 2 O 3 , that may be regarded as sulfuric acid with one oxygen atom replaced by sulfur.
- third commandment — “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain”: third of the Ten Commandments.
- three mile island — an island in the Susquehanna River, near Middletown, Pennsylvania, SE of Harrisburg: scene of a near-disastrous accident at a nuclear plant in 1979 that raised the issue of nuclear-energy safety.
- three-dimensional — having, or seeming to have, the dimension of depth as well as width and height.
- to read sb's mind — If you can read someone's mind, you know what they are thinking without them saying anything.
- to strike a chord — If something strikes a chord with you, it makes you feel sympathy or enthusiasm.
- trade association — an association of people or companies in a particular business or trade, organized to promote their common interests.
- trading standards — consumer organization
- traditional logic — formal logic based on syllogistic formulas, especially as developed by Aristotle.
- traffic diversion — a special route arranged for traffic to follow when the normal route cannot be used
- transcendentalism — transcendental character, thought, or language.
- transcendentalist — transcendental character, thought, or language.
- transcendentalize — to cause to become transcendent.
- trapdoor function — a function defined from data by means of a mathematical procedure in such a way that it is easy to obtain the function when the data are known, but when the procedure and data are not known it becomes very difficult to determine the original data: used in cryptography, where the data are the characters of the plain text, or message, and the trapdoor function is the cryptogram.
- tridimensionality — having three dimensions.
- triskaidekaphobia — fear or a phobia concerning the number 13.
- 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)
- tropical medicine — the branch of medicine dealing with the study and treatment of diseases occurring in the tropics.
- trucial sheikdoms — an independent federation in E Arabia, formed in 1971, now comprising seven emirates on the S coast (formerly, Pirate Coast or Trucial Coast) of the Persian Gulf, formerly under British protection: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah (joined 1972), and Fujairah. About 32,300 sq. mi. (83,657 sq. km). Capital: Abu Dhabi. Abbreviation: U.A.E.
- turbinado (sugar) — a partially refined, granulated, pale-brown sugar obtained by washing raw sugar in a centrifuge until most of the molasses is removed
- undercompensation — to compensate or pay less than is fair, customary, or expected.
- understandability — capable of being understood; comprehensible.
- unpredictableness — not predictable; not to be foreseen or foretold: an unpredictable occurrence.
- valetudinarianism — the state, condition, or habits of a valetudinarian.
- vibrofluidization — Vibrofluidization is when vibration is used to make particles move in a fluidized bed.
- vice-presidential — relating to a person who ranks immediately below the chief executive or head of state of a republic