17-letter words containing e, c, t, a, l
- the electoral map — a map showing the distribution of constituencies over a country
- the factory floor — all the workers in a factory
- the facts of life — the details of sexual behaviour and reproduction, esp as told to children
- the final curtain — the closing of the curtain at the end of the action of a play
- the glacial epoch — the Pleistocene Epoch
- the neolithic age — the last part of the Stone Age, where metal tools became widespread
- the olympic flame — the flame that is symbolically lit at the site of the ancient Olympics in Olympia and transported by relay to the place where the Olympic Games are to be held. It is used to ignite a fire in a cauldron that will burn throughout the Games
- theatricalization — to put into dramatic or theatrical form; dramatize.
- thermocoagulation — the coagulation of tissue by heat-producing high-frequency electric currents, used therapeutically to remove small growths or to create specific lesions in the brain.
- thousandths-place — last in order of a series of a thousand.
- three-course meal — A three-course meal is a meal that consists of three parts served one after the other.
- three-legged race — a race among a number of paired contestants, each contestant having one leg tied to the adjacent leg of his or her partner.
- tip the scales at — to weigh (a specified amount)
- 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 make sth clear — If you make something clear, you say something in a way that makes it impossible for there to be any doubt about your meaning, wishes, or intentions.
- to settle a score — If you settle a score or settle an old score with someone, you take revenge on them for something they have done in the past.
- to steal a glance — If you steal a glance at someone or something, you look at them quickly so that nobody sees you looking.
- too close to call — If something such as a competition or an election is too close to call, it is not possible to predict who will win because it seems likely to be won by only a very small margin.
- topological space — a set with a collection of subsets or open sets satisfying the properties that the union of open sets is an open set, the intersection of two open sets is an open set, and the given set and the empty set are open sets.
- 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
- tortoiseshell cat — a domestic cat, especially a female one, of variegated black, yellow, and white coloring.
- trackless trolley — trolley bus.
- traffic policeman — a policeman controlling traffic, esp while stationed at an intersection, or enforcing traffic regulations
- transcendentalism — transcendental character, thought, or language.
- transcendentalist — transcendental character, thought, or language.
- transcendentalize — to cause to become transcendent.
- transdermal patch — a small piece of material used to mend a tear or break, to cover a hole, or to strengthen a weak place: patches at the elbows of a sports jacket.
- tropical maritime — a type of warm, wet air mass originating at low latitudes over ocean areas
- tropical medicine — the branch of medicine dealing with the study and treatment of diseases occurring in the tropics.
- 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.
- 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.
- tubercle bacillus — the bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, causing tuberculosis.
- twelve patriarchs — any of the sons of Jacob ((the twelve patriarchs),) from whom the tribes of Israel were descended.
- tyrant flycatcher — flycatcher (def 2).
- ultraconservative — extremely conservative, especially in politics.
- 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.
- uncompassionately — having or showing compassion: a compassionate person; a compassionate letter.
- unconventionalist — not conventional; not bound by or conforming to convention, rule, or precedent; free from conventionality: an unconventional artist; an unconventional use of material.
- unconventionality — disregard for convention; the state or quality of being inconsistent with customs, rules, etc.; originality.
- unofficial strike — a strike that is not approved by the strikers' trade union
- unpredictableness — not predictable; not to be foreseen or foretold: an unpredictable occurrence.
- unsympathetically — in a manner that is not characterized by feeling or showing sympathy
- upper paleolithic — See under Paleolithic.
- valence electrons — an electron of an atom, located in the outermost shell (valence shell) of the atom, that can be transferred to or shared with another atom.
- velaric airstream — a current of mouth air produced by the action of the tongue, operant in forming click sounds.
- vernacularization — to translate into the natural speech peculiar to a people.
- vertical analysis — the conversion of an organization's profits and losses into overall percentages
- vertical mobility — movement from one social level to a higher one (upward mobility) or a lower one (downward mobility) as by changing jobs or marrying.