17-letter words containing e, l, d, r, s
- middle-age spread — an increase in bulk, especially in the waist and buttocks, associated with the onset of middle age and the body's decreasing ability to metabolize calories efficiently.
- midterm elections — elections held halfway through the term of office of a president during which governors, etc, but not a president, are elected
- misunderstandable — Capable of being misunderstood.
- mundane astrology — the astrology of worldly events, in contrast to the astrology of the individual: used especially in interpretations and forecasts involving politics, the stock market, weather, and disasters.
- muscle dysmorphia — a mental disorder primarily affecting males, characterized by obsessions about a perceived lack of muscularity, leading to compulsive exercising, use of anabolic steroids, etc. Compare body dysmorphic disorder.
- musical interlude — an interval in a play, event or occasion during which music is played
- naked singularity — an infinitely dense point mass without a surrounding black hole
- narrow-shouldered — having shoulders which do not extend very far from the neck; not broad-shouldered
- new england aster — a tall composite plant, Aster novae-angliae, of the northeastern U.S., the flowers of which have lavender to deep-purple rays.
- new scotland yard — See under Scotland Yard (def 1).
- nonunderstandable — Not understandable.
- nord-ostsee kanal — German name of Kiel Canal.
- nuclear threshold — the point in war at which a combatant brings nuclear weapons into use
- old age pensioner — An old age pensioner is a person who is old enough to receive an pension from their employer or the government.
- old red sandstone — a thick sequence of sedimentary rock (generally, but not always, red) deposited in Britain and NW Europe during the Devonian period
- old wives' summer — a period of fine, summerlike weather occurring in Europe in autumn.
- paradoxical sleep — REM sleep.
- partially sighted — unable to see properly so that even with corrective aids normal activities are prevented or seriously hindered
- personal distance — personal space.
- pillar-and-breast — room-and-pillar.
- plug and feathers — an apparatus for splitting stone, consisting of two tapered bars (feathers) inserted into a hole drilled into the stone, between which a narrow wedge (plug) is hammered to spread them.
- polar coordinates — Usually, polar coordinates. one of two coordinates used to locate a point in a plane by the length of its radius vector and the angle this vector makes with the polar axis (polar angle)
- post-and-rail tea — (in the 19th century) a coarse tea in which floating particles resembled a post-and-rail fence
- postural drainage — a therapy for clearing congested lungs by placing the patient in a position for drainage by gravity, often accompanied by percussion with hollowed hands.
- pressure altitude — the altitude for a given pressure in a standard atmosphere, such as that registered by a pressure altimeter.
- production values — the quality of a media production (such as a film) in regards to elements such as colours, quality, style, etc
- prolonged-release — A prolonged-release drug delivers a dose of a medication over an extended period of time.
- pseudepigraphical — certain writings (other than the canonical books and the Apocrypha) professing to be Biblical in character.
- pseudo-historical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- pseudo-moralistic — a person who teaches or inculcates morality.
- purely and simply — You use purely and simply to emphasize that the thing you are mentioning is the only thing involved.
- pyroligneous acid — a yellowish, acidic, water-soluble liquid, containing about 10 percent acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood: used for smoking meats.
- radioluminescence — luminescence induced by nuclear radiation.
- rattle one's dags — to hurry up
- reduce to silence — If someone or something reduces you to silence, they make you feel so upset or confused that you cannot speak.
- reformed spelling — a revised orthography intended to simplify the spelling of English words, especially to eliminate unpronounced letters, as by substituting thru for through, tho for though, slo for slow, etc.
- rhode island bent — a European pasture grass, Agrostis tenuis, naturalized in North America, having red flower clusters.
- rio grande do sul — a state in S Brazil. 107,923 sq. mi. (279,520 sq. km). Capital: Pôrto Alegre.
- russell's paradox — a paradox of set theory in which an object is defined in terms of a class of objects that contains the object being defined, resulting in a logical contradiction.
- russell, bertrand — Bertrand Russell
- sacrificial anode — Chemistry. an anode that is attached to a metal object subject to electrolysis and is decomposed instead of the object.
- salt-rising bread — a kind of bread leavened with a fermented mixture of salted milk, cornmeal, flour, sugar, and soda.
- san andreas fault — an active strike-slip fault in W United States, extending from San Francisco to S California and forming the on-land portion of the western margin of the North American Plate.
- san pedro channel — a strait between the mainland of SW California and Santa Catalina Island. About 20 miles (32 km) wide.
- 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.
- sb could do worse — If you tell someone that they could do worse than do a particular thing, you are advising them that it would be quite a good thing to do.
- schwedler's maple — a variety of the Norway maple, Acer platanoides schwedleri, producing red leaves that subsequently turn green.
- second balkan war — Balkan War (def 2).
- secondary glazing — insulation by means of a second pane of glass, or a sheet of plastic: a simple form of double glazing
- secondary quality — one of the qualities attributed by the mind to an object perceived, such as color, temperature, or taste.