17-letter words containing e, t, i, o, l, a
- 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 facts of life — the details of sexual behaviour and reproduction, esp as told to children
- the glacial epoch — the Pleistocene Epoch
- the life and soul — a person regarded as the main source of merriment and liveliness
- the lower animals — relatively simple or primitive animals and not mammals or vertebrates
- 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
- 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
- theatricalization — to put into dramatic or theatrical form; dramatize.
- thermal diffusion — the separation of constituents, often isotopes, of a fluid under the influence of a temperature gradient.
- thermal expansion — expansion caused by heat
- thermal pollution — a rise in the temperature of rivers or lakes that is injurious to water-dwelling life and is caused by the disposal of heated industrial waste water or water from the cooling towers of nuclear power plants.
- thermal radiation — electromagnetic radiation emitted by all matter above a temperature of absolute zero because of the thermal motion of atomic particles.
- 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.
- thiopental sodium — a barbiturate, C 11 H 18 N 2 NaO 2 S, used as an anesthetic in surgery and, in psychiatry, for narcoanalysis and to stimulate recall of past events.
- three-dimensional — having, or seeming to have, the dimension of depth as well as width and height.
- tiger swallowtail — a yellow swallowtail butterfly, Papilio glaucus, of eastern North America, having the forewings striped with black.
- to be eaten alive — If you say that someone will be eaten alive, you mean that they will be completely destroyed or defeated by someone who is much stronger.
- to eat humble pie — If you eat humble pie, you speak or behave in a way which tells people that you admit you were wrong about something.
- to play it by ear — If you play it by ear, you decide what to say or do in a situation by responding to events rather than by following a plan which you have decided on in advance.
- to play the field — If someone plays the field, they have a number of different romantic or sexual relationships.
- to play with fire — If you say that someone is playing with fire, you mean that they are doing something dangerous that may result in great harm for them and cause many problems.
- 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.
- traffic policeman — a policeman controlling traffic, esp while stationed at an intersection, or enforcing traffic regulations
- transmission line — a system of conductors, as coaxial cable, a wave guide, or a pair of parallel wires, used to transmit signals.
- travelling people — Gypsies or other itinerant people: a term used esp by such people of themselves
- tridimensionality — having three dimensions.
- trifoliate orange — a spiny, Chinese orange tree, Poncirus trifoliata, used as a stock in grafting and for hedges.
- 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.
- 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.
- ultraconservative — extremely conservative, especially in politics.
- ultrametamorphism — metamorphism during which the temperature of a rock exceeds its melting point.
- 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.
- 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
- unproportionately — proportioned; being in due proportion; proportional.
- upper paleolithic — See under Paleolithic.
- urban exploration — a recreational activity in which people explore derelict urban structures such as abandoned sewers or underground railways or attempt to access areas which are closed to the public such as the roofs of skyscrapers
- urogenital system — the urinary tract and reproductive organs
- variable-geometry — denoting an aircraft in which the wings are hinged to give the variable aspect ratio colloquially known as a swing-wing
- veiltail goldfish — an artificially bred, indoor variety of goldfish, usually golden or calico and of a spheroid shape, having a fully divided, drooping tail fin exceeding the body in length.
- ventilation shaft — a shaft in a mine, tunnel, or building used for providing ventilation or fresh air
- vernacularization — to translate into the natural speech peculiar to a people.
- 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.