17-letter words containing h, e, a
- southampton water — an inlet of the English Channel in S England
- southeast by east — a point on the compass 11°15′ east of southeast. Abbreviation: SEbE.
- southern rhodesia — a former name (until 1964) of Zimbabwe (def 1).
- southern sporades — a group of Greek islands in the Aegean, including the Dodecanese, lying off the SW coast of Turkey
- southern triangle — the constellation Triangulum Australe.
- spaghetti western — a low-budget western movie shot in Italy or Spain, usually with Italian actors and an American star.
- spaghettification — the theoretical stretching of an object as it encounters extreme differences in gravitational forces, especially those associated with a black hole.
- spanish influenza — the pandemic respiratory infection that spread throughout the world during 1917–18.
- special schooling — the system of educating children with special needs in schools designed to meet their needs
- spectroheliograph — an apparatus for making photographs of the sun with a monochromatic light to show the details of the sun's surface and surroundings as they would appear if the sun emitted only that light.
- spherical polygon — a closed figure formed by arcs of great circles on a spherical surface.
- spinal anesthesia — interruption of conduction of nerve impulses by the injection of an anesthetic into the spinal canal that reduces sensitivity to pain without loss of consciousness.
- spiny-headed worm — any of a small group of endoparasites of the phylum Acanthocephala, as larvae parasitic in insects and crustaceans and as adults in various vertebrates.
- spiritual healing — faith healing
- spit in the ocean — a variety of poker in which four cards are dealt face down to each player and one card, forming the fifth for all hands, is dealt face up in the center of the table, the exposed card and others of its denomination being wild cards.
- spongy parenchyma — the lower layer of the ground tissue of a leaf, characteristically containing irregularly shaped cells with relatively few chloroplasts and large intercellular spaces.
- spruce gall aphid — any of various homopterous insects of the family Adelgidae, as Adelges abietis (spruce gall aphid) and Pineus pinifoliae (pine leaf aphid) that feed and form galls on conifers.
- square the circle — a rectangle having all four sides of equal length.
- square-shouldered — having the shoulders held back, giving a straight form to the upper part of the back.
- squash vine borer — the larva of a clearwing moth, Melittia satyriniformis, that bores into the stems of squash and related plants.
- squatter's rights — the rights to a property claimed by someone who has occupied it in the owner's absence
- squaw huckleberry — deerberry.
- squeegee merchant — a person who attempts to make money by squeegeeing the windscreens of cars that are stopped at traffic lights and then asking for payment
- stage-door johnny — a man who often goes to a theater or waits at a stage door to court an actress.
- stannous chloride — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, SnCl 2 ⋅2H 2 O, used chiefly as a reducing and tinning agent, and as a mordant in dyeing with cochineal.
- star of bethlehem — the star that is supposed to have appeared above Bethlehem at the birth of Christ
- star-of-bethlehem — any of several plants belonging to the genus Ornithogalum, of the lily family, having grasslike leaves and clusters of white flowers.
- stare in the face — to gaze fixedly and intently, especially with the eyes wide open.
- state the obvious — point out sth already evident
- steamship company — a company which has a fleet of steamships
- stereolithography — a process for creating three-dimensional objects using a computer-controlled laser to build up the required structure, layer by layer, from a liquid photopolymer that solidifies.
- stereophotography — photography producing stereoscopic images.
- sting in the tail — an unexpected and unpleasant ending
- 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.
- substantive right — a right, as life, liberty, or property, recognized for its own sake and as part of the natural legal order of society.
- sulfurated potash — a yellowish-brown mixture consisting mainly of potassium polysulfides and potassium thiosulfate, used in treating mange.
- sunbury-on-thames — a town in SE England, in N Surrey. Pop: 27 415 (2001)
- support mechanism — any formal system or method of providing support or assistance
- swaddling clothes — cloth for wrapping around a baby
- swash plate motor — a collar or face plate on a shaft that is inclined at an oblique angle to the axis of rotation and converts reciprocating motion to rotation
- sydenham's chorea — a form of chorea affecting children, often associated with rheumatic fever
- sympathetic magic — magic predicated on the belief that one thing or event can affect another at a distance as a consequence of a sympathetic connection between them.
- take a chill pill — something that has a calming or relaxing effect.
- take sth by storm — If someone or something takes a place by storm, they are extremely successful.
- take sth on trust — If you take something on trust after having heard or read it, you believe it completely without checking it.
- take sth to heart — If you take something to heart, for example someone's behaviour, you are deeply affected and upset by it.
- take the edge off — If something takes the edge off a situation, usually an unpleasant one, it weakens its effect or intensity.
- take the place of — replace, be a substitute for
- take to the floor — If you take to the floor, you start dancing at a dance or disco.
- tay-sachs disease — a rare fatal hereditary disease, occurring chiefly in infants and children, especially of eastern European Jewish origin, characterized by a red spot on the retina, gradual blindness, and paralysis.