17-letter words containing h, o, b
- phantom limb pain — a phenomenon characterized by the experience of pain, discomfort, or other sensation in the area of a missing limb or other body part, as a breast.
- phlebotomus fever — sandfly fever.
- phonetic alphabet — an alphabet containing a separate character for each distinguishable speech sound.
- plains of abraham — a high plain adjoining the city of Quebec, Canada: battlefield where the English under Wolfe defeated the French under Montcalm in 1759.
- plymouth brethren — a religious sect founded c. 1827, strongly Puritanical in outlook and prohibiting many secular occupations for its members. It combines elements of Calvinism, Pietism, and millenarianism, and has no organized ministry
- pocket battleship — a small heavily armed and armored warship serving as a battleship because of limitations imposed by treaty.
- prohibition party — a U.S. political party organized in 1869, advocating the prohibition of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.
- purple chokeberry — See under chokeberry (def 1).
- purple shore crab — any of numerous crabs that live along the shoreline between the tidemarks, as Hemigrapsus nudus (purple shore crab) of the Pacific coast of North America.
- push the boat out — to celebrate, esp lavishly and expensively
- put the kibosh on — nonsense.
- republic of china — People's Republic of, a country in E Asia. 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Capital: Beijing.
- republic-of-china — People's Republic of, a country in E Asia. 3,691,502 sq. mi. (9,560,990 sq. km). Capital: Beijing.
- rhinoceros beetle — any of several scarabaeid beetles, especially of the genus Dynastes, which comprises the largest beetles, characterized by one or more horns on the head and prothorax.
- rhode island bent — a European pasture grass, Agrostis tenuis, naturalized in North America, having red flower clusters.
- ribbon microphone — a microphone that utilizes a metal ribbon suspended in a magnetic field.
- right off the bat — Sports. the wooden club used in certain games, as baseball and cricket, to strike the ball. a racket, especially one used in badminton or table tennis. a whip used by a jockey. the act of using a club or racket in a game. the right or turn to use a club or racket.
- rub the wrong way — to subject the surface of (a thing or person) to pressure and friction, as in cleaning, smoothing, polishing, coating, massaging, or soothing: to rub a table top with wax polish; to rub the entire back area.
- russborough house — a mansion near Blessington in Co Wicklow, Republic of Ireland: built by Richard Castle and Francis Bindon for the 1st Earl of Miltown from 1740
- save one's breath — the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.
- saxe-coburg-gotha — a member of the present British royal family, from the establishment of the house in 1901 until 1917 when the family name was changed to Windsor.
- semi-biographical — of or relating to a person's life: He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
- shake one's booty — to dance
- shopping bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- shopping-bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- show sb the ropes — If you show someone the ropes, you show them how to do a particular job or task.
- sinbad the sailor — a merchant in The Arabian Nights who makes seven adventurous voyages
- sodium bichromate — a red or orange crystalline, water-soluble solid, Na 2 Cr 2 O 7 ⋅2H 2 O, used as an oxidizing agent in the manufacture of dyes and inks, as a corrosion inhibitor, a mordant, a laboratory reagent, in the tanning of leather, and in electroplating.
- southeast by east — a point on the compass 11°15′ east of southeast. Abbreviation: SEbE.
- southwest by west — a point on the compass 11°15′ west of southwest. Abbreviation: SWbW.
- spoonbill catfish — flathead catfish.
- squash vine borer — the larva of a clearwing moth, Melittia satyriniformis, that bores into the stems of squash and related plants.
- 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.
- state the obvious — point out sth already evident
- stick to the ribs — to pierce or puncture with something pointed, as a pin, dagger, or spear; stab: to stick one's finger with a needle.
- sunbury-on-thames — a town in SE England, in N Surrey. Pop: 27 415 (2001)
- synchronous orbit — an orbit in which the orbital period of a satellite is identical to the spin period of the central body
- synthetic biology — the application of computer science techniques to create artificial biological systems
- take sth by storm — If someone or something takes a place by storm, they are extremely successful.
- teething problems — If a project or new product has teething problems, it has problems in its early stages or when it first becomes available.
- teething troubles — Teething troubles are the same as teething problems.
- telephone banking — a facility enabling customers to make use of banking services, such as oral payment instructions, account movements, raising loans, etc, over the telephone rather than by personal visit
- telephone numbers — extremely large numbers, esp in reference to salaries or prices
- the bag of tricks — every device; everything
- the barbary coast — a historic name for the Mediterranean coast of North Africa: a centre of piracy against European shipping from the 16th to the 19th centuries
- the black country — the formerly heavily industrialized region of central England, northwest of Birmingham
- the bulldog breed — people who fought in either of the World Wars
- the carboniferous — the Carboniferous period or rock system
- the joke is on sb — If you say that the joke is on a particular person, you mean that they have been made to look very foolish by something.