17-letter words containing h, o, l, e
- close parenthesis — right parenthesis
- close the book on — to bring to a definite end
- close the door on — rule out, exclude
- close to the bone — If something is too close to the bone, it makes you feel uncomfortable because it is very close to the truth or to the real nature of something.
- close to the wind — sailing as nearly as possible towards the direction from which the wind is blowing
- cohesionless soil — any free-running type of soil, such as sand or gravel, whose strength depends on friction between particles
- coin of the realm — legal tender.
- collegiate church — a church that has an endowed chapter of canons and prebendaries attached to it but that is not a cathedral
- colloid chemistry — the study of colloids.
- committal hearing — (in British law) a preliminary inquiry by a magistrate to decide if there is enough evidence for a case to go to trial
- complexity theory — the study of complex systems, including subjects such as chaos theory and genetic algorithms
- comprehensibility — capable of being comprehended or understood; intelligible.
- connecting flight — a flight taken from an airport other than that from which the journey began, and which is taken in a different aeroplane from that used for the previous stage of the journey
- continental shelf — The continental shelf is the area which forms the edge of a continent, ending in a steep slope to the depths of the ocean.
- control character — a character in a data stream that signals the device receiving the data to perform a particular control function, as changing the line spacing on a printer from single to double-spaced.
- coral honeysuckle — trumpet honeysuckle.
- corporal of horse — a noncommissioned rank in the British Household Cavalry above that of sergeant and below that of staff sergeant
- counterchallenges — Plural form of counterchallenge.
- cromwellian chair — an upright oaken chair, often with arms, having all pieces turned and a seat and back panel of leather or cloth attached with brass-headed nails.
- culpable homicide — manslaughter
- cyanogen chloride — a colorless, volatile, poisonous liquid, CNCl, used chiefly in the synthesis of compounds containing the cyano group.
- cytotechnologists — the study of human cells to detect signs of cancer or other abnormalities.
- d-shell connector — (hardware) One of the family of connectors: DA-15, DB-25, DC-37, DD-50, DE-9, and DEH-15 [VGA]. The "D" is the shape of the shell, the next letter determines connector size, and the number is the maximum pin count.
- daphnis and chloe — two lovers in pastoral literature, esp in a prose idyll attributed to the Greek writer Longus
- dead to the world — unaware of one's surroundings, esp fast asleep or very drunk
- dehospitalization — hospitalization insurance.
- dehydrochlorinase — an enzyme that catalyzes the removal of hydrogen and chlorine atoms or ions from chlorinated hydrocarbons.
- dehydrochlorinate — to remove hydrogen chloride or chlorine and hydrogen from (a substance).
- deliver the goods — to produce or perform something promised or expected
- demythologization — The act of demythologizing, or something demythologized.
- denatured alcohol — ethanol rendered unfit for human consumption by the addition of a noxious substance, as in methylated spirits
- dendroarchaeology — (archaeology) the science that uses dendrochronology to date wooden material from archaeological sites.
- dephlogisticating — Present participle of dephlogisticate.
- dephosphorylation — the removal of a phosphate group from an organic compound, as in the changing of ATP to ADP.
- designer clothing — Designer clothing is fashionable or luxury clothing made by, or carrying the label of, a well-known fashion designer.
- desktop publisher — desktop publishing
- dessert chocolate — cooking chocolate
- diacetone alcohol — a colorless, flammable liquid with a pleasant odor, C 6 H 12 O 2 : used as a solvent for lacquers, dyes, cellulose nitrate, and resins.
- dialect geography — linguistic geography
- dielectrophoresis — Dielectrophoresis is the movement of uncharged particles (= ones with no electrical charge) when a changing electric field is applied.
- diethylene glycol — a syrupy colorless liquid, C 4 H 10 O 3 , used as a solvent for cellulose nitrate and as a fabric softener.
- dimethylformamide — a colourless liquid widely used as a solvent and sometimes as a catalyst. Formula: (CH3)2NCHO
- dimethylsulfoxide — DMSO.
- diphenylhydantoin — a white, slightly water-soluble powder, C 15 H 11 N 2 O 2 , used in the form of its sodium salt to prevent or arrest convulsions in epilepsy.
- dishonourableness — Alternative spelling of dishonorableness.
- down the plughole — If you say that something has gone down the plughole, you mean that it has failed or has been lost or wasted.
- down-at-the-heels — of a shabby, run-down appearance; seedy: He is rapidly becoming a down-at-heel drifter and a drunk.
- drive to the wall — to force into an awkward situation
- drop on the floor — To react to an error condition by silently discarding messages or other valuable data. "The gateway ran out of memory, so it just started dropping packets on the floor." Also frequently used of faulty mail and netnews relay sites that lose messages. See also black hole, bit bucket.
- echo cancellation — A process which removes unwanted echoes from the signal on a telephone line. Echoes are usually caused by impedance mismatches along an analogue line.