17-letter words containing h, o, l, s, t
- phlebotomus fever — sandfly fever.
- photoluminescence — luminescence induced by the absorption of infrared radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet radiation.
- play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- pocket battleship — a small heavily armed and armored warship serving as a battleship because of limitations imposed by treaty.
- polioencephalitis — a disease characterized by inflammation of the gray matter of the brain.
- polystyrene chips — small pieces of polystyrene used for insulating or packing
- positive theology — a theological approach or tradition in which the nature of God is thought to be knowable and is understood through positive statements. See also cataphasis (def 2).
- preferential shop — a shop in which union members are preferred, usually by agreement of an employer with a union.
- pseudo-historical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- psychoeducational — designating or of psychological methods, as intelligence tests, used in evaluating learning ability
- psycholinguistics — the study of the relationship between language and the cognitive or behavioral characteristics of those who use it.
- pull one's weight — the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.
- push the envelope — a flat paper container, as for a letter or thin package, usually having a gummed flap or other means of closure.
- put on the gloves — to box
- pythagorean scale — the major scale as derived acoustically by Pythagoras from the perfect fifth.
- rehospitalization — the act, process, or state of being hospitalized.
- rhetorical stress — stress required by the meaning of a line, as distinguished from that required by the meter.
- 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.
- roman catholicism — the faith, practice, and system of government of the Roman Catholic Church.
- run short/run low — If you are running short of something or running low on something, you do not have much of it left. If a supply of something is running short or running low, there is not much of it left.
- salt of the earth — an individual or group considered as representative of the best or noblest elements of society.
- save shoe leather — to avoid wearing out shoes, as by taking a bus rather than walking
- scarlet firethorn — a Eurasian evergreen, thorny shrub, Pyracantha coccinea, of the rose family, having white, hairy flower clusters and bright red berries.
- schmidt telescope — a wide-angle reflecting telescope used primarily for astronomical photography, in which spherical aberration and coma are reduced to a minimum by means of a spherical mirror with a corrector plate near its focus.
- school attendance — a measure of the number of children who attend school and the amount of time they are present
- self-annihilation — self-destruction; suicide.
- settlement houses — the act or state of settling or the state of being settled.
- sheltered housing — accommodation designed esp for the elderly or infirm consisting of a group of individual premises, often with some shared facilities and a caretaker
- shetland pullover — a thick woollen sweater made from Shetland wool
- shetland sheepdog — one of a breed of small sheepdogs resembling a miniature collie, raised originally in the Shetland Islands.
- shirt-tail cousin — a distant cousin
- shit on a shingle — creamed chipped beef or ground beef in a sauce, served on toast.
- shoestring tackle — a tackle made around the ankles of the ball carrier.
- shorthold tenancy — letting of a dwelling for between one and five years at a fair rent
- shuttle diplomacy — diplomatic negotiations carried out by a mediator who travels back and forth between the negotiating parties.
- sinbad the sailor — a merchant in The Arabian Nights who makes seven adventurous voyages
- slap on the wrist — a sharp blow or smack, especially with the open hand or with something flat.
- socratic elenchus — the drawing out of the consequences of a position in order to show them to be contrary to some accepted position
- south farmingdale — a town on central Long Island, in SE New York.
- south lanarkshire — a council area of S Scotland, comprising the S part of the historical county of Lanarkshire: included within Strathclyde Region from 1975 to 1996: has uplands in the S and part of the Glasgow conurbation in the N: mainly agricultural. Administrative centre: Hamilton. Pop: 303 010 (2003 est). Area: 1771 sq km (684 sq miles)
- south sea islands — the islands in the S Pacific that constitute Oceania
- southern triangle — the constellation Triangulum Australe.
- 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.
- spectrohelioscope — a spectroheliograph.
- spondylolisthesis — the forward displacement of a vertebra.
- spoonbill catfish — flathead catfish.
- spore mother cell — a cell from which a spore is produced
- stag's-horn coral — staghorn coral.
- 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.