17-letter words containing h, o, r, a, y
- oystershell scale — a scale insect, Lepidosaphes ulmi, having a scale shaped like the shell of an oyster, which infests various deciduous trees and shrubs.
- palaeoarchaeology — the branch of archaeology concerned with the earliest fossil remains
- paleoanthropology — the study of the origins and predecessors of the present human species, using fossils and other remains.
- paleobiochemistry — the study of biochemical processes that occurred in fossil life forms.
- paleobiogeography — the study of the distribution of ancient plants and animals and their relation to ancient geographic features.
- parathyroid gland — any of several small oval glands usually lying near or embedded in the thyroid gland.
- parathyroidectomy — the excision of a parathyroid gland.
- paratyphoid fever — Also called paratyphoid fever. an infectious disease, similar in some of its symptoms to typhoid fever but usually milder, caused by any of several bacilli of the genus Salmonella other than S. typhi.
- pastoral symphony — the Symphony No. 6 in F major (1807–08) by Ludwig van Beethoven.
- pastoral theology — the branch of theology dealing with the responsibilities of members of the clergy to the people under their care.
- personality clash — friction between two people who have different personalities or points of view
- phantom pregnancy — the occurrence of signs of pregnancy, such as enlarged abdomen and absence of menstruation, when no embryo is present, due to hormonal imbalance
- pharmacologically — the science dealing with the preparation, uses, and especially the effects of drugs.
- phenylformic acid — benzoic acid.
- philanthropically — of, pertaining to, engaged in, or characterized by philanthropy; benevolent: a philanthropic foundation.
- photofluorography — photography of images produced by a fluoroscopic examination, used in x-ray examination of the lungs of large groups of people.
- polymorphonuclear — (of a leukocyte) having a lobulate nucleus.
- prohibition party — a U.S. political party organized in 1869, advocating the prohibition of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages.
- psychographically — Psychology. a graph indicating the relative strength of the personality traits of an individual.
- psychoprophylaxis — Lamaze method.
- psychotherapeutic — psychotherapy.
- pull your head in — be quiet!
- pythagorean scale — the major scale as derived acoustically by Pythagoras from the perfect fifth.
- radiation therapy — x-rays used as treatment
- regent honeyeater — a large brightly-coloured Australian honeyeater, Zanthomiza phrygia
- repertory theater — repertory (def 2).
- respiratory chain — a series of mitochondrial proteins that transport electrons of hydrogen, released in the Krebs cycle, from acetyl coenzyme A to inhaled oxygen to form H 2 O: the energy released in the process is conserved as ATP.
- reticulate python — a python, Python reticulatus, of southeastern Asia and the East Indies, sometimes growing to a length of 32 feet (10 meters): usually considered to be the largest snake in the world.
- revealed theology — theology based on the doctrine that all religious truth is derived exclusively from the revelations of God to humans.
- rough puff pastry — a rich flaky pastry made with butter and used for pie-crusts, flans, etc
- 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.
- school playground — school's outdoor recreation area
- shortcrust pastry — a basic type of pastry that is made with half the quantity of fat to flour, and has a crisp but crumbly texture
- shorthold tenancy — letting of a dwelling for between one and five years at a fair rent
- sister of charity — a member of one of several congregations of sisters founded in 1634 by St. Vincent de Paul.
- spark photography — photography of fast-moving objects, as bullets, by the light of an electric spark.
- spherical polygon — a closed figure formed by arcs of great circles on a spherical surface.
- 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.
- 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.
- stage-door johnny — a man who often goes to a theater or waits at a stage door to court an actress.
- statutory holiday — a public holiday; a holiday all workers are entitled to
- 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.
- sunbury-on-thames — a town in SE England, in N Surrey. Pop: 27 415 (2001)
- sydenham's chorea — a form of chorea affecting children, often associated with rheumatic fever
- synchronistically — coincidence in time; contemporaneousness; simultaneousness.
- take sth by storm — If someone or something takes a place by storm, they are extremely successful.
- 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 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.