17-letter words containing l, s, h, e
- perpetual spinach — a variety of spinach that keeps producing edible leaves
- personality clash — friction between two people who have different personalities or points of view
- phenyl isocyanate — a liquid reagent, C 7 H 5 NO, having an unpleasant, irritating odor: used chiefly for identifying alcohols and amines.
- philosopher kings — the Platonic ideal of a ruler, philosophically trained and enlightened.
- phlebotomus fever — sandfly fever.
- photoluminescence — luminescence induced by the absorption of infrared radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet radiation.
- physical exercise — movements and activities done to keep your body healthy or make it stronger
- physical medicine — the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of disease and injury by means of physical agents, as manipulation, massage, exercise, heat, or water.
- physical pendulum — any apparatus consisting of a body of possibly irregular shape allowed to rotate freely about a horizontal axis on which it is pivoted (distinguished from simple pendulum).
- pincushion flower — scabious2 (def 1).
- play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- plug and feathers — an apparatus for splitting stone, consisting of two tapered bars (feathers) inserted into a hole drilled into the stone, between which a narrow wedge (plug) is hammered to spread them.
- 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.
- pseudepigraphical — certain writings (other than the canonical books and the Apocrypha) professing to be Biblical in character.
- 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
- pull one's weight — the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.
- 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 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.
- racial harassment — persecution on the basis of race
- rehospitalization — the act, process, or state of being hospitalized.
- reverse lightning — a faint discharge of blue light from the top of a thunderstorm cloud that propagates upward: extends approximately from the bottom to the top of the stratosphere and is not detectable from the ground.
- reza shah pahlavi — Muhammad Riza (or Reza) [ri-zah] /rɪˈzɑ/ (Show IPA), 1919–80, shah of Iran 1941–79; in exile after 1979 (son of Riza Shah Pahlavi).
- 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.
- salt of the earth — an individual or group considered as representative of the best or noblest elements of society.
- san pedro channel — a strait between the mainland of SW California and Santa Catalina Island. About 20 miles (32 km) wide.
- save shoe leather — to avoid wearing out shoes, as by taking a bus rather than walking
- saved by the bell — a hollow instrument of cast metal, typically cup-shaped with a flaring mouth, suspended from the vertex and rung by the strokes of a clapper, hammer, or the like.
- say the unsayable — to express an opinion thought to be too controversial to mention
- scarlet firethorn — a Eurasian evergreen, thorny shrub, Pyracantha coccinea, of the rose family, having white, hairy flower clusters and bright red berries.
- scarlet lightning — scarlet lychnis.
- 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
- school counsellor — a counsellor who is based in a school
- schwedler's maple — a variety of the Norway maple, Acer platanoides schwedleri, producing red leaves that subsequently turn green.
- scrape the barrel — to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource
- scrophulariaceous — belonging to the Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family of plants.
- self-annihilation — self-destruction; suicide.
- semi-biographical — of or relating to a person's life: He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
- settlement houses — the act or state of settling or the state of being settled.
- sexual dimorphism — the condition in which the males and females in a species are morphologically different, as with many birds.
- sexual harassment — unwelcome sexual advances made by an employer or superior, especially when compliance is made a condition of continued employment or advancement.