17-letter words containing n, o, e, t, s
- high-carbon steel — steel containing between 0.5 and 1.5 per cent carbon
- histamine blocker — any of various substances that act at a specific receptor site to block certain actions of histamine.
- hold one's breath — If you say that someone is holding their breath, you mean that they are waiting anxiously or excitedly for something to happen.
- hold one's tongue — Anatomy. the usually movable organ in the floor of the mouth in humans and most vertebrates, functioning in eating, in tasting, and, in humans, in speaking.
- holistic medicine — incorporating the concept of holism, or the idea that the whole is more than merely the sum of its parts, in theory or practice: holistic psychology.
- home improvements — improvements to one's home, such as new kitchens and bathrooms, central heating etc
- homeland security — national defence
- homogentisic acid — an intermediate compound in the metabolism of tyrosine and of phenylalanine, found in excess in the blood and urine of persons affected with alkaptonuria.
- hope against hope — the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope.
- hornblende schist — a variety of schist containing needles of hornblende that lie in parallel planes.
- horst wessel song — the official song of the Nazi party in Germany from 1933 to 1945.
- hospital gangrene — Pathology. a contagious, often fatal gangrene, especially involving amputation stumps and war wounds, occurring usually in crowded, ill-kept hospitals, and caused by putrefactive bacteria.
- hot on sb's heels — If you say that someone is hot on your heels, you are emphasizing that they are chasing you and are not very far behind you.
- hottentot's bread — elephant's-foot.
- houndstooth check — a pattern of broken checks, used in woven material for jackets, shirts, etc.
- housekeeping cart — A housekeeping cart is a large metal basket on wheels which is used by a cleaner in a hotel to move clean bed linen, towels, and cleaning equipment.
- how the land lies — the prevailing conditions or state of affairs
- hubble's constant — the ratio of the recessional velocity of galaxies to their distance from the sun, with current measurements of its value ranging from 50 to 100 km/sec per megaparsec.
- hyperbolic secant — a hyperbolic function that is the reciprocal of cosh; sech
- hyperpolarisation — Alternative spelling of hyperpolarization.
- hyposensitization — The state or process of being reduced in sensitivity especially to an allergen.
- hysteron proteron — a figure of speech in which the logical order of two elements in discourse is reversed, as in “bred and born” for “born and bred.”.
- icositetrahedrons — Plural form of icositetrahedron.
- identity politics — political activity or movements based on or catering to the cultural, ethnic, gender, racial, religious, or social interests that characterize a group identity.
- illinois waterway — a waterway system in N Illinois made up of canals and rivers connecting Lake Michigan in Chicago with the Mississippi River. 336 miles (541 km) long.
- immediate version — child version
- immigrant workers — people who work in a country they arrived to in order to settle there
- immunofluorescent — Of, pertaining to, or using immunofluorescence.
- immunosuppressant — (pharmacology) Capable of immunosuppression, immunosuppressive.
- impersonalization — to make impersonal: The dial system impersonalized the telephone.
- impersonification — (archaic) the act of impersonating; impersonation.
- implosion therapy — a form of behavior therapy involving intensive recollection and review of anxiety-producing situations or events in a patient's life in an attempt to develop more appropriate responses to similar situations in the future.
- impressionability — easily impressed or influenced; susceptible: an impressionable youngster.
- imputation system — a former taxation system in which some, or all, of the corporation tax on a company was treated as a tax credit on account of the income tax paid by its shareholders on their dividends; discontinued from 1999
- in one's own time — outside paid working hours
- in the process of — If you are in the process of doing something, you have started to do it and are still doing it.
- in the same canoe — of the same tribe
- in/into disrepair — If something is in disrepair or is in a state of disrepair, it is broken or in bad condition.
- inappropriateness — not appropriate; not proper or suitable: an inappropriate dress for the occasion.
- incompatibilities — not compatible; unable to exist together in harmony: She asked for a divorce because they were utterly incompatible.
- incompressibility — The quality of being incompressible, of not compressing under pressure.
- inconsequentially — The adverb form of inconsequential: to do something in a manner of little consequence.
- inconsiderateness — without due regard for the rights or feelings of others: It was inconsiderate of him to keep us waiting.
- indecent exposure — the intentional exposure of one's body's privates in a manner that gives offense against accepted or prescribed behavior.
- indicator species — See at indicator (def 6).
- indirect question — An indirect question is the same as a reported question.
- inertial observer — a hypothetical observer who is not accelerated with respect to an inertial system. Newton's laws of motion and the special theory of relativity apply to the measurements which would be made by such observers
- insectivorous bat — any bat of the suborder Microchiroptera, typically having large ears and feeding on insects. The group includes common bats (Myotis species), vampire bats, etc
- insertion element — a section of DNA that is capable of becoming inserted into another chromosome
- inspector general — a comedy (1836) by Gogol.