17-letter words containing o, a, f, i, s
- pate de foie gras — See under foie gras.
- plains of abraham — a high plain adjoining the city of Quebec, Canada: battlefield where the English under Wolfe defeated the French under Montcalm in 1759.
- play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- point of purchase — designating or in use at a retail outlet where an item can be purchased; point-of-sale: point-of-purchase displays to entice the buyer.
- point-of-purchase — designating or in use at a retail outlet where an item can be purchased; point-of-sale: point-of-purchase displays to entice the buyer.
- poison-arrow frog — a small, bright-colored terrestrial frog of the family Dendrobatidae, of Central and South American rain forests, that secretes a virulent poison from its skin, once used on the tips of Indian hunting arrows.
- positive feedback — Electronics. the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback) or to aid the input (positive feedback) acoustic feedback.
- potassium sulfate — a crystalline, water-soluble solid, K 2 SO 4 , used chiefly in the manufacture of fertilizers, alums, and mineral water, and as a reagent in analytical chemistry.
- pre-manifestation — an act of manifesting.
- pre-modifications — an act or instance of modifying.
- prefect apostolic — the administrator, usually below the rank of bishop, in charge of a prefecture apostolic.
- preferential shop — a shop in which union members are preferred, usually by agreement of an employer with a union.
- procurator fiscal — In the Scottish legal system, the procurator fiscal is a public official who puts people on trial.
- professional army — an army of trained soldiers
- professional foul — In football, if a player commits a professional foul, they deliberately do something which is against the rules in order to prevent another player from scoring a goal.
- purple of cassius — a purple pigment precipitated as a sol by the interaction of gold chloride and a solution of stannic acid and stannous chloride: used chiefly in the manufacture of ruby glass, ceramic glazes, and enamels.
- pyrosulfuric acid — a strong, crystalline acid, H2S2O7, prepared commercially as a heavy, oily, fuming liquid: used in making explosives and dyes, as a sulfating agent, etc.
- recursion formula — a formula for determining the next term of a sequence from one or more of the preceding terms.
- rotation of crops — a system of rotating in a fixed order the kinds of crops, as grain or grass, grown in the same field, to maintain soil fertility
- rush-hour traffic — the large number of vehicles that move along roads, travelling to or from work at the beginning and end of the working day
- russian wolfhound — borzoi.
- sacrifice paddock — a grassed area allowed to be grazed completely, to be cultivated and resown later
- sacrificial anode — Chemistry. an anode that is attached to a metal object subject to electrolysis and is decomposed instead of the object.
- safety inspection — an inspection of a place carried out to ensure that it is safe and not dangerous
- safety precaution — a precaution that is taken in order to ensure that something is safe and not dangerous
- saint elmo's fire — corona discharge.
- san francisco bay — a bay in W California: the harbor of San Francisco; connected with the Pacific by the Golden Gate strait. 50 miles (80 km) long; 3–12 miles (5–19 km) wide.
- scarlet firethorn — a Eurasian evergreen, thorny shrub, Pyracantha coccinea, of the rose family, having white, hairy flower clusters and bright red berries.
- self-annihilation — self-destruction; suicide.
- self-appreciation — gratitude; thankful recognition: They showed their appreciation by giving him a gold watch.
- self-commendation — the act of commending; recommendation; praise: commendation for a job well done.
- self-condemnation — the act of condemning.
- self-confirmation — the act of confirming.
- self-consecration — the act of setting oneself to a task or vocation without ordination by others or by a religious body.
- self-conservation — the act of conserving; prevention of injury, decay, waste, or loss; preservation: conservation of wildlife; conservation of human rights.
- self-dissociation — an act or instance of dissociating.
- self-emancipation — the act of emancipating.
- self-flagellation — the act or process of flagellating.
- self-incompatible — not capable of self-pollination.
- self-presentation — an act of presenting.
- self-preservation — preservation of oneself from harm or destruction.
- self-purification — a natural process of purifying, as the ability of a body of water to rid itself of pollutants.
- self-renunciation — renunciation of one's own will, interests, etc.
- self-satisfaction — a usually smug satisfaction with oneself, one's achievements, etc.
- semi-professional — actively engaged in some field or sport for pay but on a part-time basis: semiprofessional baseball players.
- sense of occasion — If there is a sense of occasion when a planned event takes place, people feel that something special and important is happening.
- sidesaddle flower — a pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
- significant other — Sociology. a person, as a parent or peer, who has great influence on one's behavior and self-esteem.
- sinus of valsalva — any of the pouches of the aorta and the pulmonary artery opposite the flaps of the semilunar valves into which blood returning to the heart flows, closing the valves.
- sister of charity — a member of one of several congregations of sisters founded in 1634 by St. Vincent de Paul.