17-letter words containing o, n, d, r

gulf war syndrome — a group of symptoms occurring in some Gulf War veterans, most commonly including headache and memory loss, muscle pain, skin disorders, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments, possibly caused by exposure to chemical weapons, vaccines, infectious diseases, or other factors.
half-round chisel — a cold chisel with a semicircular cutting edge used for making narrow channels
hall of residence — Halls of residence are buildings with rooms or flats, usually built by universities or colleges, in which students live during the term.
hard nut to crack — a dry fruit consisting of an edible kernel or meat enclosed in a woody or leathery shell.
haroun-al-raschid — Harun al-Rashid.
have no words for — to be incapable of describing
hawking radiation — the emission of particles by a black hole. Pairs of virtual particles in the intense gravitational field around a black hole may live long enough for one to move outward when the other is pulled into the black hole, making it appear that the black hole is emitting radiation
heart of darkness — a short novel (1902) by Joseph Conrad.
helen keller mode — 1. State of a hardware or software system that is deaf, dumb, and blind, i.e. accepting no input and generating no output, usually due to an infinite loop or some other excursion into deep space. (Unfair to the real Helen Keller, whose success at learning speech was triumphant.) See also go flatline, catatonic. 2. On IBM PCs under MS-DOS, refers to a specific failure mode in which a screen saver has kicked in over an ill-behaved application which bypasses the very interrupts the screen saver watches for activity. Your choices are to try to get from the program's current state through a successful save-and-exit without being able to see what you're doing, or to re-boot the machine. This isn't (strictly speaking) a crash.
henry cabot lodge — Henry Cabot, 1850–1924, U.S. public servant and author: senator 1893–1924.
hoare powerdomain — powerdomain
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 ground — the solid surface of the earth; firm or dry land: to fall to the ground.
hold one's horses — a large, solid-hoofed, herbivorous quadruped, Equus caballus, domesticated since prehistoric times, bred in a number of varieties, and used for carrying or pulling loads, for riding, and for racing.
hold sb to ransom — If you say that someone is holding you to ransom in British English, or holding you for ransom in American English, you mean that they are using their power to try to force you to do something which you do not want to do.
holding operation — a plan or procedure devised to prolong the existing situation
homeland security — national defence
hornblende schist — a variety of schist containing needles of hornblende that lie in parallel planes.
hot-and-sour soup — a spicy Chinese soup made with pork, chicken, beans, vinegar, etc., served hot
hottentot's bread — elephant's-foot.
hurler's syndrome — a medical condition characterized by physical deformity and mental deficiency
hydrofluorocarbon — Any of a class of partly chlorinated and fluorinated hydrocarbons, used as an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons in foam production, refrigeration, and other processes.
hydrogasification — a high-temperature, high-pressure process for producing liquid or gaseous fuels from fine particles of coal and hydrogen gas
hydrogen chloride — a colorless gas, HCl, having a pungent odor: the anhydride of hydrochloric acid.
hydrogen fluoride — a colorless corrosive gas, HF, the anhydride of hydrofluoric acid, used chiefly as a catalyst and in the fluorination of hydrocarbons.
hydrogen peroxide — a colorless, unstable, oily liquid, H 2 O 2 , an aqueous solution of which is used chiefly as an antiseptic and a bleaching agent.
hydrogen sulphide — Chemistry
hydrothermal vent — an opening on the floor of the sea from which hot, mineral-rich solutions issue. Compare vent1 (def 2).
hydroxytryptamine — (organic compound) Any hydroxy derivative of tryptamine, but especially 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin).
hypochondriacally — In a hypochondriacal manner.
hypodermic needle — a hollow needle used to inject solutions subcutaneously.
hypophrygian mode — a plagal church mode represented on the white keys of a keyboard instrument by an ascending scale from B to B, with the final on E.
i beg your pardon — You say 'Pardon?' or 'I beg your pardon?' or, in American English, 'Pardon me?' when you want someone to repeat what they have just said because you have not heard or understood it.
icosidodecahedron — A semiregular polyhedron with twelve faces that are regular pentagons and twenty that are equilateral triangles.
icositetrahedrons — Plural form of icositetrahedron.
idiosyncratically — pertaining to the nature of idiosyncrasy, or something peculiar to an individual: The best minds are idiosyncratic and unpredictable as they follow the course of scientific discovery.
immediate version — child version
immunocompromised — having an impaired or compromised immune response; immunodeficient.
in broad daylight — openly, in full public view
in double figures — An amount or number that is in single figures is between zero and nine. An amount or number that is in double figures is between ten and ninety-nine. You can also say, for example, that an amount or number is in three figures when it is between one hundred and nine hundred and ninety-nine.
in double harness — in a harness for two animals pulling the same carriage, plow, etc.
in the background — behind the focus of attention
in/into disrepair — If something is in disrepair or is in a state of disrepair, it is broken or in bad condition.
in/with regard to — You can use with regard to or in regard to to indicate the subject that is being talked or written about.
inconsiderateness — without due regard for the rights or feelings of others: It was inconsiderate of him to keep us waiting.
incubation period — the period between infection and the appearance of signs of a disease.
indecent exposure — the intentional exposure of one's body's privates in a manner that gives offense against accepted or prescribed behavior.
indian rope-trick — the supposed Indian feat of climbing an unsupported rope
indicator diagram — a graphical or other representation of the cyclic variations of pressure and volume within the cylinder of a reciprocating engine obtained by using an indicator
indicator species — See at indicator (def 6).

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