17-letter words containing o, n, e, s, b
- secondary boycott — a boycott by union members against their employer in order to induce the employer to bring pressure on another company involved in a labor dispute with the union.
- secondary rainbow — a faint rainbow formed by light rays that undergo two internal reflections in drops of rain, appearing above the primary rainbow and having its colors in the opposite order.
- self-incompatible — not capable of self-pollination.
- shake one's booty — to dance
- sinbad the sailor — a merchant in The Arabian Nights who makes seven adventurous voyages
- sleeping problems — difficulties in getting to sleep or in staying asleep
- special constable — a person recruited for temporary or occasional police duties, esp in time of emergency
- split keyboarding — the act or practice of editing data from one terminal on another terminal
- squash vine borer — the larva of a clearwing moth, Melittia satyriniformis, that bores into the stems of squash and related plants.
- steamboat springs — a town in NW Colorado: ski resort.
- strawberry blonde — woman: with reddish fair hair
- subclavian groove — either of two grooves in the first rib, one for the main artery (subclavian artery) and the other for the main vein (subclavian vein) of the arm
- subordinated debt — a debt that an unsecured creditor can only claim, in the event of a liquidation, after the claims of secured creditors have been paid
- subscription rate — the price charged for a subscription
- sunbury-on-thames — a town in SE England, in N Surrey. Pop: 27 415 (2001)
- sunday observance — the fact of keeping Sunday as a special day when people go to church
- surrender to bail — to present oneself at court at the appointed time after having been on bail
- suspension bridge — a bridge having a deck suspended from cables anchored at their extremities and usually raised on towers.
- symbolic language — a specialized language dependent upon the use of symbols for communication and created for the purpose of achieving greater exactitude, as in symbolic logic or mathematics.
- synovial membrane — anatomy: connective tissue
- synthetic biology — the application of computer science techniques to create artificial biological systems
- take some beating — to be difficult to improve upon
- take to one's bed — to remain in bed, esp because of illness
- teething problems — If a project or new product has teething problems, it has problems in its early stages or when it first becomes available.
- teething troubles — Teething troubles are the same as teething problems.
- telephone numbers — extremely large numbers, esp in reference to salaries or prices
- terrorist bombing — the bombing of a place carried out in order to achieve some goal
- the carboniferous — the Carboniferous period or rock system
- the joke is on sb — If you say that the joke is on a particular person, you mean that they have been made to look very foolish by something.
- the whole shebang — The whole shebang is the whole situation or business that you are describing.
- theory of numbers — number theory.
- to best advantage — If something is shown to good advantage or to best advantage, it is shown in a way that reveals its best features.
- to get to know sb — If you get to know someone, you find out what they are like by spending time with them.
- to read sb's mind — If you can read someone's mind, you know what they are thinking without them saying anything.
- transferable vote — a vote that is transferred to a second candidate indicated by the voter if the first is eliminated from the ballot
- transonic barrier — sound barrier.
- triboluminescence — luminescence produced by friction, usually within a crystalline substance.
- uncle tom's cabin — an antislavery novel (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe.
- uncomfortableness — causing discomfort or distress; painful; irritating.
- unreconstructible — not capable of being reconstructed.
- visible radiation — electromagnetic radiation that causes the sensation of sight; light. It has wavelengths between about 380 and 780 nanometres
- wang laboratories — (body) Computer manufacturer, known for their office automation products and the Wang PC. Quarterly sales $208M, profits $3M (Aug 1994).
- welshman's button — an angler's name for a species of caddis fly, Sericostoma personatum
- what does sb know — You can use expressions such as What does she know? and What do they know? when you think that someone has no right to comment on a situation because they do not understand it.
- wheatstone bridge — a circuit for measuring an unknown resistance by comparing it with known resistances.
- whiskey rebellion — a revolt of settlers in western Pennsylvania in 1794 against a federal excise tax on whiskey: suppressed by militia called out by President George Washington to establish the authority of the federal government.
- working substance — a substance, usually a fluid, that undergoes changes in pressure, temperature, volume, or form as part of a process for accomplishing work.
- zero-coupon bonds — Zero-coupon bonds are bonds with no coupons that do not pay interest, and are sold at a large discount from their face value.