17-letter words containing o, s, u, a, r
- multimillionaires — Plural form of multimillionaire.
- mundane astrology — the astrology of worldly events, in contrast to the astrology of the individual: used especially in interpretations and forecasts involving politics, the stock market, weather, and disasters.
- munitions factory — a factory where munitions are made
- muscle dysmorphia — a mental disorder primarily affecting males, characterized by obsessions about a perceived lack of muscularity, leading to compulsive exercising, use of anabolic steroids, etc. Compare body dysmorphic disorder.
- narrow-shouldered — having shoulders which do not extend very far from the neck; not broad-shouldered
- nasolacrimal duct — a membranous canal extending from the lacrimal sac to the nasal cavity, through which tears are discharged into the nose.
- national security — defence of a country
- natural harmonics — harmonics of a note produced on a stringed instrument by lightly touching an open or unstopped sounded string.
- natural resources — a naturally occurring source of wealth, as land or water.
- natural selection — the process by which forms of life having traits that better enable them to adapt to specific environmental pressures, as predators, changes in climate, or competition for food or mates, will tend to survive and reproduce in greater numbers than others of their kind, thus ensuring the perpetuation of those favorable traits in succeeding generations.
- natural-resources — a naturally occurring source of wealth, as land or water.
- nervous breakdown — (not in technical use) any disabling mental disorder requiring treatment.
- neurofibromatosis — a dominantly inherited genetic disorder characterized by flat brown patches on the skin, neurofibromas of the skin and internal organs, and in some cases skeletal deformity.
- neuropsychiatrist — A medical doctor specializing in neuropsychiatry; a medical doctor dealing with disorders that have both neurological and psychiatric features.
- neurotransmission — the transmission of a nerve impulse across a synapse.
- neurotransmissive — Relating to neurotransmission.
- neurotransmitters — Plural form of neurotransmitter.
- nicholas bourbaki — the pseudonym of a group of mainly French mathematicians that, since 1939, has been producing a monumental work on advanced mathematics, Eléments de Mathématique
- non-instructional — the act or practice of instructing or teaching; education.
- non-subordination — the act of placing in a lower rank or position: The refusal to allow women to be educated was part of society's subordination of women to men.
- nonunderstandable — Not understandable.
- nuclear isomerism — isomerism (def 2).
- nuclear threshold — the point in war at which a combatant brings nuclear weapons into use
- nuclear-isomerism — Chemistry. the relation of two or more compounds, radicals, or ions that are composed of the same kinds and numbers of atoms but differ from each other in structural arrangement (structural isomerism) as CH 3 OCH 3 and CH 3 CH 2 OH, or in the arrangement of their atoms in space and therefore in one or more properties. Compare optical isomerism, stereoisomerism.
- nursery education — education provided at a school for young children, usually from three to five years old
- odds-on favourite — a person, team, horse, etc that is regarded as the most likely to win a competition
- odour of sanctity — sanctimoniousness
- old south arabian — a group of four closely related Semitic languages, having a writing system and used from about the eighth to the fifth centuries b.c. in the southern part of Arabia.
- opening arguments — the statements or arguments provided by lawyers at the beginning of a trial
- opportunistically — adhering to a policy of opportunism; practicing opportunism.
- organ-pipe cactus — a treelike or columnar cactus, Lemaireocereus marginatus, of Mexico, having a central, erect spine surrounded by spreading spines in clusters of five to eight, and funnel-shaped, brownish-purple flowers.
- organophosphorous — Misspelling of organophosphorus.
- osculating circle — circle of curvature.
- out of all reason — unreasonable
- out of harm's way — If someone or something is out of harm's way, they are in a safe place away from danger or from the possibility of being damaged.
- outside broadcast — An outside broadcast is a radio or television programme that is not recorded or filmed in a studio, but in another building or in the open air.
- oversquare engine — An oversquare engine is an engine which has a cylinder bore that is larger than its stroke.
- parents anonymous — (in Britain) an association of local voluntary self-help groups offering help through an anonymous telephone service to parents who fear they will injure their children, or who have other problems in managing their children
- parker house roll — a soft dinner roll made by folding a flat disk of dough in half.
- performance bonus — a monetary bonus paid to staff who have performed well in their job
- performance drugs — the drugs that are taken illegally by athletes to enhance their sporting performance
- pernicious anemia — Pernicious anemia is a very severe blood disease.
- personal computer — a compact computer that uses a microprocessor and is designed for individual use, as by a person in an office or at home or school, for such applications as word processing, data management, financial analysis, or computer games. Abbreviation: PC.
- personal equation — the tendency to personal bias that accounts for variation in interpretation or approach and for which allowance must be made.
- perspicaciousness — having keen mental perception and understanding; discerning: to exhibit perspicacious judgment.
- phototherapeutics — the branch of therapeutics that deals with the curative use of light rays.
- plateau's problem — the problem in the calculus of variations of finding the surface with the least area bounded by a given closed curve in space.
- 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.
- porterhouse steak — large cut of beef loin