17-letter words containing o, u, i, s
- integrated course — a course that covers several subjects
- intercommunicates — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of intercommunicate.
- iron constitution — a particularly strong and resistant physical make-up
- island of the sun — Sicily: the island where Helius kept his oxen.
- isthmus of panama — an isthmus linking North and South America, between the Pacific and the Caribbean. Length: 676 km (420 miles). Width (at its narrowest point): 50 km (31 miles)
- it's your funeral — If someone says to you 'It's your funeral', they think your decision or your actions will have bad consequences for you, but they are unwilling to interfere.
- john of salisbury — c1115–80, English prelate and scholar.
- judgment of paris — the decision by Paris to award Aphrodite the golden apple of discord competed for by Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera.
- jus primae noctis — droit du seigneur.
- kennesaw mountain — a mountain in N Georgia, near Atlanta: battle 1864. 1809 feet (551 meters).
- khingan mountains — a mountain system of NE China, in W Manchuria. Highest peak: 2034 m (6673 ft)
- l'hospital's rule — the theorem that for the quotient of two functions satisfying certain conditions on a given closed interval, each having infinite limit or zero as limit at a given point, the limit of the quotient at the given point is equal to the limit of the quotient of the derivatives of each function.
- la perouse strait — a strait between S Sakhalin Island, Russia and N Hokkaido Island, Japan connecting the Sea of Okhotsk and the Sea of Japan. 25 miles (40 km) wide.
- lambdoidal suture — the lambda-shaped seam or line of joining between the occipital and two parietal bones at the back part of the skull.
- lame-duck session — (formerly) the December to March session of those members of the U.S. Congress who were defeated for reelection the previous November.
- langmuir isotherm — A Langmuir isotherm is a classical relationship between the concentrations of a solid and a fluid, used to describe a state of no change in the sorption process.
- last-in first-out — stack
- league of nations — an international organization to promote world peace and cooperation that was created by the Treaty of Versailles (1919): dissolved April 1946.
- lebanon mountains — a mountain range extending the length of Lebanon, in the central part. Highest peak, 10,049 feet (3063 meters).
- leibniz mountains — a mountain range on the SW limb of the moon, containing the highest peaks (10 000 metres) on the moon
- leizhou peninsula — a peninsula of SE China, in SW Guangdong province, separated from Hainan Island by Hainan Strait
- librocubicularist — (rare) A person who reads in bed.
- lick one's wounds — an injury, usually involving division of tissue or rupture of the integument or mucous membrane, due to external violence or some mechanical agency rather than disease.
- lighthouse keeper — a person who mans a lighthouse and makes sure that the light is working properly
- limestone lettuce — a variety of lettuce derived from Bibb lettuce.
- limousine liberal — a wealthy left-wing person
- liquidity cushion — a reserve fund of assets held by a company or person
- loco supra citato — l.s.c.
- long island sound — an arm of the Atlantic between Connecticut and Long Island. 90 miles (145 km) long.
- louisiana tanager — western tanager.
- luminous efficacy — the quotient of the luminous flux of a radiation and its corresponding radiant flux
- luminous exitance — the ability of a surface to emit light expressed as the luminous flux per unit area at a specified point on the surface
- macro-linguistics — a field of study concerned with language in its broadest sense and including cultural and behavioral features associated with language.
- macroinstructions — Plural form of macroinstruction.
- magellanic clouds — either of two irregular galactic clusters in the southern heavens that are the nearest independent star system to the Milky Way.
- make noises about — to give indications of one's intentions
- manicure scissors — scissors for manicuring or trimming the nails
- manifest function — any function of an institution or other social phenomenon that is planned and intentional.
- manitoulin island — an island in N Lake Huron belonging to Canada. 80 miles (130 km) long.
- maurice of nassau — Prince of Orange 1567-1625; Du. statesman & military leader
- maxwell equations — equations developed by James Clerk Maxwell (1831–79) upon which classical electromagnetic theory is based
- medium close shot — a shot taken fairly close to the subject, but not as close as a close-up
- memoised function — memo function
- mensural notation — a system of musical notation of the 13th to the late 16th centuries, marked by the use of note symbols such as the longa and brevis, the absence of bar lines and ties, and the equivalence in value of one note to either two or three of the next smaller degree.
- mercury poisoning — illness caused by exposure to mercury
- messier catalogue — a catalogue of 103 nonstellar objects, such as nebulae and galaxies, prepared in 1781–86. An object is referred to by its number in this catalogue, for example the Andromeda Galaxy is referred to as M31
- microconstituents — a microscopically small constituent of a metal or alloy.
- microencapsulated — Encapsulated using microencapsulation.
- microinstructions — Plural form of microinstruction.
- micromanipulators — Plural form of micromanipulator.