17-letter words containing p, h, o, n, t, a
- put one's hand to — the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb.
- pythagorean scale — the major scale as derived acoustically by Pythagoras from the perfect fifth.
- radiation therapy — x-rays used as treatment
- radio in the loop — Wireless Local Loop
- rehospitalization — the act, process, or state of being hospitalized.
- respiratory chain — a series of mitochondrial proteins that transport electrons of hydrogen, released in the Krebs cycle, from acetyl coenzyme A to inhaled oxygen to form H 2 O: the energy released in the process is conserved as ATP.
- reticulate python — a python, Python reticulatus, of southeastern Asia and the East Indies, sometimes growing to a length of 32 feet (10 meters): usually considered to be the largest snake in the world.
- rhodope mountains — a mountain range in SE Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula extending along the border between Bulgaria and Greece. Highest peak: Golyam Perelik (Bulgaria), 2191 m (7188 ft)
- roll with a punch — to move in the same direction as a punch thrown at one so as to lessen its force
- saint christopher — Saint, died a.d. c250, Christian martyr.
- seat-of-the-pants — using or based on experience, instinct, or guesswork: a seat-of-the-pants management style.
- shetland pullover — a thick woollen sweater made from Shetland wool
- shetland sheepdog — one of a breed of small sheepdogs resembling a miniature collie, raised originally in the Shetland Islands.
- shooting practice — practice in shooting for soldiers or other people who shoot guns
- slap on the wrist — a sharp blow or smack, especially with the open hand or with something flat.
- south sea company — a British joint stock company that traded in South America in the 18th century. The South Sea Company took over the national debt in return for a monopoly of trade with the South Seas, causing feverish speculation in their stocks, and a financial crash in 1720 (the South Sea Bubble)
- southampton water — an inlet of the English Channel in S England
- southern sporades — a group of Greek islands in the Aegean, including the Dodecanese, lying off the SW coast of Turkey
- spaghettification — the theoretical stretching of an object as it encounters extreme differences in gravitational forces, especially those associated with a black hole.
- spit in the ocean — a variety of poker in which four cards are dealt face down to each player and one card, forming the fifth for all hands, is dealt face up in the center of the table, the exposed card and others of its denomination being wild cards.
- spoonbill catfish — flathead catfish.
- steamship company — a company which has a fleet of steamships
- support mechanism — any formal system or method of providing support or assistance
- teaching hospital — a hospital associated with a medical college and offering clinical and other facilities to those in various areas of medical study, as students, interns, and residents.
- technical support — an advising and troubleshooting service provided by a manufacturer, typically a software or hardware developer, to its customers, often online or on the telephone.
- telephone banking — a facility enabling customers to make use of banking services, such as oral payment instructions, account movements, raising loans, etc, over the telephone rather than by personal visit
- telephone message — a message that is transmitted by telephone
- the past anterior — a French tense: the pluperfect
- thermal expansion — expansion caused by heat
- thermal pollution — a rise in the temperature of rivers or lakes that is injurious to water-dwelling life and is caused by the disposal of heated industrial waste water or water from the cooling towers of nuclear power plants.
- thiopental sodium — a barbiturate, C 11 H 18 N 2 NaO 2 S, used as an anesthetic in surgery and, in psychiatry, for narcoanalysis and to stimulate recall of past events.
- thousandths-place — last in order of a series of a thousand.
- throat microphone — a microphone worn around the throat and actuated by vibrations of the larynx, used when background noise would obscure the sound of speech, as in an airplane cockpit.
- youth programming — the creation and scheduling of television programmes specifically aimed at young people