17-letter words containing s, a, b, d
- goldbeater's skin — the prepared outside membrane of the large intestine of the ox, used by goldbeaters to lay between the leaves of the metal while they beat it into gold leaf.
- great st. bernard — Great, a mountain pass between SW Switzerland and NW Italy, in the Pennine Alps: Napoleon led his army through it in 1800; location of a hospice. 8108 feet (2470 meters) high.
- hard-shelled crab — a crab, esp. an edible sea crab, before it has shed its hard shell
- herbaceous border — A herbaceous border is a flower bed containing a mixture of plants that flower every year.
- 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 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.
- hottentot's bread — elephant's-foot.
- i am bound to say — You can say 'I am bound to say' to introduce a statement expressing something that you find undesirable or unexpected.
- in double harness — in a harness for two animals pulling the same carriage, plow, etc.
- in-band signaling — in-band signalling
- indefatigableness — The state of being indefatigable.
- indescribableness — The quality of being indescribable.
- indian paintbrush — any of several semiparasitic plants belonging to the genus Castilleja, of the figwort family, as C. linariaefolia, of the western U.S.: the state flower of Wyoming.
- indian strawberry — a plant, Duchesnea indica, of the rose family, native to India, having yellow flowers and inedible fruit resembling strawberries.
- indispensableness — The characteristic of being indispensable; indispensability.
- indistinguishable — not distinguishable.
- indistinguishably — In an indistinguishable manner; so that separate components or differences cannot be discerned.
- interdental brush — a small brush that is used to clean between the teeth
- job advertisement — an announcement in a newspaper, on television, or on a poster about a post of employment
- juvenile diabetes — any of several disorders characterized by increased urine production.
- kendal sneck bent — a fishhook having a wide, squarish bend.
- knowledgeableness — The state, quality, or measure of being knowledgeable; wisdom.
- lambda expression — (mathematics) A term in the lambda-calculus denoting an unnamed function (a "lambda abstraction"), a variable or a constant. The pure lambda-calculus has only functions and no constants.
- lambdoidal suture — the lambda-shaped seam or line of joining between the occipital and two parietal bones at the back part of the skull.
- learning-disabled — pertaining to or having a learning disability: a learning-disabled child.
- least upper bound — an upper bound that is less than or equal to all the upper bounds of a particular set. 3 is the least upper bound of the set consisting of 1, 2, 3. Abbr.: lub.
- liberal democrats — (in Britain) a political party with centrist policies; established in 1988 as the Social and Liberal Democrats when the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party; renamed Liberal Democrats in 1989
- light dawns on sb — If light dawns on you, you begin to understand something after a period of not being able to understand it.
- loose-leaf binder — a hard cover with metal rings inside which is used to hold loose pieces of paper
- man's best friend — a dog, especially as a pet.
- mental disability — a general or specific intellectual handicap, resulting directly or indirectly from injury to the brain or from abnormal neurological development
- microdermabrasion — A cosmetic treatment in which the face is sprayed with exfoliant crystals to remove dead epidermal cells.
- misunderstandable — Capable of being misunderstood.
- modular sb-prolog — Modular Prolog
- movable-do system — a system of solmization in which the syllable do can be transposed to the tonic of any key.
- nervous breakdown — (not in technical use) any disabling mental disorder requiring treatment.
- 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.
- 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.
- on one's deathbed — about to die
- 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.
- passamaquoddy bay — an inlet of the Bay of Fundy, between Maine and New Brunswick, at the mouth of the St. Croix River.
- passive obedience — unquestioning obedience to authority
- pillar-and-breast — room-and-pillar.
- pittsburg landing — a village in SW Tennessee, on the Tennessee River: battle of Shiloh in 1862.
- positive feedback — Electronics. the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback) or to aid the input (positive feedback) acoustic feedback.
- potassium bromide — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, KBr, having a bitter saline taste: used chiefly in the manufacture of photographic papers and plates, in engraving, and in medicine as a sedative.
- pressurized cabin — the cabin of an aircraft in which the air has been pressurized
- pseudo-biological — pertaining to biology.
- red-backed shrike — a common Eurasian shrike, Lanius collurio, the male of which has a grey crown and rump, brown wings and back, and a black-and-white face