17-letter words containing s, a, g, n
- sting in the tail — an unexpected and unpleasant ending
- stolen generation — Aboriginal children removed from their families and placed in institutions or fostered by White families between 1910 and 1970
- strange attractor — Physics. a stable, nonperiodic state or behavior exhibited by some dynamic systems, especially turbulent ones, that can be represented as a nonrepeating pattern in the system's phase space.
- strange interlude — a play (1928) by Eugene O'Neill.
- stress management — coping with psychological pressure
- 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
- substantive right — a right, as life, liberty, or property, recognized for its own sake and as part of the natural legal order of society.
- superregeneration — regeneration in which a signal is alternately amplified and quenched at a frequency slightly above the audible range to achieve high sensitivity with a single tube.
- supply management — business purchasing
- surgical dressing — a dressing made of cotton, used for incisions made during surgery
- swaddling clothes — cloth for wrapping around a baby
- sweating sickness — a febrile epidemic disease that appeared in the 15th and 16th centuries: characterized by profuse sweating and frequently fatal in a few hours.
- sweet mock orange — the syringa, Philadelphus coronarius.
- switching station — A switching station is equipment used to tie together two or more electric circuits through switches.
- 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.
- take some beating — to be difficult to improve upon
- 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.
- teaching software — computer software for use in providing online education
- telephone message — a message that is transmitted by telephone
- the age of reason — the 18th century in W Europe
- the last judgment — the occasion, after the resurrection of the dead at the end of the world, when, according to biblical tradition, God will decree the final destinies of all men according to the good and evil in their earthly lives
- the night's a pup — it's early yet
- the whole shebang — The whole shebang is the whole situation or business that you are describing.
- thomson's gazelle — a medium-sized antelope, Gazella thomsoni, abundant on the grassy steppes and dry bush of the East African plains.
- threshing machine — a machine for removing grains and seeds from straw and chaff.
- thuringian forest — a forested mountain region in central Germany: a resort area.
- tibetan highlands — Tibet, Plateau of.
- 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 say nothing of — You use to say nothing of when you mention an additional thing which gives even more strength to the point you are making.
- to steal a glance — If you steal a glance at someone or something, you look at them quickly so that nobody sees you looking.
- trading standards — consumer organization
- transignification — (in the Eucharist) a change in the significance of the bread and wine to symbolize the body and blood of Christ.
- transition region — a thin and very irregular layer of the sun's atmosphere that separates the hot corona from the much cooler chromosphere.
- transverse engine — an engine which is fitted side-to-side across the axis of a vehicle
- trigger mechanism — a physiological or psychological process caused by a stimulus and resulting in a usually severe reaction.
- turbinado (sugar) — a partially refined, granulated, pale-brown sugar obtained by washing raw sugar in a centrifuge until most of the molasses is removed
- ultimate strength — the quantity of the utmost tensile, compressive, or shearing stress that a given unit area of a certain material is expected to bear without failing.
- undistinguishable — to mark off as different (often followed by from or by): He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
- unimaginativeness — the quality of being unimaginative
- universal algebra — (logic) The model theory of first-order equational logic.
- universal grammar — a grammar that attempts to establish the properties and constraints common to all possible human languages.
- urogenital system — the urinary tract and reproductive organs
- user brain damage — (humour) (UBD) A description (usually abbreviated) used to close a trouble report obviously due to utter cluelessness on the user's part. Compare pilot error; opposite: PBD; see also brain-damaged, PEBCAK.
- utagawa kuniyoshi — original name Igusa Magosabwo. 1797–1861, Japanese painter and printmaker of the ukiyo-e school, best known for his prints of warriors and landscapes
- vaginal discharge — emission from the female genitalia
- vanity publishing — the practice of the author of a book paying all or most of the costs of its publication
- vasovagal syncope — a faint brought on by excessive activity of the vagus nerve, causing the heart to slow and the blood pressure to fall. It can be caused by fear, choking, or stomach cramps and has no lasting effects
- verkhoyansk range — a mountain range in the Sakha Republic, in E Siberia, Russia. About 600 miles (970 km) long.
- vinaigrette sauce — a tart sauce of oil, vinegar, and seasonings, sometimes including chopped capers, pickles, etc., usually served cold with salads.
- visitation rights — the legal right granted to a divorced or separated parent to visit a child in the custody of the other parent.