17-letter words containing s, a, v, n
- intransitive verb — a verb that indicates a complete action without being accompanied by a direct object, as sit or lie, and, in English, that does not form a passive.
- inverse cotangent — arc cotangent.
- inversion casting — casting from an electric furnace inverted over the mold.
- inversion therapy — a method used to stretch and align the body, especially the lower back, by suspending the entire body upside down from an apparatus that grips or supports the feet or knees.
- investment banker — an executive in an investment bank
- invisible balance — the difference in value between total exports of services plus payment of property incomes from abroad and total imports of services plus payment abroad of property incomes
- inward investment — Inward investment is the investment of money in a country by companies from outside that country.
- irrecoverableness — The quality of being irrecoverable.
- jehovah's witness — A Jehovah's Witness is a member of a religious organization which accepts some Christian ideas and believes that the world is going to end very soon.
- 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.
- laccadive islands — group of islands in the Arabian Sea, off the SW coast of India: part of Lakshadweep territory
- level compensator — an automatic gain control device used in the receivers of telegraphic circuits.
- livingstone daisy — a gardener's name for various species of Mesembryanthemum, esp M. criniflorum, grown as garden annuals (though several are perennial) for their brightly coloured showy flowers: family Aizoaceae
- make conversation — If you make conversation, you talk to someone in order to be polite and not because you really want to.
- martha's vineyard — an island off SE Massachusetts: summer resort. About 100 sq. mi. (259 sq. km).
- mies van der rohe — Ludwig [luhd-wig] /ˈlʌd wɪg/ (Show IPA), 1886–1969, U.S. architect, born in Germany.
- misrepresentative — to represent incorrectly, improperly, or falsely.
- mountain viscacha — the mountain chinchilla
- muscae volitantes — floater (def 6).
- myasthenia gravis — a disease of impaired transmission of motor nerve impulses, characterized by episodic muscle weakness and easy fatigability, especially of the face, tongue, neck, and respiratory muscles: caused by autoimmune destruction of acetylcholine receptors. Abbreviation: MG.
- nashville warbler — a North American wood warbler, Vermivora ruficapilla, having a gray head, an olive-green back, and yellow underparts.
- naval air station — military airbase for the navy
- naval observatory — an astronomical observatory located in Washington, D.C., operated by the U.S. government, and responsible for the U.S. time service.
- navigation lights — lights on an aircraft
- navigation system — A navigation system is an instrument that determines the position of a vehicle and the route to a particular place.
- negative catalyst — an inhibitor.
- negative eugenics — the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics)
- negative transfer — the obstruction of or interference with new learning because of previous learning, as when a U.S. tourist in England learns to drive on the left side of the road.
- nervous breakdown — (not in technical use) any disabling mental disorder requiring treatment.
- net present value — an assessment of the long-term profitability of a project made by adding together all the revenue it can be expected to achieve over its whole life and deducting all the costs involved, discounting both future costs and revenue at an appropriate rate
- neurotransmissive — Relating to neurotransmission.
- nikita khrushchev — Nikita S(ergeyevich) [ni-kee-tuh sur-gey-uh-vich;; Russian nyi-kyee-tuh syir-gye-yuh-vyich] /nɪˈki tə sɜrˈgeɪ ə vɪtʃ;; Russian nyɪˈkyi tə syɪrˈgyɛ yə vyɪtʃ/ (Show IPA), 1894–1971, Russian political leader: premier of the U.S.S.R. 1958–64.
- nikolaus von cusa — Nicholas (def 1).
- non-controversial — of, relating to, or characteristic of controversy, or prolonged public dispute, debate, or contention; polemical: a controversial book.
- non-demonstrative — characterized by or given to open exhibition or expression of one's emotions, attitudes, etc., especially of love or affection: She wished her fiancé were more demonstrative.
- nonrepresentative — a person or thing that represents another or others.
- observation tower — lookout, observation point
- odds-on favourite — a person, team, horse, etc that is regarded as the most likely to win a competition
- on the heavy side — tending to be too heavy
- otto von bismarck — Otto von [ot-oh von;; German aw-toh fuh n] /ˈɒt oʊ vɒn;; German ˈɔ toʊ fən/ (Show IPA), 1815–98, German statesman: first chancellor of modern German Empire 1871–90.
- over-compensation — a pronounced striving to neutralize and conceal a strong but unacceptable character trait by substituting for it an opposite trait.
- over-conservative — disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
- overreach oneself — to fail because of trying to do more than one can
- oversquare engine — An oversquare engine is an engine which has a cylinder bore that is larger than its stroke.
- paleoconservative — a person advocating an older, traditional type of conservatism, especially in politics.
- parallel universe — Physics. any of a hypothetical collection of undetectable universes that are like our known universe but have branched off from our universe due to a quantum-level event. See also multiverse.
- parts of kesteven — an area in E England constituting a former administrative division of Lincolnshire
- passive obedience — unquestioning obedience to authority
- passive restraint — a safety device, as an air bag or special seat belt, that is activated automatically to protect an automobile passenger at the moment of impact when a collision occurs.