17-letter words containing s, h, e, t, o
- overstep the mark — If someone oversteps the mark, they behave in a way that is considered unacceptable.
- oystershell scale — a scale insect, Lepidosaphes ulmi, having a scale shaped like the shell of an oyster, which infests various deciduous trees and shrubs.
- pacific northwest — the region of North America lying north of the Columbia River and west of the Rockies
- paleobiochemistry — the study of biochemical processes that occurred in fossil life forms.
- pastoral theology — the branch of theology dealing with the responsibilities of members of the clergy to the people under their care.
- penalty shoot-out — In football, a penalty shoot-out is a way of deciding the result of a game that has ended in a draw. Players from each team try to score a goal in turn until one player fails to score and their team loses the game.
- personality clash — friction between two people who have different personalities or points of view
- perth and kinross — a council area of N central Scotland, corresponding mainly to the historical counties of Perthshire and Kinross-shire: part of Tayside Region from 1975 until 1996: chiefly mountainous, with agriculture, tourism, and forestry. Administrative centre: Perth. Pop: 135 990 (2003 est). Area: 5321 sq km (2019 sq miles)
- petrarchan sonnet — a sonnet form popularized by Petrarch, consisting of an octave with the rhyme scheme abbaabba and of a sestet with one of several rhyme schemes, as cdecde or cdcdcd.
- phase of the moon — Used humorously as a random parameter on which something is said to depend. Sometimes implies unreliability of whatever is dependent, or that reliability seems to be dependent on conditions nobody has been able to determine. "This feature depends on having the channel open in mumble mode, having the foo switch set, and on the phase of the moon." See also heisenbug. True story: Once upon a time there was a bug that really did depend on the phase of the moon. There was a little subroutine that had traditionally been used in various programs at MIT to calculate an approximation to the moon's true phase. GLS incorporated this routine into a Lisp program that, when it wrote out a file, would print a timestamp line almost 80 characters long. Very occasionally the first line of the message would be too long and would overflow onto the next line, and when the file was later read back in the program would barf. The length of the first line depended on both the precise date and time and the length of the phase specification when the timestamp was printed, and so the bug literally depended on the phase of the moon! The first paper edition of the Jargon File (Steele-1983) included an example of one of the timestamp lines that exhibited this bug, but the typesetter "corrected" it. This has since been described as the phase-of-the-moon-bug bug.
- phenyl isocyanate — a liquid reagent, C 7 H 5 NO, having an unpleasant, irritating odor: used chiefly for identifying alcohols and amines.
- phlebotomus fever — sandfly fever.
- photo-respiration — the oxidation of carbohydrates in many higher plants in which they get oxygen from light and then release carbon dioxide, somewhat different from photosynthesis.
- photoluminescence — luminescence induced by the absorption of infrared radiation, visible light, or ultraviolet radiation.
- phototherapeutics — the branch of therapeutics that deals with the curative use of light rays.
- pick the eyes out — to select the best parts or pieces (of)
- play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- pocket battleship — a small heavily armed and armored warship serving as a battleship because of limitations imposed by treaty.
- point of purchase — designating or in use at a retail outlet where an item can be purchased; point-of-sale: point-of-purchase displays to entice the buyer.
- point-of-purchase — designating or in use at a retail outlet where an item can be purchased; point-of-sale: point-of-purchase displays to entice the buyer.
- polioencephalitis — a disease characterized by inflammation of the gray matter of the brain.
- polystyrene chips — small pieces of polystyrene used for insulating or packing
- porterhouse steak — large cut of beef loin
- positive theology — a theological approach or tradition in which the nature of God is thought to be knowable and is understood through positive statements. See also cataphasis (def 2).
- positive thinking — an optimistic attitude
- preferential shop — a shop in which union members are preferred, usually by agreement of an employer with a union.
- private ownership — the fact of being owned by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public body
- protein synthesis — the process by which amino acids are linearly arranged into proteins through the involvement of ribosomal RNA, transfer RNA, messenger RNA, and various enzymes.
- pseudo-historical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- pseudo-humanistic — a person having a strong interest in or concern for human welfare, values, and dignity.
- psychoeducational — designating or of psychological methods, as intelligence tests, used in evaluating learning ability
- psychometric test — a test designed to test a person's mental state, personality and thought processes
- psychotherapeutic — psychotherapy.
- pull one's weight — the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.
- push the boat out — to celebrate, esp lavishly and expensively
- push the envelope — a flat paper container, as for a letter or thin package, usually having a gummed flap or other means of closure.
- put on the gloves — to box
- 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.
- put the kibosh on — nonsense.
- put the screws on — a metal fastener having a tapered shank with a helical thread, and topped with a slotted head, driven into wood or the like by rotating, especially by means of a screwdriver.
- pythagorean scale — the major scale as derived acoustically by Pythagoras from the perfect fifth.
- 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.
- rhetorical stress — stress required by the meaning of a line, as distinguished from that required by the meter.
- rhinoceros beetle — any of several scarabaeid beetles, especially of the genus Dynastes, which comprises the largest beetles, characterized by one or more horns on the head and prothorax.
- rhode island bent — a European pasture grass, Agrostis tenuis, naturalized in North America, having red flower clusters.
- 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)
- saint christopher — Saint, died a.d. c250, Christian martyr.
- salt of the earth — an individual or group considered as representative of the best or noblest elements of society.
- save one's breath — the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.