17-letter words containing s, h, i, t, n
- bushman's singlet — a sleeveless heavy black woollen singlet, used as working clothing by timber fellers
- buttonhole stitch — a reinforcing looped stitch for the edge of material, such as around a buttonhole
- cache consistency — cache coherency
- casting the runes — (jargon) What a guru does when you ask him or her to run a particular program because it never works for anyone else; especially used when nobody can ever see what the guru is doing different from what J. Random Luser does. Compare incantation, runes, examining the entrails; also see the AI koan about Tom Knight.
- castle in the air — a hope or desire unlikely to be realized; daydream
- catastrophization — The act or process of catastrophizing.
- caudal anesthesia — anesthesia below the pelvis, induced by injecting an anesthetic into the sacral portion of the spinal canal.
- celestial horizon — the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky.
- character witness — a witness in a trial who testifies to the accused's general good character rather than providing evidence about the specific offence which has led to him or her being on trial
- characterisations — Plural form of characterisation.
- characterizations — portrayal; description: the actor's characterization of a politician.
- chest compression — Chest compression is the act of applying pressure to someone's chest in order to help blood flow through the heart in an emergency situation.
- chicken drumstick — a chicken leg, considered as food
- chiltern hundreds — (in Britain) short for Stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds; a nominal office that an MP applies for in order to resign his seat
- china grass cloth — grass cloth.
- chinese artichoke — a hairy plant, Stachys affinis, of China and Japan, having numerous small, white, edible tubers.
- chinese turkestan — the E part of the central Asian region of Turkestan: corresponds generally to the present-day Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China
- christian science — Christian Science is a type of Christianity which emphasizes the use of prayer to cure illness.
- christmas present — a present given at Christmas time, typically on Christmas Day
- christmas pudding — Christmas pudding is a special pudding that is eaten at Christmas.
- chugach mountains — a coastal mountain range in S Alaska, extending W from the St. Elias Mountains. Highest peak, Mount Marcus Baker, 13,176 feet (4016 meters).
- circle the wagons — to take defensive action; prepare for an attack: from arranging a wagon train in a circular formation
- circuit switching — (communications) Communication via a single dedicated path between the sender and receiver. The telephone system is an example of a circuit switched network. The term connection-oriented is used in packet-based networks in contrast to connectionless communication or packet switching.
- citizen's charter — (formerly, in Britain) a government document setting out standards of service for public and private sector bodies, such as schools, hospitals, railway companies, water and energy suppliers, etc
- civil partnership — A civil partnership is a legal relationship between two people of the same sex that is similar to marriage.
- classical nahuatl — Aztec (def 2).
- classical-nahuatl — a member of a Nahuatl-speaking state in central Mexico that was conquered by Cortés in 1521.
- cleveland heights — city in NE Ohio: suburb of Cleveland: pop. 50,000
- close parenthesis — right parenthesis
- close to the wind — sailing as nearly as possible towards the direction from which the wind is blowing
- combine harvester — A combine harvester is a large machine which is used on farms to cut, sort, and clean grain.
- come to handgrips — to engage in hand-to-hand fighting
- comprehensibility — capable of being comprehended or understood; intelligible.
- congestion charge — Congestion charges refer to money motorists must pay in order to drive in some city centres. Congestion charges are intended to reduce traffic within those areas.
- connecticut chest — a chest made in Connecticut in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, having three front panels of which the center panel has a conventional sunflower design in low relief and the end panels have tulip designs.
- conscript fathers — august legislators, esp Roman senators
- conspiracy theory — A conspiracy theory is a belief that a group of people are secretly trying to harm someone or achieve something. You usually use this term to suggest that you think this is unlikely.
- continental shelf — The continental shelf is the area which forms the edge of a continent, ending in a steep slope to the depths of the ocean.
- contradistinguish — to differentiate by means of contrasting or opposing qualities
- correspondentship — The role or status of correspondent.
- cross the rubicon — If you say that someone has crossed the Rubicon, you mean that they have reached a point where they cannot change a decision or course of action.
- cytotechnologists — the study of human cells to detect signs of cancer or other abnormalities.
- damon and pythias — two friends noted for their mutual loyalty. Damon offered himself as a hostage for Pythias, who was to be executed for treason by Dionysius of Syracuse. When Pythias returned to save his friend's life, he was pardoned
- deadly nightshade — a poisonous Eurasian solanaceous plant, Atropa belladonna, having dull purple bell-shaped flowers and small very poisonous black berries
- debt rescheduling — the process of changing the time frame or deadline for the repayment of debt, usually to ease the burden on the debtor
- dehistoricization — The process or result of dehistoricizing.
- dehospitalization — hospitalization insurance.
- dephlogisticating — Present participle of dephlogisticate.
- dephosphorylation — the removal of a phosphate group from an organic compound, as in the changing of ATP to ADP.
- descending rhythm — a rhythmic pattern created by the succession of metrical feet each of which is composed of one accented syllable followed by one or more unaccented syllables.