17-letter words containing s, h, r
- attraction sphere — centrosphere (sense 1)
- audience research — research into the make-up and habits of the audience of a particular television or radio programme or network
- australopithecine — any of various extinct apelike primates of the genus Australopithecus and related genera, remains of which have been discovered in southern and E Africa. Some species are estimated to be over 4.5 million years old
- authoritativeness — having due authority; having the sanction or weight of authority: an authoritative opinion.
- babi yar symphony — a symphony (1962) by Dimitri Dimitrievich Shostakovich.
- bachelor's button — any of several plants of a genus (Centaurea) of the composite family, that have scaly, vase-shaped bracts below the white, pink, or blue flowers; esp., the cornflower and knapweed
- bachelor's degree — A bachelor's degree is a first degree awarded by universities.
- bachelor's-button — any of various plants with round flower heads, especially the cornflower.
- back on the rails — If something is back on the rails, it is beginning to be successful again after a period when it almost failed.
- bacteriorhodopsin — a purple protein containing retinal and found in the plasma membrane of certain bacteria (genus Halobacterium): it directly supplies electrochemical energy from sunlight
- barchester towers — a novel (1857) by Anthony Trollope.
- barkhausen effect — the phenomenon of short, sudden changes in the magnetism of a ferromagnetic substance occurring when the intensity of the magnetizing field is continuously altered.
- bartholin's gland — either of two small glands near the vaginal opening: during sexual excitement they secrete a mucous lubricating substance
- baseboard heating — a heating system by pipes, through which steam or hot water circulates, near the base of the walls of rooms
- bathroom fittings — plumbing fixtures or accessories suitable for use in a bathroom
- be on tenterhooks — If you are on tenterhooks, you are very nervous and excited because you are wondering what is going to happen in a particular situation.
- be over sb's head — If something such as an idea, joke, or comment goes over someone's head, it is too difficult for them to understand.
- beat a dead horse — to argue an issue that is already settled
- bell-hanger's bit — a bit for drilling small holes through studs or the like.
- bell-shaped curve — bell curve
- belted kingfisher — a grayish-blue, North American kingfisher, Ceryle alcyon, having a white breast marked with a grayish-blue band.
- bergisch gladbach — city in W Germany, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia: pop. 105,000
- bergisch-gladbach — an industrial city in W Germany, near Cologne.
- best first search — (algorithm) A graph search algorithm which optimises breadth first search by ordering all current paths according to some heuristic. The heuristic attempts to predict how close the end of a path is to a solution. Paths which are judged to be closer to a solution are extended first. See also beam search, hill climbing.
- bighorn mountains — range of the Rocky Mountains in N Wyo. and S Mont.: highest peak, 13,165 ft (4,013 m)
- bird's-eye chilli — a small red hot-tasting chilli
- blackcurrant bush — a bush of the blackcurrant plant
- blood cholesterol — a measurement of the amount of cholesterol in someone's blood
- board-and-shingle — a small dwelling with wooden walls and a shingle roof
- boatswain's chair — a seat consisting of a short flat board slung from ropes, used to support a person working on the side of a vessel or in its rigging
- boiler horsepower — a unit of measurement of the ability of a boiler to evaporate water, usually given as the ability to evaporate 34½ pounds (15.6 kg) of water an hour, into dry saturated steam from and at 212°F (100°C).
- bottlebrush grass — a North American grass, Hystrix patula, having loose flower spikes with long awns.
- branch delay slot — delayed control-transfer
- breach of promise — (formerly) failure to carry out one's promise to marry
- break one's heart — to grieve or cause to grieve very deeply, esp through love
- british cameroons — a former British trust territory of West Africa
- british columbian — of or relating to British Columbia or its inhabitants
- british israelite — a member of a religious movement claiming that the British people are descended from the lost tribes of Israel
- british shorthair — a breed of large cat with a short dense coat
- british-cameroons — German Kamerun. a region in W Africa: a German protectorate 1884–1919; divided in 1919 into British and French mandates.
- broadview heights — a town in N Ohio.
- buncher resonator — See under Klystron.
- bursting strength — the capacity of a thing or substance to resist change when under pressure.
- carbon disulphide — a colourless slightly soluble volatile flammable poisonous liquid commonly having a disagreeable odour due to the presence of impurities: used as an organic solvent and in the manufacture of rayon and carbon tetrachloride. Formula: CS2
- cardiogenic shock — a type of shock caused by decreased cardiac output despite adequate blood volume, owing to a disease of the heart itself, as myocardial infarction, or any other factor that interferes with the filling or emptying of the heart.
- 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
- cat scratch fever — a disorder characterized by fever and swelling of the lymph glands, caused by a viral infection resulting from the scratch or bite of a cat.
- cat-scratch fever — a disease of humans caused by an organism, Bartonella henselae, usually resulting from a scratch by a cat and characterized by lymph node enlargement
- catastrophization — The act or process of catastrophizing.