17-letter words containing t, h, a, c
- red and the black — a novel (1832) by Stendhal.
- 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.
- reticulate python — a python, Python reticulatus, of southeastern Asia and the East Indies, sometimes growing to a length of 32 feet (10 meters): usually considered to be the largest snake in the world.
- rhetorical stress — stress required by the meaning of a line, as distinguished from that required by the meter.
- rheumatic disease — any of a group of diseases of the connective tissue, of uncertain causes, including rheumatoid arthritis, gout, and rheumatic fever
- rheumatoid factor — an antibody that is found in the blood of many persons afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis and that reacts against globulins in the blood.
- rich site summary — (web, standard) (RSS, blog, feed) A family of standard web document types containing regularly updated, short articles or news items. RSS documents (generally called "RSS feeds", "news feeds" or just "feeds") can be read with an RSS reader like BottomFeeder or Feedly. These are sometimes called "aggregators" because they combine multiple RSS feeds which the user can browse as a single list. The RSS reader tracks which articles the use has read, and is typically set to show only new articles, hence the idea of a "feed" or flow of new items. Most RSS feeds are based on RDF. RDF is a structured document format for describing textual resources such as news articles available on the web. RSS originally stood for "RDF Site Summary" as it was designed to provide short descriptions of (changes to) a website. Because it provides a standard way to deliver, or "syndicate", news or updates from one site to another, RSS is sometimes expanded as "Really Simple Syndication". It is closely associated with blogs, most of which provide an RSS feed of articles.
- richard arkwright — Sir Richard, 1732–92, English inventor of the spinning jenny.
- roll with a punch — to move in the same direction as a punch thrown at one so as to lessen its force
- roman catholicism — the faith, practice, and system of government of the Roman Catholic Church.
- rush-hour traffic — the large number of vehicles that move along roads, travelling to or from work at the beginning and end of the working day
- saint christopher — Saint, died a.d. c250, Christian martyr.
- sawatch mountains — range of the Rocky Mountains, in central Colo.: highest peak, Elbert
- saxe-coburg-gotha — a member of the present British royal family, from the establishment of the house in 1901 until 1917 when the family name was changed to Windsor.
- scarlet firethorn — a Eurasian evergreen, thorny shrub, Pyracantha coccinea, of the rose family, having white, hairy flower clusters and bright red berries.
- scarlet lightning — scarlet lychnis.
- scattered showers — showers that are scattered across an area, or that occur at intervals throughout the day
- schematic capture — The process of entering the logical design of an electronic circuit into a CAE system by creating a schematic representation of components and interconnections.
- schiff-s--reagent — a solution of rosaniline and sulfurous acid in water, used to test for the presence of aldehydes.
- school attendance — a measure of the number of children who attend school and the amount of time they are present
- scrape the barrel — to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource
- scratch 'n' sniff — denoting a product that releases a smell when scratched
- semidetached mode — (programming) A term used by COCOMO to describe a project development somewhere between organic and embedded. The team members have a mixture of experienced and inexperienced personnel. The software to be developed has some characteristics of both organic and embedded modes. Semidetached software can be as large as 300K DSIs.
- semisophisticated — somewhat sophisticated.
- share certificate — a certificate of deposit issued by a credit union.
- shipping articles — articles of agreement.
- shirt-tail cousin — a distant cousin
- shoestring tackle — a tackle made around the ankles of the ball carrier.
- shooting practice — practice in shooting for soldiers or other people who shoot guns
- shortcrust pastry — a basic type of pastry that is made with half the quantity of fat to flour, and has a crisp but crumbly texture
- shorter catechism — one of the two catechisms established by the Westminster Assembly in 1647, used chiefly in Presbyterian churches.
- shorthold tenancy — letting of a dwelling for between one and five years at a fair rent
- shouting distance — hailing distance.
- shower attachment — a device fixed to taps to make a shower
- shuttle diplomacy — diplomatic negotiations carried out by a mediator who travels back and forth between the negotiating parties.
- significant other — Sociology. a person, as a parent or peer, who has great influence on one's behavior and self-esteem.
- sister of charity — a member of one of several congregations of sisters founded in 1634 by St. Vincent de Paul.
- sixth commandment — “Thou shalt not kill”: sixth of the Ten Commandments.
- skate on thin ice — to place oneself in a dangerous or delicate situation
- snatch one's time — to leave a job, taking whatever pay is due
- socratic elenchus — the drawing out of the consequences of a position in order to show them to be contrary to some accepted position
- sodium bichromate — a red or orange crystalline, water-soluble solid, Na 2 Cr 2 O 7 ⋅2H 2 O, used as an oxidizing agent in the manufacture of dyes and inks, as a corrosion inhibitor, a mordant, a laboratory reagent, in the tanning of leather, and in electroplating.
- sodium dichromate — a red or orange crystalline, water-soluble solid, Na 2 Cr 2 O 7 ⋅2H 2 O, used as an oxidizing agent in the manufacture of dyes and inks, as a corrosion inhibitor, a mordant, a laboratory reagent, in the tanning of leather, and in electroplating.
- south sea company — a British joint stock company that traded in South America in the 18th century. The South Sea Company took over the national debt in return for a monopoly of trade with the South Seas, causing feverish speculation in their stocks, and a financial crash in 1720 (the South Sea Bubble)
- south west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- south-west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- spaghettification — the theoretical stretching of an object as it encounters extreme differences in gravitational forces, especially those associated with a black hole.
- spectroheliograph — an apparatus for making photographs of the sun with a monochromatic light to show the details of the sun's surface and surroundings as they would appear if the sun emitted only that light.
- spit in the ocean — a variety of poker in which four cards are dealt face down to each player and one card, forming the fifth for all hands, is dealt face up in the center of the table, the exposed card and others of its denomination being wild cards.
- spoonbill catfish — flathead catfish.