17-letter words containing u, r, l, e, d
- nuclear deterrent — a country's nuclear weapons viewed as a deterrent to other countries from attacking
- nuclear radiation — Physics. radiation in the form of elementary particles emitted by an atomic nucleus, as alpha rays or gamma rays, produced by decay of radioactive substances or by nuclear fission.
- nuclear threshold — the point in war at which a combatant brings nuclear weapons into use
- old wives' summer — a period of fine, summerlike weather occurring in Europe in autumn.
- period-revolution — a rather large interval of time that is meaningful in the life of a person, in history, etc., because of its particular characteristics: a period of illness; a period of great profitability for a company; a period of social unrest in Germany.
- plug and feathers — an apparatus for splitting stone, consisting of two tapered bars (feathers) inserted into a hole drilled into the stone, between which a narrow wedge (plug) is hammered to spread them.
- police procedural — a mystery novel, film, or television drama that deals realistically with police work.
- postural drainage — a therapy for clearing congested lungs by placing the patient in a position for drainage by gravity, often accompanied by percussion with hollowed hands.
- powder metallurgy — the art or science of manufacturing useful articles by compacting metal and other powders in a die, followed by sintering.
- prelingually deaf — deaf from birth or having acquired deafness before learning to speak
- pressure altitude — the altitude for a given pressure in a standard atmosphere, such as that registered by a pressure altimeter.
- product placement — Product placement is a form of advertising in which a company has its product placed where it can be clearly seen during a film or television programme.
- production values — the quality of a media production (such as a film) in regards to elements such as colours, quality, style, etc
- prudence crandall — Prudence, 1803–90, U.S. educator and civil-rights activist.
- pseudepigraphical — certain writings (other than the canonical books and the Apocrypha) professing to be Biblical in character.
- pseudo-historical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- pseudo-moralistic — a person who teaches or inculcates morality.
- pull your head in — be quiet!
- purely and simply — You use purely and simply to emphasize that the thing you are mentioning is the only thing involved.
- purple granadilla — the edible fruit of any of several species of passionflower, especially Passiflora edulis (purple granadilla) or P. quadrangularis (giant granadilla)
- pyroligneous acid — a yellowish, acidic, water-soluble liquid, containing about 10 percent acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood: used for smoking meats.
- quattuordecillion — a cardinal number represented in the U.S. by 1 followed by 45 zeros, and in Great Britain by 1 followed by 84 zeros.
- radioluminescence — luminescence induced by nuclear radiation.
- recreational drug — drug taken for pleasure
- recurring decimal — Mathematics. repeating decimal.
- red-billed quelea — any of several African weaverbirds of the genus Quelea, especially Q. quelea (red-billed quelea) noted for its vast flocks that destroy grain crops.
- reduce to silence — If someone or something reduces you to silence, they make you feel so upset or confused that you cannot speak.
- reduction formula — a formula, such as sin (90° ± A) = cos A, expressing the values of a trigonometric function of any angle greater than 90° in terms of a function of an acute angle
- regulated tenancy — (in Britain) the letting of a dwelling by a nonresident private landlord, usually at a registered fair rent, from which the landlord cannot evict the tenant without a possession order from a court
- relative humidity — the amount of water vapor in the air, expressed as a percentage of the maximum amount that the air could hold at the given temperature; the ratio of the actual water vapor pressure to the saturation vapor pressure. Abbreviation: RH, rh.
- reproductive cell — gamete.
- ring-tailed lemur — a Madagascan prosimian primate, Lemur catta, with a long black and white ringed tail
- rio grande do sul — a state in S Brazil. 107,923 sq. mi. (279,520 sq. km). Capital: Pôrto Alegre.
- road-fund licence — a licence showing that the tax payable in respect of a motor vehicle has been paid
- rodolphe kreutzer — Rodolphe [raw-dawlf] /rɔˈdɔlf/ (Show IPA), 1766–1831, French violinist.
- rough-legged hawk — a large hawk, Buteo lagopus, of the Northern Hemisphere, that feeds chiefly on small rodents.
- rural development — social or economic activities or initiatives designed to improve the standard of living in areas far away from large towns or cities
- russell's paradox — a paradox of set theory in which an object is defined in terms of a class of objects that contains the object being defined, resulting in a logical contradiction.
- russell, bertrand — Bertrand Russell
- san andreas fault — an active strike-slip fault in W United States, extending from San Francisco to S California and forming the on-land portion of the western margin of the North American Plate.
- sb could do worse — If you tell someone that they could do worse than do a particular thing, you are advising them that it would be quite a good thing to do.
- secondary quality — one of the qualities attributed by the mind to an object perceived, such as color, temperature, or taste.
- securities dealer — a person who buys and sells securities
- self-introduction — the act of introducing or the state of being introduced.
- self-reproduction — the act or process of reproducing.
- sexual dimorphism — the condition in which the males and females in a species are morphologically different, as with many birds.
- sheltered housing — accommodation designed esp for the elderly or infirm consisting of a group of individual premises, often with some shared facilities and a caretaker
- shetland pullover — a thick woollen sweater made from Shetland wool
- simulated leather — fake leather that is an imitation of real leather and is usually made from a cheaper material
- small waved umber — a brownish geometrid moth, Horisme vitalbata, that is cryptically marked to merge with tree bark