17-letter words containing u, t, h, a, n
- the night's a pup — it's early yet
- the rann of kutch — an extensive salt waste in W central India, and S Pakistan: consists of the Great Rann in the north and the Little Rann in the southeast; seasonal alternation between marsh and desert; some saltworks. In 1968 an international tribunal awarded about 10 per cent of the border area to Pakistan. Area: 23 000 sq km (9000 sq miles)
- the unwritten law — the tradition that a person may avenge any insult to family integrity, as used to justify criminal acts of vengeance
- therapeutic index — the ratio between the dosage of a drug that causes a lethal effect and the dosage that causes a therapeutic effect.
- thermal diffusion — the separation of constituents, often isotopes, of a fluid under the influence of a temperature gradient.
- thermal pollution — a rise in the temperature of rivers or lakes that is injurious to water-dwelling life and is caused by the disposal of heated industrial waste water or water from the cooling towers of nuclear power plants.
- thermal underwear — underwear designed to retain body heat in cold temperatures.
- thermocoagulation — the coagulation of tissue by heat-producing high-frequency electric currents, used therapeutically to remove small growths or to create specific lesions in the brain.
- thiopental sodium — a barbiturate, C 11 H 18 N 2 NaO 2 S, used as an anesthetic in surgery and, in psychiatry, for narcoanalysis and to stimulate recall of past events.
- thousandths-place — last in order of a series of a thousand.
- thread escutcheon — a raised metal rim around a keyhole.
- thuringian forest — a forested mountain region in central Germany: a resort area.
- thyestean banquet — a banquet at which human flesh is served
- to have it in you — If you have it in you, you have abilities and skills which you do not usually use and which only show themselves in a difficult situation.
- touch a raw nerve — If you say that you have touched a nerve or touched a raw nerve, you mean that you have accidentally upset someone by talking about something that they feel strongly about or are very sensitive about.
- ts'ao hsueh-ch'in — (Ts'ao Chan) c1717–63, Chinese novelist: author of The Dream of the Red Chamber.
- turn on the charm — If someone turns on the charm, they behave in a way that seems very friendly but which you think is insincere, often in order to obtain something or deceive someone.
- ultimate strength — the quantity of the utmost tensile, compressive, or shearing stress that a given unit area of a certain material is expected to bear without failing.
- under the weather — the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure, etc.
- undistinguishable — to mark off as different (often followed by from or by): He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
- undulatory theory — wave theory (def 1).
- unitary authority — (in the United Kingdom) a district administered by a single tier of local government, esp those districts of England that became administratively independent of the county councils in 1996–98
- unsympathetically — in a manner that is not characterized by feeling or showing sympathy
- up/raise the ante — If you up the ante or raise the ante, you increase your demands when you are in dispute or fighting for something.
- utagawa kuniyoshi — original name Igusa Magosabwo. 1797–1861, Japanese painter and printmaker of the ukiyo-e school, best known for his prints of warriors and landscapes
- vanity publishing — the practice of the author of a book paying all or most of the costs of its publication
- ventura publisher — Corel VENTURA
- victoriano huerta — Victoriano [beek-taw-ryah-naw] /ˌbik tɔˈryɑ nɔ/ (Show IPA), 1854–1916, Mexican general: provisional president of Mexico 1913–14.
- vulcan death grip — (jargon) A variant of Vulcan nerve pinch derived from a Star Trek classic epsisode where a non-existant "Vulcan death grip" was used to fool Romulans that Spock had killed Kirk.
- warehousing costs — the costs involved in storing goods in a warehouse
- washington square — a short novel (1881) by Henry James.
- welshman's button — an angler's name for a species of caddis fly, Sericostoma personatum
- what do you want? — If you say to someone 'what do you want?', you are asking them in a rather rude or angry way why they have come to the place where you are or why they want to speak to you.
- wimshurst machine — a device for the production of electric charge by electrostatic induction, consisting of two oppositely rotating glass or mica disks carrying metal strips upon which charges are induced and subsequently removed by contact with metallic combs.
- with guns blazing — If you come out with guns blazing or with all guns blazing, you put all your effort and energy into trying to achieve something.
- woman of the hour — a woman honored by a group.
- youth programming — the creation and scheduling of television programmes specifically aimed at young people
- youth-and-old-age — a stiff-growing, erect composite plant, Zinnia elegans, of Mexico, having large, solitary flowers with yellow-to-purple disks and usually red rays.