17-letter words containing v, e, n, o, s
- make conversation — If you make conversation, you talk to someone in order to be polite and not because you really want to.
- mies van der rohe — Ludwig [luhd-wig] /ˈlʌd wɪg/ (Show IPA), 1886–1969, U.S. architect, born in Germany.
- move one's bowels — to pass waste matter from the large intestine; defecate
- muscae volitantes — floater (def 6).
- naval observatory — an astronomical observatory located in Washington, D.C., operated by the U.S. government, and responsible for the U.S. time service.
- navigation system — A navigation system is an instrument that determines the position of a vehicle and the route to a particular place.
- nervous breakdown — (not in technical use) any disabling mental disorder requiring treatment.
- neurotransmissive — Relating to neurotransmission.
- non-controversial — of, relating to, or characteristic of controversy, or prolonged public dispute, debate, or contention; polemical: a controversial book.
- non-demonstrative — characterized by or given to open exhibition or expression of one's emotions, attitudes, etc., especially of love or affection: She wished her fiancé were more demonstrative.
- nonproductiveness — The quality of being nonproductive.
- nonrepresentative — a person or thing that represents another or others.
- number seven iron — pitcher2 (def 3).
- observation tower — lookout, observation point
- odds-on favourite — a person, team, horse, etc that is regarded as the most likely to win a competition
- on the heavy side — tending to be too heavy
- over-compensation — a pronounced striving to neutralize and conceal a strong but unacceptable character trait by substituting for it an opposite trait.
- over-conservative — disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
- overconscientious — Excessively conscientious.
- overnight success — sth or sb suddenly popular
- overreach oneself — to fail because of trying to do more than one can
- oversquare engine — An oversquare engine is an engine which has a cylinder bore that is larger than its stroke.
- paleoconservative — a person advocating an older, traditional type of conservatism, especially in politics.
- parts of kesteven — an area in E England constituting a former administrative division of Lincolnshire
- passive obedience — unquestioning obedience to authority
- pension provision — the provision of a pension by the state or an employer
- peripheral vision — all that is visible to the eye outside the central area of focus; side vision.
- positive definite — (of a quadratic form) positive for all real values of the variables, where the values are not all zero.
- positive electron — positron.
- positive eugenics — the study of or belief in the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population, especially by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics)
- positive thinking — an optimistic attitude
- prairie provinces — the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, which lie in the N Great Plains region of North America: the chief wheat and petroleum producing area of Canada
- pre-investigation — the act or process of investigating or the condition of being investigated.
- previous question — a move that a vote be taken at once on a main question, used especially as a means of cutting off further debate.
- private ownership — the fact of being owned by a private individual or organization, rather than by the state or a public body
- production values — the quality of a media production (such as a film) in regards to elements such as colours, quality, style, etc
- public television — a type of noncommercial, usually educational, television programming funded by the government, grants, viewers, and corporations. Compare educational television.
- push the envelope — a flat paper container, as for a letter or thin package, usually having a gummed flap or other means of closure.
- put on the gloves — to box
- quantity surveyor — A quantity surveyor is a person who calculates the cost and amount of materials and workers needed for a job such as building a house or a road.
- recovery position — a position in which an unconscious person can be lain on the floor, which minimises them from further risk
- recursive acronym — (convention) A hackish (and especially MIT) tradition is to choose acronyms and abbreviations that refer humorously to themselves or to other acronyms or abbreviations. The classic examples were two MIT editors called EINE ("EINE Is Not Emacs") and ZWEI ("ZWEI Was EINE Initially"). More recently, there is a Scheme compiler called LIAR (Liar Imitates Apply Recursively), and GNU stands for "GNU's Not Unix!" - and a company with the name CYGNUS, which expands to "Cygnus, Your GNU Support". See also mung.
- revascularization — the restoration of the blood circulation of an organ or area, achieved by unblocking obstructed or disrupted blood vessels or by surgically implanting replacements.
- rybinsk reservoir — a vast water reservoir in W central Russia on the River Volga and its tributaries Sheksna and Mologa, formed by Rybinsk Hydroelectric Station dam
- saint bonaventure — Saint ("the Seraphic Doctor") 1221–74, Italian scholastic theologian.
- saint croix river — Also called Santa Cruz. a U.S. island in the N Lesser Antilles: the largest of the Virgin Islands. 82 sq. mi. (212 sq. km).
- save one's breath — the air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.
- second derivative — the derivative of the derivative of a function: Acceleration is the second derivative of distance with respect to time.
- self-conservation — the act of conserving; prevention of injury, decay, waste, or loss; preservation: conservation of wildlife; conservation of human rights.
- self-preservation — preservation of oneself from harm or destruction.