17-letter words containing y, r
- journeyman joiner — a joiner who is qualified to work in the employment of another
- jurisprudentially — In terms of jurisprudence.
- kawasaki syndrome — a syndrome, usually afflicting children, characterized by high fever, swollen lymph nodes in the neck, rashes, irritated eyes and mucous membranes, etc. with possible damage to the cardiovascular system
- keep your balance — If you keep your balance, for example when standing in a moving vehicle, you remain steady and do not fall over. If you lose your balance, you become unsteady and fall over.
- key man insurance — Key man insurance is an insurance policy taken out by a small company on the life of a senior executive whose death would create a serious loss.
- key-man assurance — an assurance policy taken out, esp by a small company, on the life of a senior executive whose death would create a serious loss
- keyboard commando — (messaging) A bulletin board user who posts authoritatively on military or combat topics, but who has never served in uniform or heard a shot fired in anger. A poseur.
- kidney transplant — surgery to replace a kidney
- klerer-may system — Early system from Columbia University with special mathematics symbols. Its reference manual was two pages long!
- laboratory school — a school maintained by a college or university for the training of student teachers.
- ladies' auxiliary — an organization usually made up of the wives of members of another organization
- ladybird (beetle) — ladybug
- lance of courtesy — a lance having a blunt head to prevent serious injury by a jouster to an opponent.
- laryngopharyngeal — of, relating to, or involving the larynx and pharynx.
- latter-day saints — a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- law of trichotomy — the property that for natural numbers a and b , either a is less than b , a equals b , or a is greater than b .
- lead acid battery — A lead acid battery is a 12-volt battery for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles consisting of lead-acid cells in series.
- lee harvey oswald — Lee Harvey, 1939–63, designated by a presidential commission to be the lone assassin of John F. Kennedy.
- lesser yellowlegs — either of two American shorebirds having yellow legs, Tringa melanoleuca (greater yellowlegs) or T. flavipes (lesser yellowlegs)
- lexicographically — the writing, editing, or compiling of dictionaries.
- liberal democracy — a democracy based on the recognition of individual rights and freedoms, in which decisions from direct or representative processes prevail in many policy areas
- liberty of speech — freedom of speech.
- life of the party — most lively, outgoing person
- lipopolysaccaride — a molecule, consisting of lipid and polysaccharide components, that is the main constituent of the cell walls of Gram-negative bacteria
- literacy campaign — a campaign designed to reduce illiteracy and promote literacy in a country, area, etc
- literary executor — a person entrusted with the publishable works and other papers of a deceased author.
- lithium hydroxide — a white, crystalline, water-soluble compound, LiOH, used to absorb carbon dioxide, especially in spacesuits.
- lithostratigraphy — the study or character of stratified rocks based solely on their physical and petrographic features.
- lowbush blueberry — a shrub, Vaccinium angustifolium, of eastern North America, having small, white flowers and blue-black fruit.
- lower forty-eight — the forty-eight conterminous states of the United States
- lymphangiographic — Relating to lymphangiography.
- lyon king of arms — the chief herald of Scotland
- machado y morales — Gerardo [he-rahr-th aw] /hɛˈrɑr ðɔ/ (Show IPA), 1871–1939, president of Cuba 1925–33.
- macroevolutionary — Pertaining to, or as a result of macroevolution.
- magellan barberry — an evergreen shrub, Berberis buxifolia, of southern Chile, having prickle-tipped leaves, dark-purple fruit, and orange-yellow flowers, rarely flowering in cultivation.
- mains electricity — electricity supplied to a building through wires
- majority decision — a decision supported by more than half the people involved
- majority-minority — relating to a population in which more than half represent social, ethnic, or racial minorities, and in which fewer members of the more socially, politically, or financially dominant group are represented: majority-minority public schools.
- malagasy republic — former name of Madagascar.
- malay archipelago — an extensive island group in the Indian and Pacific oceans, SE of Asia, including the Greater and Lesser Sunda Islands, the Moluccas, and the Philippines.
- manual typewriter — a keyboard machine, operated entirely by hand, for writing mechanically in characters resembling print
- manufacturability — The condition of being manufacturable.
- marais des cygnes — a river in E central Kansas and W Missouri, flowing SE to the Osage River. 150 miles (241 km) long.
- maraschino cherry — a cherry cooked in colored syrup and flavored with maraschino, used to garnish desserts, cocktails, etc.
- marriage ceremony — official part of a wedding
- marriage equality — the state of having the same rights and responsibilities of marriage as others, regardless of one's sexual orientation or gender identity.
- martha's vineyard — an island off SE Massachusetts: summer resort. About 100 sq. mi. (259 sq. km).
- mass spectroscopy — an instrument used to determine the masses of small, electrically charged particles.
- materialistically — excessively concerned with physical comforts or the acquisition of wealth and material possessions, rather than with spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.
- maternity benefit — government allowance