17-letter words containing be
- old orchard beach — a resort town in S Maine.
- on one's deathbed — about to die
- passive obedience — unquestioning obedience to authority
- peach bark beetle — a bark beetle, Phloeotribus liminaris, that feeds on and nests in peach and other drupaceous trees.
- phonetic alphabet — an alphabet containing a separate character for each distinguishable speech sound.
- pied-billed grebe — an American grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, having a whitish bill with a black band around it.
- pitot-static tube — a device combining a Pitot tube with a static tube: used to measure airspeed.
- political liberty — the right to express oneself freely and effectually regarding the conduct, makeup, and principles of the government under which one lives.
- production number — a specialty number or routine, usually performed by the entire cast consisting of musicians, singers, dancers, stars, etc., of a musical comedy, vaudeville show, or the like.
- purple chokeberry — See under chokeberry (def 1).
- queensberry rules — the code of rules followed in modern boxing, requiring the use of padded gloves, rounds of three minutes, and restrictions on the types of blows allowed
- recumbent bicycle — a type of bicycle that is ridden in a reclining position
- rhinoceros beetle — any of several scarabaeid beetles, especially of the genus Dynastes, which comprises the largest beetles, characterized by one or more horns on the head and prothorax.
- rhode island bent — a European pasture grass, Agrostis tenuis, naturalized in North America, having red flower clusters.
- rubber plantation — an estate in a tropical country where rubber trees are grown on a large scale
- rubber-base paint — latex paint.
- rubberman disease — Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
- russell, bertrand — Bertrand Russell
- safety in numbers — If you say that there is safety in numbers, you mean that you are safer doing something if there are a lot of people doing it rather than doing it alone.
- saved by the bell — a hollow instrument of cast metal, typically cup-shaped with a flaring mouth, suspended from the vertex and rung by the strokes of a clapper, hammer, or the like.
- self-belay device — (in climbing) a device used to pay out a safety rope as required
- september weather — weather characteristic of the month of September, esp in being unpredictable as summer is ending and autumn is beginning
- serendipity berry — miracle fruit (def 2).
- small waved umber — a brownish geometrid moth, Horisme vitalbata, that is cryptically marked to merge with tree bark
- spiral bevel gear — a bevel gear having curved teeth tending to converge on the axis of rotation.
- square and rabbet — annulet (def 1).
- squaw huckleberry — deerberry.
- star of bethlehem — the star that is supposed to have appeared above Bethlehem at the birth of Christ
- star-of-bethlehem — any of several plants belonging to the genus Ornithogalum, of the lily family, having grasslike leaves and clusters of white flowers.
- statue of liberty — a large copper statue, on Liberty Island, in New York harbor, depicting a woman holding a burning torch: designed by F. A. Bartholdi and presented to the U.S. by France; unveiled 1886.
- strawberry blonde — woman: with reddish fair hair
- strawberry tomato — the small, edible, tomato-like fruit of the plant Physalis pruinosa, of the nightshade family.
- tabernacle mirror — a mirror of c1800, having columns and a cornice, usually gilt, with a painted panel over the mirror.
- taiping rebellion — a movement of religious mysticism and agrarian unrest in China between 1850 and 1864 which weakened the Manchu dynasty but was eventually suppressed with foreign aid
- take some beating — to be difficult to improve upon
- take to one's bed — to remain in bed, esp because of illness
- telephone numbers — extremely large numbers, esp in reference to salaries or prices
- terrestrial globe — the planet Earth (usually preceded by the).
- the beehive state — Utah
- the humber bridge — a single-span suspension bridge (1981) that crosses the Humber, with a main span of 1410 m (4626 ft)
- theory of numbers — number theory.
- tibetan highlands — Tibet, Plateau of.
- to be eaten alive — If you say that someone will be eaten alive, you mean that they will be completely destroyed or defeated by someone who is much stronger.
- to be taken aback — If you are taken aback by something, you are surprised or shocked by it and you cannot respond at once.
- to beat a retreat — If you beat a retreat, you leave a place quickly in order to avoid an embarrassing or dangerous situation.
- to beat the clock — If you beat the clock, you finish doing something or succeed in doing something before the time allowed for doing it has ended.
- to best advantage — If something is shown to good advantage or to best advantage, it is shown in a way that reveals its best features.
- torricellian tube — a vertical glass tube partly evacuated and partly filled with mercury, the height of which is used as a measure of atmospheric pressure
- tubercle bacillus — the bacterium, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, causing tuberculosis.
- tuberculin-tested — (of milk) produced by cows that have been certified as free of tuberculosis