17-letter words containing l, h, e, a
- baby doll nightie — a short, frilly nightdress
- bachelor's button — any of several plants of a genus (Centaurea) of the composite family, that have scaly, vase-shaped bracts below the white, pink, or blue flowers; esp., the cornflower and knapweed
- bachelor's degree — A bachelor's degree is a first degree awarded by universities.
- bachelor's-button — any of various plants with round flower heads, especially the cornflower.
- back on the rails — If something is back on the rails, it is beginning to be successful again after a period when it almost failed.
- baile atha cliath — Dublin
- baile-atha-cliath — Gaelic Baile Àtha Cliath. a seaport in and the capital of the Republic of Ireland, in the E part, on the Irish Sea.
- balance the books — do accounting
- bald-faced hornet — any large, stinging paper wasp of the family Vespidae, as Vespa crabro (giant hornet) introduced into the U.S. from Europe, or Vespula maculata (bald-faced hornet or white-faced hornet) of North America.
- basal anaesthesia — preliminary and incomplete anaesthesia induced to prepare a surgical patient for total anaesthesia with another agent
- bell-hanger's bit — a bit for drilling small holes through studs or the like.
- bell-shaped curve — bell curve
- bergisch gladbach — city in W Germany, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia: pop. 105,000
- bergisch-gladbach — an industrial city in W Germany, near Cologne.
- biological father — the man whose semen fertilized the ovum from which a child was born
- biological mother — the mother who gave birth to a child
- biological shield — a protective shield impervious to radiation, esp the thick concrete wall surrounding the core of a nuclear reactor
- biopharmaceutical — of or relating to drugs produced using biotechnology
- black huckleberry — a low eastern North American shrub, Gaylussacia baccata, of the heath family, having yellowish-green leaves with resinous dots on the underside, clustered orange-red flowers, and shiny, black, edible fruit.
- black-headed gull — a small gull, Chroicocephalus ridibundus, that breeds in much of Europe and Asia, and often scavenges in towns
- blasphemous libel — In Britain, previously, the crime committed if a person insults, offends, or vilifies the deity, Christ, or the Christian religion
- blood and thunder — A blood and thunder performer or performance is very loud and emotional.
- blood-and-thunder — sensationalism, violence, or exaggerated melodrama: a movie full of blood and thunder.
- blue-headed vireo — solitary vireo.
- board-and-shingle — a small dwelling with wooden walls and a shingle roof
- boat-billed heron — a nocturnal, tropical American wading bird (Cochlearius cochlearius) with a large, broad bill: it is the only member of a family (Cochleariidae) of wading birds
- boothia peninsula — a peninsula of N Canada: the northernmost part of the mainland of North America, lying west of the Gulf of Boothia, an arm of the Arctic Ocean
- bottlebrush grass — a North American grass, Hystrix patula, having loose flower spikes with long awns.
- branch delay slot — delayed control-transfer
- breathe life into — revive, rejuvenate
- british israelite — a member of a religious movement claiming that the British people are descended from the lost tribes of Israel
- buckingham palace — the London residence of the British sovereign: built in 1703, rebuilt by John Nash in 1821–36 and partially redesigned in the early 20th century
- bushman's singlet — a sleeveless heavy black woollen singlet, used as working clothing by timber fellers
- calcium hydroxide — a white crystalline slightly soluble alkali with many uses, esp in cement, water softening, and the neutralization of acid soils. Formula: Ca(OH)2
- calcium phosphate — the insoluble nonacid calcium salt of orthophosphoric acid (phosphoric(V) acid): it occurs in bones and is the main constituent of bone ash. Formula: Ca3(PO4)2
- called to the bar — admitted to the practice of law as a barrister
- carbon disulphide — a colourless slightly soluble volatile flammable poisonous liquid commonly having a disagreeable odour due to the presence of impurities: used as an organic solvent and in the manufacture of rayon and carbon tetrachloride. Formula: CS2
- carbonyl chloride — phosgene
- carboxyhemoglobin — a compound formed in the blood when carbon monoxide occupies the positions on the hemoglobin molecule normally taken by oxygen, resulting in cellular oxygen starvation
- castle in the air — a hope or desire unlikely to be realized; daydream
- catapult-launched — (of aircraft) launched into the air by a device installed in warships
- cathedral ceiling — a high ceiling formed by or suggesting an open-timbered roof.
- catholic epistles — the epistles of James, I and II Peter, I John, and Jude, which were addressed to the universal Church rather than to an individual or a particular church
- caudal anesthesia — anesthesia below the pelvis, induced by injecting an anesthetic into the sacral portion of the spinal canal.
- celestial horizon — the line or circle that forms the apparent boundary between earth and sky.
- cellophane noodle — a stringlike, transparent noodle used esp. in East Asian cooking
- cellulose varnish — a varnish made from cellulose nitrate, used as a protective sealing film
- chadless keypunch — (hardware) A card punch which cut little U-shapes in punched cards, rather than punching out a circle or rectangle. The U's made a hole when folded back. One of the Jargon File's correspondents believed that the term "chad" derived from the Chadless keypunch. Obviously, if the Chadless keypunch didn't make them, then the stuff that other keypunches made had to be "chad". The assertion that the keypunch was named after its inventor is not supported by any record in US or UK patents or surname references.
- châlons-sur-marne — city in NE France, on the Marne River: scene of defeat ( a.d. 451) of Attila by the Romans: pop. 50,000
- chanson de roland — English The Song of Roland. a chanson de geste (c1100) relating Roland's brave deeds and death at Roncesvalles and Charlemagne's revenge.