17-letter words containing n, a, m, y
- glycosaminoglycan — any of a class of polysaccharides derived from hexosamine that form mucins when complexed with proteins: formerly called mucopolysaccharide.
- gulf war syndrome — a group of symptoms occurring in some Gulf War veterans, most commonly including headache and memory loss, muscle pain, skin disorders, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and gastrointestinal and respiratory ailments, possibly caused by exposure to chemical weapons, vaccines, infectious diseases, or other factors.
- gunboat diplomacy — diplomatic relations involving the use or threat of military force, especially by a powerful nation against a weaker one.
- haematocrystallin — Alternative form of hematocrystallin.
- haemoglobinopathy — (medicine) Any of a group of inherited disorders in which haemoglobin does not function properly.
- hamiltonian cycle — Hamiltonian problem
- harmonic analysis — the calculation of Fourier series and their generalization.
- heavy mineral oil — a colorless, oily, almost tasteless, water-insoluble liquid, usually of either a standard light density (light mineral oil) or a standard heavy density (heavy mineral oil) consisting of mixtures of hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum by distillation: used chiefly as a lubricant, in the manufacture of cosmetics, and in medicine as a laxative.
- heteronormativity — The view that all human beings are either male or female, both in sex and in gender, and that sexual and romantic thoughts and relations are normal only when between people of different sexes.
- holy roman empire — a Germanic empire located chiefly in central Europe that began with the coronation of Charlemagne as Roman emperor in a.d. 800 (or, according to some historians, with the coronation of Otto the Great, king of Germany, in a.d. 962) and ended with the renunciation of the Roman imperial title by Francis II in 1806, and was regarded theoretically as the continuation of the Western Empire and as the temporal form of a universal dominion whose spiritual head was the pope.
- homeland security — national defence
- hydrothermal vent — an opening on the floor of the sea from which hot, mineral-rich solutions issue. Compare vent1 (def 2).
- hydroxytryptamine — (organic compound) Any hydroxy derivative of tryptamine, but especially 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin).
- hyperalimentation — overfeeding.
- hyperpigmentation — coloration, especially of the skin.
- hypophrygian mode — a plagal church mode represented on the white keys of a keyboard instrument by an ascending scale from B to B, with the final on E.
- i am bound to say — You can say 'I am bound to say' to introduce a statement expressing something that you find undesirable or unexpected.
- immediate annuity — an annuity bought with a single premium, with payments to the annuitant to begin at the end of one payment period, as a month or a year.
- implosion therapy — a form of behavior therapy involving intensive recollection and review of anxiety-producing situations or events in a patient's life in an attempt to develop more appropriate responses to similar situations in the future.
- impressionability — easily impressed or influenced; susceptible: an impressionable youngster.
- improvisationally — In an improvisational way.
- imputation system — a former taxation system in which some, or all, of the corporation tax on a company was treated as a tax credit on account of the income tax paid by its shareholders on their dividends; discontinued from 1999
- in a/the minority — If people are in a minority or in the minority, they belong to a group of people or things that form less than half of a larger group.
- in the family way — a basic social unit consisting of parents and their children, considered as a group, whether dwelling together or not: the traditional family. a social unit consisting of one or more adults together with the children they care for: a single-parent family.
- income inequality — a situation in which there is great disparity in income within a society
- incommunicability — incapable of being communicated, imparted, shared, etc.
- individual medley — a race in which the total distance is either divided into three equal portions, in which each swimmer uses the backstroke for the first portion, the breaststroke for the second portion, and the freestyle for the third, or the total distance is divided into four equal portions, in which each swimmer uses the butterfly stroke for the first portion and then the other strokes used follow the same pattern as in the three-part medley. Compare medley relay (def 2).
- innominate artery — brachiocephalic artery.
- insurance company — company that sells insurance policies
- insurmountability — incapable of being surmounted, passed over, or overcome; insuperable: an insurmountable obstacle.
- irrigation system — a system of supplying (land) with water by means of artificial canals, ditches, etc, esp to promote the growth of food crops
- journeyman joiner — a joiner who is qualified to work in the employment of another
- 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
- 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.
- know only by name — to be familiar with the name of but not know personally
- lautenclavicymbal — a harpsichord with strings of gut rather than metal.
- literacy campaign — a campaign designed to reduce illiteracy and promote literacy in a country, area, etc
- luminous efficacy — the quotient of the luminous flux of a radiation and its corresponding radiant flux
- lymphadenopathies — Plural form of lymphadenopathy.
- lymphangiographic — Relating to lymphangiography.
- lyon king of arms — the chief herald of Scotland
- 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.
- magnetoelasticity — the phenomenon, consisting of a change in magnetic properties, exhibited by a ferromagnetic material to which stress is applied.
- 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.
- malayo-polynesian — a family of languages extending from Madagascar to the central Pacific, including Malagasy, Malay, Indonesian, Tagalog, and Polynesian