16-letter words containing a, b, u, e
- security blanket — a blanket or other familiar item carried especially by a young child to provide reassurance and a feeling of psychological security.
- self-lubricating — to apply some oily or greasy substance to (a machine, parts of a mechanism, etc.) in order to diminish friction; oil or grease (something).
- self-lubrication — the process of becoming lubricated without external factors
- self-subjugation — the act, fact, or process of subjugating, or bringing under control; enslavement: The subjugation of the American Indians happened across the country.
- semantic tableau — a method of demonstrating the consistency or otherwise of a set of statements by constructing a diagrammatic representation of all the circumstances that satisfy the set of statements
- semisubterranean — half below the surface of the ground: the semisubterranean houses of some Indian tribes.
- sodium bisulfate — a colorless crystalline compound, NaHSO 4 , soluble in water: used in dyeing, in the manufacture of cement, paper, soap, and an acid-type cleaner.
- sodium carbonate — Also called soda ash. an anhydrous, grayish-white, odorless, water-soluble powder, Na 2 CO 3 , usually obtained by the Solvay process and containing about 1 percent of impurities consisting of sulfates, chlorides, and bicarbonates of sodium: used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, soaps, paper, petroleum products, sodium salts, as a cleanser, for bleaching, and in water treatment.
- sodium perborate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, NaBO 2 ⋅3H 2 O or NaBO 3 ⋅4H 2 O, used chiefly as a bleaching agent and antiseptic.
- south sea bubble — the financial crash that occurred in 1720 after the South Sea Company had taken over the national debt in return for a monopoly of trade with the South Seas, causing feverish speculation in their stocks
- southern baptist — a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, founded in Augusta, Georgia, in 1845, that is strictly Calvinistic and active in religious publishing and education.
- spanish bluebell — a bulbous plant, Endymion hispanicus, of the lily family, native to Spain and Portugal, having blue, white, or pink, bell-shaped flowers.
- squeaky-bum time — the tense final matches in the race to a league championship, esp from the point of view of the leaders
- stalked puffball — a puffball-like mushroom of the genus Tulestoma, maturing in early winter.
- state-subsidized — partly paid for by the state; subsidized by the state
- strawberry guava — a shrub or small tree, Psidium littorale, of the myrtle family, native to Brazil, having smooth, grayish-brown bark, leathery leaves, white flowers, and edible, white-fleshed, purplish-red fruit.
- strawberry shrub — Carolina allspice
- subjectification — to make subjective.
- subliminal image — an image used in advertising, etc, that is too quick to be registered by the mind but is used to influence the viewer unconsciously
- submarine chaser — a small patrol vessel, 100–200 feet (30–60 meters) long, designed for military operations against submarines.
- subsistence wage — the lowest wage upon which a worker and his or her family can survive
- substance abuser — a person who takes an excessive amount of drugs in a manner that is detrimental to health
- substantive rank — a permanent rank in the armed services obtained by length of service, selection, etc
- sulfocarbanilide — thiocarbanilide.
- superserviceable — overly disposed to be of service; officious.
- take by surprise — to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness: Her beauty surprised me.
- take the biscuit — Take the biscuit means the same as take the cake.
- take the trouble — If you take the trouble to do something, you do something which requires a small amount of additional effort.
- tarantula nebula — a huge bright emission nebula located in the S hemisphere in the Large Magellanic Cloud
- tertiary bursary — a noncompetitive award granted to all pupils who have passed a university entrance examination
- teutoburger wald — a chain of wooded hills in Germany, in Westphalia: Romans defeated by German tribes a.d.
- the arabian gulf — the arm of the Arabian Sea between SW Iran and Arabia; important for the oilfields on its shores
- the easter bunny — the rabbit that brings Easter eggs
- the subsidiariat — a collective term for the news sources that would not survive without being subsidized directly (by a government, etc), or indirectly (through sharing a parent company with another more profitable revenue source)
- the unobservable — something that cannot be observed
- the urban league — a civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of African Americans and against racial discrimination in the United States
- thumbnail sketch — small preliminary drawing
- tibetan buddhism — the form of Mahayana Buddhism that developed and is practiced primarily in Tibet and some nearby nations: its spiritual leader is the Dalai Lama
- to mean business — If you say that someone means business, you mean they are serious and determined about what they are doing.
- to overabound in — to have or contain too large a quantity or number of something
- to pass the buck — If you pass the buck, you refuse to accept responsibility for something, and say that someone else is responsible.
- transport number — that fraction of the total electric current that anions and cations carry in passing through an electrolytic solution.
- transubstantiate — to change from one substance into another; transmute.
- tungsten carbide — a very hard, black or gray compound of tungsten and carbon, used in the manufacture of cutting and abrasion tools, dies, and wear-resistant machine parts.
- turn a blind eye — pretend not to see sth
- turntable ladder — a power-operated extending ladder mounted on a fire engine
- twin-carburettor — (of an engine) having two carburettors
- ultra-liberalism — extremely liberal, especially in politics.
- umbilical hernia — a hernia of the umbilicus.
- unaccomplishable — to bring to its goal or conclusion; carry out; perform; finish: to accomplish one's mission.