15-letter words containing a, c, o, s, t, e
- semi-functional — of or relating to a function or functions: functional difficulties in the administration.
- semiabstraction — a work of art whose subject matter is semi-abstract
- semidocumentary — a film or television programme that is fictional but includes many factual events or details
- semilogarithmic — (of graphing) having one scale logarithmic and the other arithmetic or of uniform gradation.
- separate school — (in Canada) a school for a large religious minority financed by its rates and administered by its own school board but under the authority of the provincial department of education
- service station — Also called gas station. a place equipped for servicing automobiles, as by selling gasoline and oil, making repairs, etc.
- sesquicarbonate — a salt intermediate in composition between a carbonate and a bicarbonate or consisting of the two combined.
- sexual politics — the differences in the amount of power that male and female people have in a society or group
- shock resistant — not affected by impact
- shock treatment — electroconvulsive therapy
- shock-resistant — strong or resilient enough to sustain minor impacts without damage to the internal mechanism: a shock-resistant watch.
- shut one's face — to be silent
- simple fraction — a ratio of two integers.
- slashdot effect — a temporary surge in the numbers visiting a website and consequent service slowdown or even server crash that sometimes arises as a result of a new link being set up from a more popular website
- sled cultivator — go-devil (def 5).
- snowball effect — a process of continuously accelerating change in size, importance, etc
- social benefits — the social welfare provision made available to those in need
- social democrat — a person who advocates a gradual transition to socialism or a modified form of socialism by and under democratic political processes.
- social distance — the extent to which individuals or groups are removed from or excluded from participating in one another's lives.
- social heritage — the entire inherited pattern of cultural activity present in a society.
- social movement — a group of diffusely organized people or organizations striving toward a common goal relating to human society or social change, or the organized activities of such a group: The push for civil rights was a social movement that peaked in the 1950s and 1960s.
- social register — a directory or list of people prominent in the fashionable society of a given area
- social security — (usually initial capital letters) a program of old-age, unemployment, health, disability, and survivors insurance maintained by the U.S. federal government through compulsory payments by specific employer and employee groups.
- society islands — a group of islands in the S Pacific: administratively part of French Polynesia; consists of the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands; became a French protectorate in 1843 and a colony in 1880. Pop: 214 445 (2002). Area: 1595 sq km (616 sq miles)
- socratic method — the use of questions, as employed by Socrates, to develop a latent idea, as in the mind of a pupil, or to elicit admissions, as from an opponent, tending to establish a proposition.
- sodium chlorate — a colorless, water-soluble solid, NaClO 3 , cool and salty to the taste, used chiefly in the manufacture of explosives and matches, as a textile mordant, and as an oxidizing and bleaching agent.
- sodium citrates — the sodium salts of citric acid (monosodium citrate, disodium citrate, trisodium citrate)
- sodium silicate — a substance having the general formula, Na2O.xSiO2, where x varies between 3 and 5, existing as an amorphous powder or present in a usually viscous aqueous solution
- soft-shell clam — an edible clam, Mya arenaria, inhabiting waters along both coasts of North America, having an oval, relatively thin, whitish shell.
- soft-shell crab — a crab, especially the blue crab, that has recently molted and therefore has a soft, edible shell.
- solar collector — any of numerous devices or systems designed to capture and use solar radiation for heating air or water and for producing steam to generate electricity.
- somatic therapy — any of a group of treatments presumed to act on biological factors leading to mental illness.
- sophisticatedly — (of a person, ideas, tastes, manners, etc.) altered by education, experience, etc., so as to be worldly-wise; not naive: a sophisticated young socialite; the sophisticated eye of an experienced journalist.
- source material — original, authoritative, or basic materials utilized in research, as diaries or manuscripts.
- south china sea — a part of the W Pacific, bounded by SE China, Vietnam, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, and the Philippines.
- space telescope — a satellite put in orbit around the earth and equipped with an extremely accurate reflecting telescope, cameras, etc.: it is designed to relay astronomical data to the earth
- special edition — newspaper, magazine: extra issue
- spectator sport — any sport that can be watched by spectators, as football or basketball, usually for a fee.
- spectrochemical — of, relating to, or utilizing the techniques of spectrochemistry.
- speed indicator — an instrument for counting the number of revolutions of a gasoline engine.
- spermatoblastic — relating to a spermatoblast
- spirochaetaemia — the presence of spirochaetes in the blood
- sporting chance — an even or fair opportunity for a favorable outcome in an enterprise, as winning in a game of chance or in any kind of contest: They gave the less experienced players a sporting chance by handicapping the experts.
- spotted cowbane — a North American water hemlock, Cicuta maculata, of the parsley family, having a purple-mottled stem, white flowers, and deadly poisonous, tuberlike roots.
- stage direction — an instruction written into the script of a play, indicating stage actions, movements of performers, or production requirements.
- stalactite work — (in Islamic architecture) intricate decorative corbeling in the form of brackets, squinches, and portions of pointed vaults.
- stand-up comedy — telling jokes to an audience
- star connection — a connection used in a polyphase electrical device or system of devices in which the windings each have one end connected to a common junction, the star point, and the other end to a separate terminal
- star of courage — a Canadian award for bravery
- state education — education provided by the state; education which is not private