16-letter words containing a, i, s, h
- sealyham terrier — one of a Welsh breed of small terriers having short legs, a docked tail, and a wiry, mostly white coat.
- secular humanism — any set of beliefs that promotes human values without specific allusion to religious doctrines.
- seleucia trachea — an ancient city in SE Asia Minor, on the River Calycadnus (modern Goksu Nehri): captured by the Turks in the 13th century; site of present-day Silifke (Turkey)
- self-humiliation — an act or instance of humiliating or being humiliated.
- semi-hibernation — Zoology. to spend the winter in close quarters in a dormant condition, as bears and certain other animals. Compare estivate.
- sex-and-shopping — (of a novel) belonging to a genre of novel in which the central character, a woman, has a number of sexual encounters, and the author mentions the name of many up-market products
- shag pile carpet — a large piece of thick material with a nap of long rough strands that you put on a floor
- shakedown cruise — extortion, as by blackmail or threats of violence.
- shared ownership — (in Britain) a form of house purchase whereby the purchaser buys a proportion of the dwelling, usually from a local authority or housing association, and rents the rest
- sharia-compliant — (of a product or service) produced or offered in accordance with the doctrines of the sharia
- sheepskin jacket — a short jacket made of the skin of a sheep with the wool still attached to it
- shemini atzereth — a Jewish festival celebrated on the 22nd day of Tishri, being the 8th day of Sukkoth: marked by a memorial service for the dead and prayers for rain in Israel.
- shepherd's plaid — a checkered black and white pattern
- shifting spanner — an adjustable spanner
- shipping channel — a navigational pathway that a ship uses to travel from one place to another
- shipping company — business that sends goods overseas
- shirring elastic — elastic used for shirring
- shit-eating grin — a sly, knowing, or self-satisfied grin
- shoestring catch — a catch of a ball on the fly, made close to the ground while running.
- shoot-to-disable — of or relating to shooting by soldiers or police that is intended to disable rather than kill
- shooting gallery — a place equipped with targets and used for practice in shooting.
- shopping channel — television station used to sell goods
- shopping village — a shopping centre that designed to look like a village
- shortfin corvina — See under corvina.
- shorthand typing — shorthand and typing
- shorthand typist — A shorthand typist is a person who types and writes shorthand, usually in an office.
- shorthand writer — a person trained to write in shorthand
- shot in the dark — a discharge of a firearm, bow, etc.
- shotgun marriage — a wedding occasioned or precipitated by pregnancy.
- show-me attitude — a sceptical frame of mind
- siberian mammoth — a shaggy-coated mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, that lived in cold regions across Eurasia and North America during the Ice Age, known from fossils, cave paintings, and well-preserved frozen carcasses.
- silky flycatcher — any of several passerine birds of the family Ptilogonatidae, of the southwestern U.S. to Panama, related to the waxwings.
- simeon ben yohai — flourished 2nd century a.d, Palestinian rabbi.
- simonyi, charles — Charles Simonyi
- sir herbert read — George, 1733–98, American political leader: served in the Continental Congress 1774–77.
- situation ethics — a view of ethics that deprecates general moral principles while emphasizing the source of moral judgments in the distinctive characters of specific situations.
- slap in the face — smack on the cheek
- sleeping draught — any drink containing a drug or agent that induces sleep
- smack in the eye — a snub or setback
- smoke inhalation — poisoning of the lungs caused by inhaling large quantities of toxic fumes from a fire
- smooth breathing — a symbol (') used in the writing of Greek to indicate that the initial vowel over which it is placed is unaspirated.
- social gathering — party, get-together
- social pathology — a social factor, as poverty, old age, or crime, that tends to increase social disorganization and inhibit personal adjustment.
- sodium methylate — a white, free-flowing, flammable powder, CH 3 ONa, decomposed by water to sodium hydroxide and methyl alcohol: used chiefly in organic synthesis.
- sodium pentothal — the sodium salt of thiopental sodium.
- sodium phosphate — Also called monobasic sodium phosphate. a white, crystalline, slightly hygroscopic, water-soluble powder, NaH 2 PO 4 , used chiefly in dyeing and in electroplating.
- soft in the head — stupid or foolish
- solemn high mass — a Mass sung with the assistance of a deacon and subdeacon.
- sonata da chiesa — an instrumental musical form, common in the Baroque period, that usually consists of four movements alternating between slow and fast.
- sounding machine — any of various machines for taking and recording soundings.