15-letter words containing a, o, l
- simple majority — less than half of the total votes cast but more than the minimum required to win, as when there are more than two candidates or choices.
- singapore sling — a cocktail of gin, cherry brandy, sugar, and water.
- sinistrodextral — moving or extending from the left to the right.
- sink a borehole — To sink a borehole means to drill a deep hole in the ground.
- sinoatrial node — a small mass of tissue in the right atrium functioning as pacemaker of the heart by giving rise to the electric impulses that initiate heart contractions.
- 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
- slavonian grebe — a N Eurasian or N American grebe with reddish underside and a black and gold crest; Podiceps auritus
- sled cultivator — go-devil (def 5).
- sleight of hand — skill in feats requiring quick and clever movements of the hands, especially for entertainment or deception, as jugglery, card or coin magic, etc.; legerdemain.
- slow-wave sleep — a recurrent period of deep sleep, typically totaling five or six hours a night, distinguished by the presence of slow brain waves and by very little dreaming.
- slumpflationary — of or relating to slumpflation
- smallmouth bass — a North American freshwater game fish, Micropterus dolomieu, yellowish-green above and lighter below, having the lower jaw extending to the eye.
- smoking-related — (of a disease, illness, etc) caused by smoking tobacco, etc
- snaggle toothed — a tooth growing out beyond or apart from others.
- snaggle-toothed — a tooth growing out beyond or apart from others.
- 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 bookmark — the practice of saving bookmarked Web pages to a public website as a way to share the links with other Internet users: Social bookmarking is a tool that allows you to add tags and comments to your bookmarks.
- social climbing — advancement of one's social status
- social contract — the voluntary agreement among individuals by which, according to any of various theories, as of Hobbes, Locke, or Rousseau, organized society is brought into being and invested with the right to secure mutual protection and welfare or to regulate the relations among its members.
- 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 drinking — the practice of drinking alcohol occasionally and usually only in social situations
- social dynamics — the study of social processes, especially social change.
- social heritage — the entire inherited pattern of cultural activity present in a society.
- social mobility — mobility (def 2).
- 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.
- social services — organized welfare efforts carried on under professional auspices by trained personnel.
- social spending — the money that is spent on welfare payments
- social standing — a person's status or social class in society
- social-drinking — a person who drinks alcoholic beverages usually in the company of others and is in control of his or her drinking.
- socialist party — a U.S. political party advocating socialism, formed about 1900 chiefly by former members of the Social Democratic Party and the Socialist Labor Party.
- 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)
- socio-political — Socio-political systems and problems involve a combination of social and political factors.
- sociobiological — of or relating to sociobiology
- socioculturally — from a sociocultural point of view
- sociohistorical — involving social and historical elements
- 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 ethylate — a white, hygroscopic powder, C 2 H 5 ONa, that is decomposed by water into sodium hydroxide and alcohol: used chiefly in organic synthesis.
- 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
- sodium sulphate — a solid white substance that occurs naturally as thenardite and is usually used as the white anhydrous compound (salt cake) or the white crystalline decahydrate (Glauber's salt) in making glass, detergents, and pulp. Formula: Na2SO4
- 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.
- solar radiation — energy radiated from the sun in the form of electromagnetic waves, including visible and ultraviolet light and infrared radiation.
- soldier's heart — cardiac neurosis.
- soldier's medal — a medal awarded to any member of the Army of the United States, or of any military organization serving with it, who distinguishes himself or herself by heroism not involving conflict with an enemy.
- solipsistically — in a solipsistic manner