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15-letter words containing a, p, e, l, i, n

  • slap and tickle — sexual play
  • sleeping beauty — a beautiful princess, the heroine of a popular fairy tale, awakened from a charmed sleep by the kiss of the prince who is her true love.
  • sleeping tablet — A sleeping tablet is the same as a sleeping pill.
  • snafu principle — /sna'foo prin'si-pl/ [WWII Army acronym for "Situation Normal: All Fucked Up"] "True communication is possible only between equals, because inferiors are more consistently rewarded for telling their superiors pleasant lies than for telling the truth." - a central tenet of Discordianism, often invoked by hackers to explain why authoritarian hierarchies screw up so reliably and systematically. The effect of the SNAFU principle is a progressive disconnection of decision-makers from reality. This lightly adapted version of a fable dating back to the early 1960s illustrates the phenomenon perfectly: In the beginning was the plan, and then the specification; And the plan was without form, and the specification was void. And darkness was on the faces of the implementors thereof; And they spake unto their leader, saying: "It is a crock of shit, and smells as of a sewer." And the leader took pity on them, and spoke to the project leader: "It is a crock of excrement, and none may abide the odor thereof." And the project leader spake unto his section head, saying: "It is a container of excrement, and it is very strong, such that none may abide it." The section head then hurried to his department manager, and informed him thus: "It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide its strength." The department manager carried these words to his general manager, and spoke unto him saying: "It containeth that which aideth the growth of plants, and it is very strong." And so it was that the general manager rejoiced and delivered the good news unto the Vice President. "It promoteth growth, and it is very powerful." The Vice President rushed to the President's side, and joyously exclaimed: "This powerful new software product will promote the growth of the company!" And the President looked upon the product, and saw that it was very good. After the subsequent disaster, the suits protect themselves by saying "I was misinformed!", and the implementors are demoted or fired.
  • snapping beetle — click beetle.
  • snapping turtle — either of two large, edible, freshwater turtles of the family Chelydridae, of North and Central America, having a large head and powerful hooked jaws, especially the common snapping turtle, Chelydra serpentina.
  • social spending — the money that is spent on welfare payments
  • spanish needles — (used with a singular or plural verb) a composite plant, Bidens bipinnata, having achenes with downwardly barbed awns.
  • spanish trefoil — alfalfa.
  • sparkling water — soda water (def 1).
  • special edition — newspaper, magazine: extra issue
  • special licence — a licence permitting a marriage to take place by dispensing with the usual legal conditions
  • special partner — a partner whose liability for the firm's debts is limited to the amount that partner has invested in the firm.
  • special session — a session, as of a legislature or council, called to meet in addition to those held regularly.
  • special student — a student who is not seeking a degree but enrols in a course, esp to gain academic credits
  • spherical angle — an angle formed by arcs of great circles of a sphere.
  • spill the beans — the edible nutritious seed of various plants of the legume family, especially of the genus Phaseolus.
  • spiral notebook — a notebook held together by a coil of wire passed through small holes punched at the back edge of the covers and individual pages
  • spread sampling — the selection of a corpus for statistical analysis by selecting a number of short passages at random throughout the work and considering their aggregation
  • spring-cleaning — a complete cleaning of a place, as a home, done traditionally in the spring of the year.
  • sprinkler dance — a celebratory dance in which participants extend one arm and shake it to imitate the action of a rotating water sprinkler
  • subprofessional — being below professional standards: subprofessional health care.
  • sulphinpyrazone — a uricosuric drug with molecular formula C23H20N2O3S, used in the treatment of chronic gout
  • superexaltation — extreme or supreme exaltation; the act of superexalting; the process or condition of being superexalted
  • superficialness — being at, on, or near the surface: a superficial wound.
  • superindividual — greater than the individual
  • superior planet — any of the five planets whose orbits are outside the orbit of the earth, namely, the planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
  • supernaturalism — supernatural character or agency.
  • supernaturalist — supernatural character or agency.
  • supernaturality — the quality or state of being supernatural; supernaturalism.
  • supernaturalize — to make supernatural; give supernatural character or qualities to.
  • supplementation — the act or process of supplementing.
  • talking picture — Older Use. a motion picture with accompanying synchronized speech, singing, etc.
  • the colophonian — a native of Colophon.
  • thermal printer — a printer that produces output by selectively heating a heat-sensitive paper (thermal paper) in patterns corresponding to the characters to be produced.
  • tibetan spaniel — one of a breed of small alert dogs originally developed in Tibet, with a double coat of any color, well-feathered, pendent ears, and a plumed tail curled over the back.
  • treacle pudding — a sponge cake with syrup on top
  • trifluoperazine — a compound, C 21 H 24 F 3 N 3 S, used as an antipsychotic.
  • triple alliance — the alliance (1882–1915) of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
  • triple integral — an integral in which the integrand involves a function of three variables and which requires three applications of the integration process to evaluate.
  • unacceptability — capable or worthy of being accepted.
  • unanticipatedly — in an unanticipated or unexpected manner
  • unapprehensible — not able to be understood or comprehended
  • uncompanionable — not companionable or friendly; antisocial
  • uncomplimentary — of the nature of, conveying, or expressing a compliment, often one that is politely flattering: a complimentary remark.
  • uncompromisable — that cannot or should not be compromised
  • uncooperatively — in an uncooperative or unhelpful manner
  • uncopyrightable — not able to be copyrighted
  • undercapitalize — to provide an insufficient amount of capital for (a business enterprise).
  • underpopulation — having a population lower than is normal or desirable.
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