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

  • singapore sling — a cocktail of gin, cherry brandy, sugar, and water.
  • sinorespiratory — of, relating to, or affecting the paranasal sinuses and the respiratory tract.
  • slab plastering — coarse plastering, as between the studs in a half-timbered wall.
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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.
  • southern paiute — See under Paiute (def 2).
  • space scientist — an expert or specialist in any of the various science fields which relate to space flight or any phenomena occurring in space or on other planets. This would include for example such fields as Astronautics, Astrophysics, or Galactic Science
  • spaghetti strap — a thin, often rounded strip of fabric used in women's clothing, as to form a shoulder strap on a bare-shouldered garment.
  • spanish america — the Spanish-speaking countries south of the U.S.: Mexico, Central America (with the exception of Belize), South America (with the exceptions of Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, and Suriname), and most of the West Indies.
  • spanish bayonet — any of certain plants belonging to the genus Yucca, of the agave family, having narrow, spine-tipped leaves and a cluster of white flowers.
  • 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).
  • speaking as sth — You can say 'speaking as a parent' or 'speaking as a teacher', for example, to indicate that the opinion you are giving is based on your experience as a parent or as a teacher.
  • speaking of sth — You can say speaking of something that has just been mentioned as a way of introducing a new topic which has some connection with that thing.
  • special edition — newspaper, magazine: extra issue
  • special effects — Usually, special effects. a video or audio illusion in film or other media, created with computer-generated images, prosthetic makeup, pyrotechnics, etc.
  • special feature — an article differing from the normal format and focusing on a particular topic
  • special library — a library maintained by an organization, as a business, association, or government agency, to collect materials and provide information of special relevance to the work of the organization.
  • 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
  • special subject — an area of knowledge in which someone specializes
  • specific charge — the ratio of the charge on a particle to the mass of the particle.
  • spectral series — a series of lines in the spectrum of light emitted by excited atoms of an element, each line being related to the others in the series by a simple numerical equation and identified with a particular energy level of an atom of the element.
  • spectrochemical — of, relating to, or utilizing the techniques of spectrochemistry.
  • speech training — training designed to improve spoken skills, such as voice projection
  • speed indicator — an instrument for counting the number of revolutions of a gasoline engine.
  • spermatoblastic — relating to a spermatoblast
  • spermatogenesis — the origin and development of spermatozoa.
  • sphaerosiderite — a type of siderite
  • spherical angle — an angle formed by arcs of great circles of a sphere.
  • spheroidization — the conversion of grains into spheroids
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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
  • spread-eagleism — boastfulness or bombast, especially in the display of patriotic or nationalistic pride in the U.S.; flag-waving.
  • spring mattress — a mattress containing an arrangement of spiral springs
  • spring-cleaning — a complete cleaning of a place, as a home, done traditionally in the spring of the year.
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