15-letter words containing a, s, c, l, e, p
- quasi-spherical — having the form of a sphere; globular.
- radar telescope — (in radar astronomy) a very large radar antenna used to study planetary bodies in the solar system.
- radio telescope — a system consisting of an antenna, either parabolic or dipolar, used to gather radio waves emitted by celestial sources and bring them to a receiver placed in the focus.
- reception class — A reception class is a class that children go into when they first start school at the age of four or five.
- renal corpuscle — Malpighian body (sense 2)
- reported clause — A reported clause is a subordinate clause that indicates what someone said or thought. For example, in 'She said that she was hungry', 'she was hungry' is a reported clause.
- retail politics — a political strategy or campaign style of meeting and speaking directly to as many voters as possible: New Hampshire is a state where retail politics are decisive. Not every candidate is good at retail politics.
- sale of produce — the selling of something that is produced, esp agricultural products
- samuel prescott — Samuel, 1751–77, U.S. patriot during the American Revolution: rode with Paul Revere and William Dawes to warn Colonists that British troops were marching from Boston, April 18, 1775.
- sauce espagnole — brown sauce.
- scaphocephalous — of or relating to scaphocephalus
- schlieffen plan — a plan intended to ensure German victory over a Franco-Russian alliance by holding off Russia with minimal strength and swiftly defeating France by a massive flanking movement through the Low Countries, devised by Alfred, Count von Schlieffen (1833–1913) in 1905
- seleucia pieria — an ancient port in Syria, on the River Orontes: the port of Antioch, of military importance during the wars between the Ptolemies and Seleucids; largely destroyed by earthquake in 526; site of present-day Samandaǧ (Turkey)
- self-acceptance — the act of taking or receiving something offered.
- self-compatible — able to be fertilized by its own pollen.
- self-complacent — pleased with oneself; self-satisfied; smug.
- self-proclaimed — to announce or declare in an official or formal manner: to proclaim war.
- 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
- sexual politics — the differences in the amount of power that male and female people have in a society or group
- ship's articles — a type of contract by which sailors agree to the conditions, payment, etc, for the ship in which they are going to work
- simple fraction — a ratio of two integers.
- simple fracture — a fracture in which the bone does not pierce the skin.
- simplicidentate — belonging or pertaining to the Simplicidentata, formerly regarded as a suborder or division of rodents having only one pair of upper incisor teeth.
- slap and tickle — sexual play
- 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.
- social spending — the money that is spent on welfare payments
- 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.
- 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
- 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
- speckle pattern — the visual appearance of a star as viewed through a large telescope, with irregularities caused by the distorting effect of local turbulence in the earth's atmosphere.
- 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.
- spell a paddock — to give a field a rest period by letting it lie fallow
- spermatoblastic — relating to a spermatoblast
- spherical angle — an angle formed by arcs of great circles of a sphere.
- splanchnopleure — the double layer formed by the association of the lower layer of the lateral plate of mesoderm with the underlying entoderm, which develops into the embryonic viscera.
- 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
- stereotypically — in a stereotypical manner
- streptobacillus — any of various bacilli that form in chains.
- superficialness — being at, on, or near the surface: a superficial wound.
- superplasticity — the phenomenon, exhibited by certain metals and alloys usually at high temperatures, of stretching to extreme lengths without breaking