16-letter words containing a, s, p, r, i
- spraying machine — a device for spraying large volumes of liquid, such as insecticide onto crops
- spreader-ditcher — a machine for shaping and cleaning roadbeds and ditches and for freeing tracks of ice and snow by plowing and digging.
- spreading center — a linear zone in the sea floor along which magma rises and from which adjacent crustal plates are moving apart.
- spreading factor — a substance, as hyaluronidase, that promotes the diffusion of a material through body tissues
- spring ephemeral — any of various woodland wildflowers that appear above ground in early spring, flower and fruit, and die in a short two-month period.
- spring mountains — a mountain range in S Nevada extending to the California border. Highest peak, Charleston Peak. 11,919 feet (3635 meters).
- spring snowflake — a European amaryllidaceous plant, Leucojum vernum, with white nodding bell-shaped flowers
- springer spaniel — a dog of either of two breeds of medium-sized spaniels, used for flushing and retrieving game.
- stage production — a play or show which is performed on stage
- standing cypress — a plant, Ipomopsis rubra, of the southern U.S., having feathery leaves and clusters of red and yellow flowers.
- start-up capital — capital used to set up a new business
- stationary point — a point on a curve at which the tangent is either horizontal or vertical, such as a maximum, a minimum, or a point of inflection
- sticking plaster — an adhesive cloth or other material for covering and closing superficial wounds, holding bandages in place, etc.
- still photograph — a photograph taken from a cinema film which is used for publicity purposes
- stonecrop family — the plant family Crassulaceae, characterized by succulent herbaceous plants and shrubs with simple, fleshy leaves, clusters of small flowers, and dry, dehiscent fruit, and including hen-and-chickens, houseleek, kalanchoe, live-forever, orpine, sedum, and stonecrop.
- storage capacity — amount of room or space
- strange particle — any elementary particle with a strangeness quantum number other than zero.
- stroboradiograph — a stroboscopic radiograph.
- studio apartment — an apartment consisting of one main room, a kitchen or kitchenette, and a bathroom. Compare efficiency apartment.
- subtropical high — one of several highs, as the Azores and Pacific highs, that prevail over the oceans at latitudes of about 30 degrees N and S. Also called subtropical anticyclone. Compare high (def 37).
- sugar plantation — a large area of land where sugar is grown
- sulfanilyl group — the para form of the group C 6 H 6 NO 2 S–, derived from sulfanilic acid.
- sulfarsphenamine — a yellow, water-soluble, arsenic-containing powder, C 1 4 H 1 4 As 2 N 2 Na 2 O 8 S 2 , formerly used in the treatment of syphilis.
- sulu archipelago — an island group in the SW Philippines, separating the Sulawesi Sea from the Sulu Sea. 1086 sq. mi. (2813 sq. km). Capital: Jolo.
- summer complaint — an acute condition of diarrhea, occurring during the hot summer months chiefly in infants and children, caused by bacterial contamination of food and associated with poor hygiene.
- super-patriotism — a person who is patriotic to an extreme.
- superfecundation — the fertilization of two or more ova discharged at the same ovulation by successive acts of sexual intercourse.
- superficialities — being at, on, or near the surface: a superficial wound.
- superheavyweight — an amateur boxer weighing more than 91 kg
- superior general — the superior of an order or congregation.
- supernationalism — an extreme or fanatical loyalty or devotion to a nation.
- superserviceable — overly disposed to be of service; officious.
- superunification — a theory intended to describe the electromagnetic force, the strong force, the weak force, and gravity as a single, unified force.
- supporting actor — performer: not lead
- supranationalism — outside or beyond the authority of one national government, as a project or policy that is planned and controlled by a group of nations.
- surface-printing — planography.
- swine erysipelas — erysipelas (def 2).
- taimyr peninsula — a peninsula in the N Russian Federation in Asia, between the Kara and Laptev seas.
- take by surprise — to strike or occur to with a sudden feeling of wonder or astonishment, as through unexpectedness: Her beauty surprised me.
- tamper-resistant — difficult to tamper with: a tamper-resistant cap on a medicine bottle.
- thermoplasticity — soft and pliable when heated, as some plastics, without any change of the inherent properties.
- to coin a phrase — You say 'to coin a phrase' to show that you realize you are making a pun or using a cliché.
- to rest in peace — If you express the wish that a dead person may rest in peace, you are showing respect and sympathy for him or her. 'Rest in peace' or 'RIP' is also sometimes written on gravestones.
- topsail schooner — a sailing vessel fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts with square sails above the foresail, and often with a square sail before the foresail.
- transalpine gaul — an ancient region in W Europe, including the modern areas of N Italy, France, Belgium, and the S Netherlands: consisted of two main divisions, one part S of the Alps (Cisalpine Gaul) and another part N of the Alps (Transalpine Gaul)
- transfer pricing — the setting of a price for the transfer of raw materials, components, products, or services between the trading units of a large organization
- transition point — Physics. a temperature at which a substance undergoes some abrupt change in its properties, as when it passes from the normal to the superconducting state.
- transpeptidation — the process of transferring an amino acid or group of amino acids from one compound to another.
- transport police — the national police force for railways in Britain, which protects rail operators, staff and passengers
- trap-door spider — any of several burrowing spiders, of the family Ctenizidae, that construct a tubular nest with a hinged lid.