16-letter words containing a, s, t, u, c
- subjectification — to make subjective.
- subsistence wage — the lowest wage upon which a worker and his or her family can survive
- substance abuser — a person who takes an excessive amount of drugs in a manner that is detrimental to health
- 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).
- succession state — any of a number of usually new states that are established in or expand over the territory formerly ruled by one large state
- summa theologica — a philosophical and theological work (1265–74) by St. Thomas Aquinas, consisting of an exposition of Christian doctrine.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- surface integral — the limit, as the norm of the partition of a given surface into sections of area approaches zero, of the sum of the product of the areas times the value of a given function of three variables at some point on each section.
- surface-printing — planography.
- suspense account — an account in which items are temporarily entered until their final disposition is determined.
- take the biscuit — Take the biscuit means the same as take the cake.
- tandem computers — (company) A US computer manufacturer. Quarterly sales $544M, profits $49M (Aug 1994).
- the scots guards — a regiment of Guards Division of the British Army which dates back to 1642
- thumbnail sketch — small preliminary drawing
- to call it quits — If you say that you are going to call it quits, you mean that you have decided to stop doing something or being involved in something.
- to cut both ways — If you say that something cuts both ways, you mean that it can have two opposite effects, or can have both good and bad effects.
- to move a muscle — If you say that someone did not move a muscle, you mean that they stayed absolutely still.
- to pass the buck — If you pass the buck, you refuse to accept responsibility for something, and say that someone else is responsible.
- tobacco industry — business of selling smoking products
- toulouse-lautrec — Henri Marie Raymond de [ahn-ree ma-ree re-mawn duh] /ɑ̃ˈri maˈri rɛˈmɔ̃ də/ (Show IPA), 1864–1901, French painter and lithographer.
- trailing fuchsia — a shrub, Fuchsia procumbens, of the evening primrose family, native to New Zealand, having long-stalked leaves and drooping, orange-and-purple flowers, used in hanging baskets.
- transconductance — the ratio of a small change in anode current of an electron tube at a certain level of output to the corresponding small change of control-electrode voltage, usually expressed in mhos or micromhos.
- transculturation — acculturation.
- travel insurance — insurance which covers losses that may be incurred while travelling, such as medical expenses, flight cancellations, lost luggage, etc
- tristan da cunha — a group of four volcanic islands in the S Atlantic, belonging to St. Helena. 40 sq. mi. (104 sq. km).
- tsushima current — a warm ocean current flowing northward along the west coast of Japan.
- tungsten carbide — a very hard, black or gray compound of tungsten and carbon, used in the manufacture of cutting and abrasion tools, dies, and wear-resistant machine parts.
- twofold purchase — a purchase using a double standing block and a double running block so as to give a mechanical advantage of four or five, neglecting friction, depending on whether the hauling is on the standing block or the running block.
- typhoid bacillus — the bacterium Salmonella typhosa, causing typhoid fever.
- ultramicroscopic — an instrument that uses scattering phenomena to detect the position of objects too small to be seen by an ordinary microscope.
- unattractiveness — the condition of not appealing to the senses or mind through beauty, form, character, etc
- uncharacteristic — Also, characteristical. pertaining to, constituting, or indicating the character or peculiar quality of a person or thing; typical; distinctive: Red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn.
- uncinate process — a curved, bony process on certain ribs of birds that projects backward and overlaps the succeeding rib, serving to strengthen the thorax.
- uncircumstantial — of pertaining to, or derived from circumstances: a circumstantial result.
- unconstitutional — not constitutional; unauthorized by or inconsistent with the constitution, as of a country.
- unconversational — of, relating to, or characteristic of conversation: a conversational tone of voice.
- undercompensated — to compensate or pay less than is fair, customary, or expected.
- undersecretariat — a department or section of a ministry of which an under secretary is in charge.
- undiscriminating — differentiating; analytical.
- undiscriminatory — characterized by or showing prejudicial treatment, especially as an indication of bias related to age, color, national origin, religion, sex, etc.: discriminatory practices in housing; a discriminatory tax.
- unissued capital — authorized capital that has not yet been issued as shares
- unsystematically — having, showing, or involving a system, method, or plan: a systematic course of reading; systematic efforts.
- upsilon particle — the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet (Υ, υ).
- vapor combustion — Vapor combustion is a closed burn system used for treating liquid waste which contains volatile organic compounds.
- victorian values — qualities considered to characterize the Victorian period, including enterprise and initiative and the importance of the family
- visual interface — (tool, text) (vi) /V-I/, /vi:/, *never* /siks/ A screen editor crufted together by Bill Joy for an early BSD release. vi became the de facto standard Unix editor and a nearly undisputed hacker favourite outside of MIT until the rise of Emacs after about 1984. It tends to frustrate new users no end, as it will neither take commands while expecting input text nor vice versa, and the default setup provides no indication of which mode the editor is in (one correspondent accordingly reports that he has often heard the editor's name pronounced /vi:l/). Nevertheless it is still widely used (about half the respondents in a 1991 Usenet poll preferred it), and even some Emacs fans resort to it as a mail editor and for small editing jobs (mainly because it starts up faster than the bulkier versions of Emacs). See holy wars.