18-letter words containing a, t, s
- sexual orientation — one's natural preference in sexual partners; predilection for homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality.
- shaggy dog (story) — a long, rambling joke, typically involving ludicrously unreal or irrational behavior and usually having an irrelevant conclusion
- shape-note singing — a traditional style of a capella singing using shape-note notation.
- shatterproof glass — glass designed to resist shattering
- shepherd satellite — a small moon orbiting near a planetary ring, whose gravitational pull helps confine the ring and the ring's extent.
- shipping container — a large, strong container, usually of metal, used to store goods in during shipment
- short, sharp shock — A short, sharp shock is a punishment that is fairly harsh and severe but only lasts for a short time.
- short-tailed shrew — a grayish-black shrew, Blarina brevicauda, common in eastern North America, that has a tail less than half the length of the body.
- shorthand notebook — a notebook used by a shorthand writer
- shugart associates — (company) The disk drive company, founded by Alan F. Shugart, which developed SCSI. Alan left Shugart Associates in 1974 [did he quit or was he fired?]. Shugart Associates was bought, and eventually shut down by Xerox.
- shugart technology — Seagate Technology
- shunting operation — an operation in which rail coaches are manoeuvred
- sign of the zodiac — one of the twelve constellations along the path of the ecliptic.
- significant symbol — a verbal or nonverbal gesture, as a word or smile, that has acquired a conventionalized meaning.
- sildenafil citrate — a white crystalline powder, C 22 H 30 N 6 O 4 S, that temporarily normalizes erectile function of the penis by blocking an enzyme known to inhibit the production of a chemical that causes erections: used in the form of a pill to treat impotence.
- silver certificate — a former paper currency first issued in 1878 by the U.S. federal government for circulation, equal to and redeemable for silver to a stated value.
- simple enumeration — a procedure for arriving at empirical generalizations by haphazard accumulation of positive instances.
- sindbad the sailor — (in The Arabian Nights' Entertainments), a wealthy citizen of Baghdad who relates the adventures of his seven wonderful voyages.
- sit at the feet of — to be an admiring disciple of
- sit on one's hands — the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb.
- sit up like jackie — to sit bolt upright, esp cheekily
- ski-mountaineering — a combination of the sports of skiing and mountaineering, for example by climbing up a mountain then skiing down it
- skin friction drag — aerodynamic resistance or drag due to the contact of moving air with the surface of an airplane, a glider, etc.
- skinny-rib sweater — a tight-fitting ribbed woollen jumper or pullover
- slow on the uptake — slow to understand or learn
- slow-motion replay — a showing again in slow motion of a sequence of action, esp of part of a sporting contest immediately after it happens
- small claims court — a special court established to handle small claims or debts, usually without the services of lawyers.
- small outline dimm — (storage) (SO-DIMM) A smaller kind of DIMM with 72 pins (supporting 32-bit transfers) or 144 pins (64-bit transfers). Regular DIMMs have 168 pins and support 64-bit transfers. Being roughly half the size of the regular DIMM, SO-DIMMs are often used in notebook computers.
- small pastern bone — the part of the foot of a horse, cow, etc., between the fetlock and the hoof.
- small-claims court — a special court established to handle small claims or debts, usually without the services of lawyers.
- smart battery data — (hardware, protocol) (SBD) A method to monitor a rechargeable battery pack, initiated by Duracell and Intel. An special IC in the battery pack monitors the battery and reports information to the SMBus. This information might include: type, model number, manufacturer, characteristics, discharge rate, predicted remaining capacity, almost-discharged alarm so that the PC can shut down gracefully; temperature and voltage to provide safe fast-charging.
- snake in the grass — a treacherous person, especially one who feigns friendship.
- social environment — the environment developed by humans as contrasted with the natural environment; society as a whole, especially in its relation to the individual.
- societal marketing — marketing that takes into account society's long-term welfare
- sociotechnological — of, relating to, or signifying the combination or interaction of social and technological factors.
- sodium bicarbonate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, in powder or granules, NaHCO 3 , usually prepared by the reaction of soda ash with carbon dioxide or obtained from the intermediate product of the Solvay process by purification: used chiefly in the manufacture of sodium salts, baking powder, and beverages, as a laboratory reagent, as a fire extinguisher, and in medicine as an antacid.
- sodium tetraborate — borax1 .
- sodium thiocyanate — a white powder or colorless, deliquescent crystals, NaSCN, used chiefly in organic synthesis and in medicine in the treatment of hypertension.
- sodium thiosulfate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, Na 2 S 2 O 3 ⋅5H 2 O, used as a bleach and in photography as a fixing agent.
- soft touch sealing — Soft touch sealing is a copolymer seal for a tank, with characteristics designed for softness, used instead of a metal seal to help avoid fire when sparks are generated.
- software backplane — (programming, tool) A CASE framework from Atherton.
- solid-fuel heating — heating that uses solid fuel, such as coal or coke
- solitary sandpiper — a North American sandpiper, Tringa solitaria, of inland wetlands, having a brownish-gray, white-spotted back and whitish underparts.
- solomon rabinowitz — Solomon, Aleichem, Sholom.
- solvent extraction — Solvent extraction is the separation of a particular substance from a mixture by dissolving that substance in a solvent that will dissolve it, but which will not dissolve any other substance in the mixture.
- something to spare — a surplus of something
- sound and the fury — a novel (1929) by William Faulkner.
- sound spectrograph — an electronic device for recording a sound spectogram.
- south saskatchewan — a river in W Canada, flowing E from S Alberta and joining the North Saskatchewan River to form the Saskatchewan River. 865 miles (1392 km) long.
- southampton island — an island in N Canada, in the Northwest Territories at the entrance to Hudson Bay. 19,100 sq. mi. (49,470 sq. km).