16-letter words containing a, v, i
- service families — families which have a member serving in the armed forces
- severance motion — an application made to a judge or court for the division into separate parts of a joint estate, contract, etc
- sevruga (caviar) — caviar prepared from the small, grayish or black roe of a sturgeon chiefly from the Caspian Sea
- sexual deviation — a type of mental disorder characterized by a preference for or obsession with unusual sexual practices, as pedophilia, sadomasochism, or exhibitionism.
- shopping village — a shopping centre that designed to look like a village
- shortfin corvina — See under corvina.
- sicilian vespers — a general massacre of the French in Sicily by the local population, begun at the sound of the vesper bell on Easter Monday, 1282.
- silver medallist — a competitor who comes second in a contest or race and is awarded a medal of silver
- silver-lace vine — a hardy, twining, woody plant, Polygonum auberti, of the buckwheat family, native to western China and Tibet, having greenish-white, fragrant flowers in drooping clusters.
- slave-making ant — an ant of a species that raids the colonies of other ant species, carrying off larvae and pupae to be reared as slaves.
- slugging average — a measure of the effectiveness of a batter in making base hits, obtained by dividing the total bases reached by hitting by the number of official times at bat and carrying out the result to three decimal places. A batter making 275 total bases in 500 times at bat has a slugging average of .550.
- social evolution — the gradual development of society and social forms, institutions, etc., usually through a series of peaceful stages. Compare revolution (def 2).
- south vietnamese — of or relating to the former South Vietnam (now part of Vietnam) or its inhabitants
- sparking voltage — the minimum voltage required to produce a spark across a given spark gap.
- special delivery — (in the U.S. Postal Service) delivery of mail outside the regularly scheduled hours, by a special messenger, upon the payment of an extra fee.
- specific gravity — the ratio of the density of any substance to the density of some other substance taken as standard, water being the standard for liquids and solids, and hydrogen or air being the standard for gases.
- splanchnic nerve — Anatomy. any of several nerves to the viscera and blood vessels of the chest and pelvic areas.
- standing ovation — rising to applaud
- state university — a university maintained by the government of a state.
- state's evidence — evidence given by an accomplice in a crime who becomes a voluntary witness against the other defendants: The defendants' case was lost when one of them turned state's evidence.
- steam locomotive — a locomotive moved by steam power generated in its own boiler: still in commercial use in nations that have not yet converted entirely to diesel and electric locomotives.
- substantive rank — a permanent rank in the armed services obtained by length of service, selection, etc
- superheavyweight — an amateur boxer weighing more than 91 kg
- superserviceable — overly disposed to be of service; officious.
- surveyor's chain — a series of objects connected one after the other, usually in the form of a series of metal rings passing through one another, used either for various purposes requiring a flexible tie with high tensile strength, as for hauling, supporting, or confining, or in various ornamental and decorative forms.
- swedish vallhund — a small sturdy dog of a Swedish breed with a long body and pricked pointed ears
- tarragon vinegar — a white vinegar flavoured with the herb tarragon, used in cooking, esp in salad dressings
- texas revolution — a revolutionary movement, 1832–36, in which U.S. settlers asserted their independence from Mexico and established the republic of Texas.
- thanksgiving day — a national holiday celebrated as a day of feasting and giving thanks for divine favors or goodness, observed on the fourth Thursday of November in the U.S. and in Canada on the second Monday of October.
- the devil to pay — Theology. (sometimes initial capital letter) the supreme spirit of evil; Satan. a subordinate evil spirit at enmity with God, and having power to afflict humans both with bodily disease and with spiritual corruption.
- the moving party — a person who applies to a court or judge with the aim of obtaining a ruling in their favour
- the noes have it — there is a majority of votes in the negative
- the silver state — the nickname of the US state of Nevada, which comes from the large amount of silver discovered and mined there
- the vienna union — an international conference of socialists who came together in Vienna in 1921 in an attempt to reconstruct a united International by offering an alternative to the right-wing remnant of the Second International and to the Comintern: merged into the Labour and Socialist International in 1923
- thermionic valve — vacuum tube.
- thick as thieves — very close friends
- tinnevelly senna — any plant, shrub, or tree belonging to the genus Cassia, of the legume family, having pinnate leaves and large clusters of flowers.
- to overabound in — to have or contain too large a quantity or number of something
- to pay dividends — If something pays dividends, it brings advantages at a later date.
- torvill and dean — two British ice dancers, Jayne Torvill, born 1957, and Christopher Dean, born 1958. They won the world championships in 1981–84, the European championships in 1981–82, 1984, and 1994, and the gold medal in the 1984 Olympic Games
- travel insurance — insurance which covers losses that may be incurred while travelling, such as medical expenses, flight cancellations, lost luggage, etc
- travelling clock — a small clock taken by someone who is travelling
- trigeminal nerve — of or relating to the trigeminal nerve.
- twelvepenny nail — a nail that is 3 1/4 inches (8.25 cm) long.
- unattractiveness — the condition of not appealing to the senses or mind through beauty, form, character, etc
- unconventionally — not conventional; not bound by or conforming to convention, rule, or precedent; free from conventionality: an unconventional artist; an unconventional use of material.
- unconversational — of, relating to, or characteristic of conversation: a conversational tone of voice.
- underpitch vault — a construction having a central vault intersected by vaults of lower pitch.
- ungava peninsula — a peninsula in NW Ungava region, in N Quebec, in E Canada.
- unimproved value — the valuation of land for rating purposes, disregarding the value of buildings or other development