16-letter words containing b, e, s, a, n, c
- lipstick lesbian — a lesbian who is feminine in manner or appearance; a femme.
- low-carbon steel — steel containing between 0.04 and 0.25 per cent carbon
- machine washable — suitable for washing in a washing machine
- man on horseback — a military leader who presents himself as the savior of the country during a period of crisis and either assumes or threatens to assume dictatorial powers.
- new smyrna beach — a town in NE Florida.
- nitrous bacteria — bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrites in the soil
- observation deck — an area on a high building that is surrounded with railings or fencing and which provides panoramic views
- occasional table — a small table with no regular use
- police constable — police officer
- presence chamber — the special room in which a great personage, as a sovereign, receives guests, holds audiences, etc.
- public relations — (used with a plural verb) the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc.
- rack one's brain — If you rack your brains, you try very hard to think of something.
- rainbow seaperch — an embiotocid fish, Hypsurus caryi, living off the Pacific coast of North America, having red, orange, and blue stripes on the body.
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
- rectus abdominis — a long flat muscle that extends along the whole length of both sides of the abdomen. It flexes the vertebral column, particularly the lumbar portion; it also tenses the anterior abdominal wall and assists in compressing the abdominal contents
- reserve buoyancy — the difference between the volume of a hull below the designed waterline and the volume of the hull below the lowest opening incapable of being made watertight.
- santiago de cuba — a region in Ecuador, E of the Andes: the border long disputed by Peru.
- save one's bacon — the back and sides of the hog, salted and dried or smoked, usually sliced thin and fried for food.
- scavenger beetle — any beetle of the mostly aquatic family Hydrophilidae, having clubbed antennae and long palps, and usually feeding on decaying vegetation
- sebaceous glands — any of the cutaneous glands that secrete oily matter for lubricating hair and skin.
- security blanket — a blanket or other familiar item carried especially by a young child to provide reassurance and a feeling of psychological security.
- self-lubricating — to apply some oily or greasy substance to (a machine, parts of a mechanism, etc.) in order to diminish friction; oil or grease (something).
- self-lubrication — the process of becoming lubricated without external factors
- semantic tableau — a method of demonstrating the consistency or otherwise of a set of statements by constructing a diagrammatic representation of all the circumstances that satisfy the set of statements
- simon boccanegra — an opera (1857) by Giuseppe Verdi.
- slap on the back — to congratulate
- sodium carbonate — Also called soda ash. an anhydrous, grayish-white, odorless, water-soluble powder, Na 2 CO 3 , usually obtained by the Solvay process and containing about 1 percent of impurities consisting of sulfates, chlorides, and bicarbonates of sodium: used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, soaps, paper, petroleum products, sodium salts, as a cleanser, for bleaching, and in water treatment.
- sole beneficiary — the only beneficiary
- stab in the back — to pierce or wound with or as if with a pointed weapon: She stabbed a piece of chicken with her fork.
- strike a balance — compromise
- subjectification — to make subjective.
- submarine chaser — a small patrol vessel, 100–200 feet (30–60 meters) long, designed for military operations against submarines.
- 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
- sulfocarbanilide — thiocarbanilide.
- the eastern bloc — (formerly) the Soviet bloc
- thumbnail sketch — small preliminary drawing
- 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.
- unaccomplishable — to bring to its goal or conclusion; carry out; perform; finish: to accomplish one's mission.