16-letter words containing c, h, i, t, o, s
- pitch inspection — in inclement weather, a pre-match inspection of the playing surface in order to determine whether it is in good enough condition for the match to go ahead
- plainclothes man — a detective or police officer who wears civilian clothes while on duty
- poitou-charentes — a region of W central France, on the Bay of Biscay: mainly low-lying
- pork scratchings — small pieces of crisply cooked pork crackling, eaten cold as an appetizer with drinks
- postencephalitic — inflammation of the substance of the brain.
- prognostic chart — a chart showing the predicted state of the atmosphere for a given time in the future.
- prospect heights — a town in N Illinois.
- prosthetic group — the nonprotein acid constituent of a conjugate protein, as the heme group of hemoglobin.
- protestant ethic — work ethic.
- pseudohistorical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- psychoanalytical — a systematic structure of theories concerning the relation of conscious and unconscious psychological processes.
- psychogeriatrics — the psychology of old age.
- quasi-historical — of, pertaining to, treating, or characteristic of history or past events: historical records; historical research.
- recursion theory — (theory) The study of problems that, in principle, cannot be solved by either computers or humans.
- richmond heights — a city in E Missouri, near St. Louis.
- saccharification — to convert (starch) into sugar.
- sado-masochistic — Something that is sado-masochistic is connected with the practice of sado-masochism.
- scheme of things — Someone's scheme of things is the way in which they think that things in their life should be organized.
- schlieren method — a method for detecting regions of differing densities in a clear fluid by photographing a beam of light passed obliquely through it.
- schneider trophy — a trophy for air racing between seaplanes of any nation, first presented by Jacques Schneider (1879–1928) in 1913; won outright by Britain in 1931
- school committee — (in New Zealand) a parent group selected to support a primary school
- school inspector — an official whose job is to inspect schools and to report on their quality and conditions
- schoolteacherish — showing characteristics thought to be typical of a schoolteacher, as strictness and primness.
- schouten islands — a group of islands belonging to Papua New Guinea, in the Pacific Oceans, off the N coast of New Guinea.
- scottish borders — a council area in SE Scotland, on the English border: created in 1996, it has the same boundaries as the former Borders Region: it is mainly hilly, with agriculture (esp sheep farming) the chief economic activity. Administrative centre: Newtown St Boswells. Pop: 108 280 (2003 est). Area: 4734 sq km (1827 sq miles)
- scottish terrier — one of a Scottish breed of small terriers having short legs and a wiry, steel-gray, brindled, black, sandy, or wheaten coat.
- sharia-compliant — (of a product or service) produced or offered in accordance with the doctrines of the sharia
- shoestring catch — a catch of a ball on the fly, made close to the ground while running.
- shortfin corvina — See under corvina.
- sit on the fence — to be unable or unwilling to commit oneself
- situation ethics — a view of ethics that deprecates general moral principles while emphasizing the source of moral judgments in the distinctive characters of specific situations.
- social gathering — party, get-together
- social pathology — a social factor, as poverty, old age, or crime, that tends to increase social disorganization and inhibit personal adjustment.
- something fierce — desperately, intensely
- sonata da chiesa — an instrumental musical form, common in the Baroque period, that usually consists of four movements alternating between slow and fast.
- south carolinian — a state in the SE United States, on the Atlantic coast. 31,055 sq. mi. (80,430 sq. km). Capital: Columbia. Abbreviation: SC (for use with zip code), S.C.
- spectrochemistry — the branch of chemistry that deals with the chemical analysis of substances by means of the spectra of light they absorb or emit.
- spectroheliogram — a photograph of the sun made with a spectroheliograph.
- speech community — the aggregate of all the people who use a given language or dialect.
- st. clair shores — a city in SE Michigan, near Detroit.
- stannic chloride — a colorless fuming and caustic liquid, SnCl 4 , soluble in water and alcohol, that converts with water to a crystalline solid: used for electrically conductive and electroluminescent coatings and in ceramics.
- steamboat gothic — a florid architectural style suggesting the gingerbread-decorated construction of river boats of the Victorian period.
- stick at nothing — to be prepared to do anything; be unscrupulous or ruthless
- stilton (cheese) — a rich, crumbly cheese with veins of blue-green mold
- stocking machine — a type of knitting machine
- stomach stapling — Stomach stapling is an operation in which part of the stomach is removed in order to help a person to eat less and lose weight.
- stomach-churning — causing nausea.
- string orchestra — an orchestra consisting only of violins, violas, cellos, and double basses
- 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).
- summa theologica — a philosophical and theological work (1265–74) by St. Thomas Aquinas, consisting of an exposition of Christian doctrine.