16-letter words containing c, i, b, a, t
- roundabout chair — corner chair.
- sabattier effect — the alteration of the image tones of a photographic print by briefly reexposing the negative after it has been partially developed.
- sabbatical leave — a year or shorter period of absence for study, rest, or travel, given at intervals (orig. every seven years) as to some college teachers and now to people in other fields, at full or partial salary
- santiago de cuba — a region in Ecuador, E of the Andes: the border long disputed by Peru.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- steamboat gothic — a florid architectural style suggesting the gingerbread-decorated construction of river boats of the Victorian period.
- strict liability — responsibility for damage or loss regardless of intention or culpability
- strike a balance — compromise
- subcartilaginous — partially or incompletely cartilaginous.
- subjectification — to make subjective.
- subsistence wage — the lowest wage upon which a worker and his or her family can survive
- 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).
- take the biscuit — Take the biscuit means the same as take the cake.
- thrombocytopenia — an abnormal decrease in the number of blood platelets.
- thumbnail sketch — small preliminary drawing
- to break the ice — If you break the ice at a party or meeting, or in a new situation, you say or do something to make people feel relaxed and comfortable.
- tobacco industry — business of selling smoking products
- tracheobronchial — of, relating to, or affecting the trachea and bronchi.
- triacetate fiber — a textile fiber made of cellulose triacetate.
- tridarn cupboard — a Welsh cupboard of the late 17th and 18th centuries, with an open, canopied upper section for display.
- 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.
- twin-carburettor — (of an engine) having two carburettors
- typhoid bacillus — the bacterium Salmonella typhosa, causing typhoid fever.
- unconfirmability — to establish the truth, accuracy, validity, or genuineness of; corroborate; verify: This report confirms my suspicions.
- uncontradictable — to assert the contrary or opposite of; deny directly and categorically.
- unenforceability — to put or keep in force; compel obedience to: to enforce a rule; Traffic laws will be strictly enforced.
- unpredictability — not predictable; not to be foreseen or foretold: an unpredictable occurrence.
- vapor combustion — Vapor combustion is a closed burn system used for treating liquid waste which contains volatile organic compounds.
- vegetable slicer — a device with a sharp blade for slicing vegetables finely;
- verbal adjective — an adjective derived from a verb, as, in English, smiling in smiling eyes, or, in Greek, batós “going,” “moving,” derived from baínen “to go,” “to move.”.
- virginia tobacco — a type of flue-cured tobacco grown originally in Virginia
- witches' sabbath — Sabbat.
- yah-boo politics — adversarial politics in which politicians constantly deride their opponents and dismiss everything suggested by them