16-letter words containing c, o, n, s, u
- pseudoparenchyma — (in certain fungi and red algae) a compact mass of tissue, made up of interwoven hyphae or filaments, that superficially resembles plant tissue.
- pseudoscientific — any of various methods, theories, or systems, as astrology, psychokinesis, or clairvoyance, considered as having no scientific basis.
- psychoimmunology — the branch of medicine studying the effects of psychological phenomena on the immune system; the intersection of psychology and immunology.
- public ownership — ownership by the state; nationalization
- 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.
- public transport — fare-paying travel
- punctuationalism — punctuated equilibrium.
- purchasing power — Also called buying power. the ability to purchase goods and services.
- put a sock in it — be quiet!
- queen's champion — a hereditary official at British coronations, representing the king (King's Champion) or the queen (Queen's Champion) who is being crowned, and having originally the function of challenging to mortal combat any person disputing the right of the new sovereign to rule.
- question of fact — a question concerning the reality of an alleged event or circumstance in a trial by jury, usually determined by the jury.
- radius of action — the maximum distance that a ship, aircraft, or land vehicle can travel from its base and return without refuelling
- rambunctiousness — difficult to control or handle; wildly boisterous: a rambunctious child.
- recording studio — place where music is recorded
- 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
- recursion theory — (theory) The study of problems that, in principle, cannot be solved by either computers or humans.
- reinsurance pool — the grouping of insurers that provide partial or complete insurance coverage to other insurers for (a risk on which a policy has already been issued)
- reporting clause — A reporting clause is a clause which indicates that you are talking about what someone said or thought. For example, in 'She said that she was hungry', 'She said' is a reporting clause.
- 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.
- resonant circuit — A resonant circuit combines an inductor and capacitor to make a circuit that responds to a frequency.
- risus sardonicus — fixed contraction of the facial muscles resulting in a peculiar distorted grin, caused esp by tetanus
- safety-conscious — conscious of being safe and preventing danger
- santiago de cuba — a region in Ecuador, E of the Andes: the border long disputed by Peru.
- schouten islands — a group of islands belonging to Papua New Guinea, in the Pacific Oceans, off the N coast of New Guinea.
- sclerenchymatous — supporting or protective tissue composed of thickened, dry, and hardened cells.
- sebaceous glands — any of the cutaneous glands that secrete oily matter for lubricating hair and skin.
- secondary colour — a colour formed by mixing two primary colours
- secondary source — next after the first in order, place, time, etc.
- secondary tissue — tissue derived from cambium.
- security council — the division of the United Nations charged with maintaining international peace, composed of five permanent members (U.S., Russian Federation, France, United Kingdom, and the People's Republic of China) and ten temporary members, each serving for two years.
- self-consequence — self-important character or quality; self-importance.
- self-constituted — constituted as such by oneself or itself
- self-consumption — the act of consuming, as by use, decay, or destruction.
- self-cultivation — the act or art of cultivating.
- self-destruction — the destruction or ruination of oneself or one's life.
- self-lubrication — the process of becoming lubricated without external factors
- self-pronouncing — having the pronunciation indicated, especially by diacritical marks added on original spellings rather than by phonetic symbols: a self-pronouncing dictionary.
- self-reproducing — to make a copy, representation, duplicate, or close imitation of: to reproduce a picture.
- senior executive — someone in a senior position in a business, who makes decisions and puts them into action
- session musician — a studio musician, esp one who works freelance
- sexual selection — a special type of natural selection in which the sexes acquire distinct forms either because the members of one sex choose mates with particular features or because in the competition for mates among the members of one sex only those with certain traits succeed.
- shakedown cruise — extortion, as by blackmail or threats of violence.
- single occupancy — a type of travel accommodation, as at a hotel, for one person in a room.
- situation comedy — a comedy drama, especially a television series made up of discrete episodes about the same group of characters, as members of a family.
- 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 evolution — the gradual development of society and social forms, institutions, etc., usually through a series of peaceful stages. Compare revolution (def 2).
- social exclusion — Social exclusion is the act of making certain groups of people within a society feel isolated and unimportant.
- social inclusion — Social inclusion is the act of making all groups of people within a society feel valued and important.
- social insurance — any of various forms of insurance in which a government is an insurer, especially such insurance that provides assistance to disabled or unemployed workers and to aged persons.
- sociolinguistics — the study of language as it functions in society; the study of the interaction between linguistic and social variables.