12-letter words containing d, s, p, a, r
- radioisotope — a radioactive isotope, usually artificially produced: used in physical and biological research, therapeutics, etc.
- radiophonist — a person who produces radiophonic music
- rapeseed oil — a brownish-yellow oil obtained by expression from rapeseed and used chiefly as a lubricant, an illuminant, and in the manufacture of rubber substitutes.
- re-landscape — a section or expanse of rural scenery, usually extensive, that can be seen from a single viewpoint.
- red larkspur — a plant, Delphinium nudicaule, of the buttercup family, native to the western coast of the U.S., having orange-red or sometimes yellow flowers.
- reemphasized — to give emphasis to; lay stress upon; stress: to emphasize a point; to emphasize the eyes with mascara.
- respondentia — a loan upon a ship's cargo, which is repaid with interest if the ship reaches its destination, and if the ship does not, the loan is not repaid
- rhabdosphere — a minute sphere made up of rhabdoliths
- road sweeper — a person who sweeps roads
- sand springs — a town in NE Oklahoma.
- sand-sprayed — noting an exterior wall finish composed of mortar to which is added a mixture of sand and cement in equal parts while the mortar is still wet.
- sandpapering — the act or process of polishing or grinding a surface with or as if with sandpaper
- scouring pad — a small pad, as of steel wool or plastic mesh, used for scouring pots, pans, etc.
- scrap dealer — a person who deals in scrap
- scraperboard — scratchboard.
- scratchpad i — (language) A general-purpose language originally for interactive symbolic mathematics by Richard Jenks, Barry Trager, Stephen M. Watt and Robert S. Sutor of IBM Research, ca 1971. It features abstract parametrised data types, multiple inheritance and polymorphism. There were implementations for VM/CMS and AIX.
- scsi adaptor — (hardware) (Or "host adaptor") A device that communicates between a computer and its SCSI peripherals. The SCSI adaptor is usually assigned SCSI ID 7. It is often a separate card that is connected to the computer's bus (e.g. PCI, ISA, PCMCIA) though increasinly, SCSI adaptors are built in to the motherboard. Apart from being cheaper, busses like PCI are too slow to keep up with the newer SCSI standards like Ultra SCSI and Ultra-Wide SCSI. There are several varieties of SCSI (and their connectors) and an adaptor will not support them all. The performance of SCSI devices is limited by the speed of the SCSI adaptor and its connection to the computer. An adaptor that plugs into a parallel port is unlikely to be as fast as one incorporated into a motherboard. Fast adaptors use DMA or bus mastering. Some SCSI adaptors include a BIOS to allow PCs to boot from a SCSI hard disk, if their own BIOS supports it. Note that it is not a "SCSI controller" - it does not control the devices, and "SCSI interface" is redundant - the "I" of "SCSI" stands for "interface".
- shadow price — the calculated price of a good or service for which no market price exists
- shadowgraphy — the production of a shadowgraph
- sharp-witted — having or showing mental acuity; intellectually discerning; acute.
- shop steward — commerce: union rep
- shoulder pad — clothing: insert in shoulder
- siderography — the art or technique of engraving on steel.
- sleep around — to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension, complete or partial, of consciousness; cease being awake.
- sloped roman — a roman (vertical) typeface, usually sans serif, i.e. without the small, decorative, terminal strokes with which some typefaces are designed. The typeface is made to slope (usually to the right), but not generally to the same degree as a true italic typeface
- snow leopard — a long-haired, leopardlike feline, Panthera (Uncia) uncia, of mountain ranges of central Asia, having a relatively small head and a thick, creamy-gray coat with rosette spots: an endangered species.
- spatter dash — roughcast (def 1).
- spatter-dash — Also called spatter dash. an exterior wall finish composed of mortar and fine pebbles mixed together and dashed against the wall. Compare pebble dash.
- spearheading — the sharp-pointed head that forms the piercing end of a spear.
- speed camera — device that detects speeding traffic
- spermaticide — spermicide.
- spermatocide — spermicide.
- spermatozoid — a motile male gamete produced in an antheridium.
- spider plant — Also called ribbon plant. a plant, Chlorophytum comosum, of the lily family, native to southern Africa, that has long, narrow leaves and clusters of white flowers and is widely cultivated as a houseplant.
- spiny lizard — any of numerous iguanid lizards of the genus Sceloporus, common in North and Central America, usually having keeled scales that may end in a sharp point.
- spiral-bound — having a spiral binding.
- spit-roasted — cooked on a spit
- splash guard — a large flap behind a rear tire to prevent mud, water, etc., from being splashed on the following vehicle.
- sponged ware — spongeware.
- sporadically — (of similar things or occurrences) appearing or happening at irregular intervals in time; occasional: sporadic renewals of enthusiasm.
- spread eagle — the representation of an eagle with outstretched wings, used as an emblem of the US
- spread-eagle — having or suggesting the form of a spread eagle.
- spreadeagled — Someone who is spreadeagled is lying with their arms and legs spread out.
- stamp dealer — someone who buys and sells postage stamps (to collectors)
- stand up for — (of a person) to be in an upright position on the feet.
- stepdaughter — a daughter of one's husband or wife by a previous marriage.
- stride piano — a style of jazz piano playing in which the right hand plays the melody while the left hand plays a single bass note or octave on the strong beat and a chord on the weak beat, developed in Harlem during the 1920s, partly from ragtime piano playing.
- striped bass — an important American game fish, Morone saxatilis, having blackish stripes along each side.
- subepidermal — just below the epidermis or skin
- sudoriparous — producing or secreting sweat.