17-letter words containing h, e, i
- shorten the reins — to take up the reins so that the distance between hand and bit is lessened, in order that the horse may be more collected
- shorter catechism — one of the two catechisms established by the Westminster Assembly in 1647, used chiefly in Presbyterian churches.
- shouting distance — hailing distance.
- shuttle diplomacy — diplomatic negotiations carried out by a mediator who travels back and forth between the negotiating parties.
- sign of the cross — a movement of the hand to indicate a cross, as from forehead to breast and left shoulder to right or, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, from right shoulder to left.
- significant other — Sociology. a person, as a parent or peer, who has great influence on one's behavior and self-esteem.
- simulated leather — fake leather that is an imitation of real leather and is usually made from a cheaper material
- sinbad the sailor — a merchant in The Arabian Nights who makes seven adventurous voyages
- sinclair research — (company) A British microelectronics developer and manufacturer. Evolving from Sinclair Radionics in 1979, Sinclair Research was owned by Sir Clive Sinclair. Sinclair Radionics produced electronic components and devices (such as calculators and pocket radios and televisions), but Sinclair Research began by producing some of the first 8-bit home microcomputers. Sinclair produced five microcomputers from 1980 to 1987, all based on the Zilog Z80 microprocessor (except for the QL, which used the Motorola 68008 - a variant on the 68000). The 1K kit-build ZX80, introduced in 1980, was followed by the 1K ZX81 (expandable to 16K) in 1981, the 16K (expandable to 48K) ZX Spectrum in 1982 (then superseded by two distinct 48K models and a 128K model in 1986) and the QL (Quantum Leap) in 1984. A portable laptop computer, the Z88, was released in 1987 under the Cambridge Computers banner. Of them all, the ZX Spectrum was the best known, and it went on to become the most popular microcomputer of its time in the United Kingdom and in many other territories. This was partly due to its ease of use, and also due to its enormous software catalogue, covering games, word processing, music, programming and graphics. Glorious "mine's-better-than-yours" battles were fought (and still are today) between owners of Spectrums and Commodore 64s over who had the best machine. Sir Clive's financial problems in the mid-80s led him to sell the rights to the Sinclair brand to Amstrad in April 1986. This led to further models of the Spectrum being released from 1986 to 1988 and also an IBM PC-compatible based internally on Amstrad's own PC range. Sir Clive was not involved with the production of these computers, and no computer with the Sinclair name has been produced since.
- single-sheet feed — a mechanism for feeding or taking single sheets of paper into a printer
- sir arthur harden — Sir Arthur, 1865–1940, English biochemist: Nobel Prize 1929.
- sister of charity — a member of one of several congregations of sisters founded in 1634 by St. Vincent de Paul.
- sixth commandment — “Thou shalt not kill”: sixth of the Ten Commandments.
- sixty-fourth note — a note having one sixty-fourth of the time value of a whole note; hemidemisemiquaver.
- sixty-fourth rest — a rest equal in time value to a sixty-fourth note.
- skate on thin ice — to place oneself in a dangerous or delicate situation
- skin of our teeth — a play (1942) by Thornton Wilder.
- slap on the wrist — a sharp blow or smack, especially with the open hand or with something flat.
- smarandache logic — neutrosophic logic
- snatch one's time — to leave a job, taking whatever pay is due
- socratic elenchus — the drawing out of the consequences of a position in order to show them to be contrary to some accepted position
- sodium bichromate — a red or orange crystalline, water-soluble solid, Na 2 Cr 2 O 7 ⋅2H 2 O, used as an oxidizing agent in the manufacture of dyes and inks, as a corrosion inhibitor, a mordant, a laboratory reagent, in the tanning of leather, and in electroplating.
- sodium dichromate — a red or orange crystalline, water-soluble solid, Na 2 Cr 2 O 7 ⋅2H 2 O, used as an oxidizing agent in the manufacture of dyes and inks, as a corrosion inhibitor, a mordant, a laboratory reagent, in the tanning of leather, and in electroplating.
- south farmingdale — a town on central Long Island, in SE New York.
- south frigid zone — the part of the earth's surface between the Antarctic Circle and the South Pole.
- south lanarkshire — a council area of S Scotland, comprising the S part of the historical county of Lanarkshire: included within Strathclyde Region from 1975 to 1996: has uplands in the S and part of the Glasgow conurbation in the N: mainly agricultural. Administrative centre: Hamilton. Pop: 303 010 (2003 est). Area: 1771 sq km (684 sq miles)
- south sea islands — the islands in the S Pacific that constitute Oceania
- south west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- south-west africa — a former name of Namibia.
- southern rhodesia — a former name (until 1964) of Zimbabwe (def 1).
- southern studfish — See under studfish.
- southern triangle — the constellation Triangulum Australe.
- spaghetti western — a low-budget western movie shot in Italy or Spain, usually with Italian actors and an American star.
- spaghettification — the theoretical stretching of an object as it encounters extreme differences in gravitational forces, especially those associated with a black hole.
- spanish influenza — the pandemic respiratory infection that spread throughout the world during 1917–18.
- special schooling — the system of educating children with special needs in schools designed to meet their needs
- specific humidity — the ratio of the mass of water vapor in air to the total mass of the mixture of air and water vapor.
- spectroheliograph — an apparatus for making photographs of the sun with a monochromatic light to show the details of the sun's surface and surroundings as they would appear if the sun emitted only that light.
- spectrohelioscope — a spectroheliograph.
- speech correction — the reeducation of speech habits that deviate from accepted speech standards.
- speech difficulty — a problem encountered in speaking
- speech impediment — speaking disorder
- spherical polygon — a closed figure formed by arcs of great circles on a spherical surface.
- spin one's wheels — a circular frame or disk arranged to revolve on an axis, as on or in vehicles or machinery.
- spinal anesthesia — interruption of conduction of nerve impulses by the injection of an anesthetic into the spinal canal that reduces sensitivity to pain without loss of consciousness.
- spiny-headed worm — any of a small group of endoparasites of the phylum Acanthocephala, as larvae parasitic in insects and crustaceans and as adults in various vertebrates.
- spiritual healing — faith healing
- spit in the ocean — a variety of poker in which four cards are dealt face down to each player and one card, forming the fifth for all hands, is dealt face up in the center of the table, the exposed card and others of its denomination being wild cards.
- spondylolisthesis — the forward displacement of a vertebra.
- spruce gall aphid — any of various homopterous insects of the family Adelgidae, as Adelges abietis (spruce gall aphid) and Pineus pinifoliae (pine leaf aphid) that feed and form galls on conifers.