16-letter words containing l, a, s, t
- streak lightning — lightning in which there is a sudden flash from what appears to be a single main line
- strict liability — responsibility for damage or loss regardless of intention or culpability
- strike a balance — compromise
- strongyloidiasis — an intestinal disease caused by infection with the nematode worm Strongyloides stercoralis
- structural steel — the variety of steel shapes rolled for use in construction.
- styralyl acetate — methylphenylcarbinyl acetate.
- subcartilaginous — partially or incompletely cartilaginous.
- substitutability — a person or thing acting or serving in place of another.
- 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).
- sugar plantation — a large area of land where sugar is grown
- sulfamethoxazole — an antimicrobial substance, C 1 0 H 1 1 N 3 O 3 S, used against a variety of susceptible Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms, as in the treatment of certain urinary tract infections and skin infections.
- summa theologica — a philosophical and theological work (1265–74) by St. Thomas Aquinas, consisting of an exposition of Christian doctrine.
- summational tone — a musical sound sometimes heard when two loud notes are sounded together, higher in pitch than either
- summer complaint — an acute condition of diarrhea, occurring during the hot summer months chiefly in infants and children, caused by bacterial contamination of food and associated with poor hygiene.
- superficialities — being at, on, or near the surface: a superficial wound.
- supernationalism — an extreme or fanatical loyalty or devotion to a nation.
- supranationalism — outside or beyond the authority of one national government, as a project or policy that is planned and controlled by a group of nations.
- surface integral — the limit, as the norm of the partition of a given surface into sections of area approaches zero, of the sum of the product of the areas times the value of a given function of three variables at some point on each section.
- sustaining pedal — a pedal on a piano that when depressed with the foot raises the dampers and permits the strings to vibrate and sustain the tone.
- sutherland falls — a waterfall in New Zealand, on SW South Island. 1904 feet (580 meters) high.
- swash plate pump — a collar or face plate on a shaft that is inclined at an oblique angle to the axis of rotation and imparts reciprocating motion to push rods parallel to the shaft axis
- sweet almond oil — almond oil (def 1).
- systems analysis — the evaluation of an activity to identify its desired objectives and determine procedures for efficiently attaining them.
- tablets of stone — Stone is used in expressions such as set in stone and tablets of stone to suggest that an idea or rule is firm and fixed, and cannot be changed.
- taimyr peninsula — a peninsula in the N Russian Federation in Asia, between the Kara and Laptev seas.
- take holy orders — to become ordained
- take one's heels — the back part of the human foot, below and behind the ankle.
- take one's leave — to go away; depart
- take one's lumps — a piece or mass of solid matter without regular shape or of no particular shape: a lump of coal.
- take one's place — to take up one's usual or specified position
- tanimbar islands — a group of over 600 islands in E Indonesia, in the Banda Sea. About 2100 sq. mi. (5440 sq. km).
- teachers college — a four-year college offering courses for the training of primary and secondary school teachers and granting the bachelor's degree and often advanced degrees.
- technical school — college of further and vocational education
- tell one's beads — a small, usually round object of glass, wood, stone, or the like with a hole through it, often strung with others of its kind in necklaces, rosaries, etc.
- tequendama falls — a waterfall in central Colombia, on the Bogota River, SW of Bogota. 515 feet (157 meters) high.
- terminal illness — A terminal illness cannot be cured, and causes death.
- texas revolution — a revolutionary movement, 1832–36, in which U.S. settlers asserted their independence from Mexico and established the republic of Texas.
- thallium sulfate — a colorless, crystalline, water-soluble, poisonous solid, Tl 2 SO 4 , used chiefly as an insecticide and rodenticide.
- the barren lands — a region of tundra in N Canada, extending westwards from Hudson Bay: sparsely inhabited, chiefly by Inuit
- the black forest — a hilly wooded region of SW Germany, in Baden-Württemberg: a popular resort area
- the creole state — a nickname for Louisiana
- the eastern bloc — (formerly) the Soviet bloc
- the first family — a President's family
- the lion's share — the largest portion
- the marseillaise — the French national anthem. Words and music were composed in 1792 by C. J. Rouget de Lisle as a war song for the Rhine army of revolutionary France
- the silver state — the nickname of the US state of Nevada, which comes from the large amount of silver discovered and mined there
- the south island — the largest island of New Zealand, separated from the North Island by the Cook Strait. Pop: 1 048 200 (2013 est). Area: 153 947 sq km (59 439 sq miles)
- the supernatural — supernatural forces, occurrences, and beings collectively or their realm
- the tamil tigers — a Sri Lankan Tamil separatist movement founded in the early 1970s that sought to establish an independent Tamil homeland (Tamil Eelam) in northern Sri Lanka; they waged a military campaign until defeated in 2009 by the Sri Lankan army
- the unobservable — something that cannot be observed