17-letter words containing m, p, s
- seaman apprentice — a noncommissioned enlisted person ranking above seaman recruit and below seaman. Abbreviation: SA.
- self-emancipation — the act of emancipating.
- self-impregnating — to make pregnant; get with child or young.
- self-incompatible — not capable of self-pollination.
- self-priming pump — A self-priming pump is a pump that will clear its passages of air and start pumping.
- semi-biographical — of or relating to a person's life: He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
- semi-experimental — pertaining to, derived from, or founded on experiment: an experimental science.
- semi-monopolistic — a person who has a monopoly.
- semi-permeability — permeable only to certain small molecules: a semipermeable membrane.
- semi-professional — actively engaged in some field or sport for pay but on a part-time basis: semiprofessional baseball players.
- seminal principle — a potential, latent within an imperfect object, for attaining full development.
- semisophisticated — somewhat sophisticated.
- september weather — weather characteristic of the month of September, esp in being unpredictable as summer is ending and autumn is beginning
- septicemic plague — an especially dangerous form of plague in which the infecting organisms invade the bloodstream. Compare plague (def 2).
- settlement option — any of the options, other than immediate payment in a lump sum, by which the policyholder or beneficiary may choose to have the benefits of a policy paid.
- sexual dimorphism — the condition in which the males and females in a species are morphologically different, as with many birds.
- shuttle diplomacy — diplomatic negotiations carried out by a mediator who travels back and forth between the negotiating parties.
- sidewall sampling — Sidewall sampling is the process of taking a sample from the wall of the borehole.
- simple microscope — a microscope having a single lens.
- simplicity itself — If you say that something is simplicity itself, you are emphasizing that it is very simple or easy.
- single supplement — A single supplement is an additional sum of money that a hotel charges for one person to stay in a room meant for two people.
- single-name paper — commercial paper bearing only the signature of the maker.
- sleeping problems — difficulties in getting to sleep or in staying asleep
- sliding vane pump — A sliding vane pump is a pump in which the vanes (=flat parts) are the main sealing element between the suction and discharge areas.
- sodium propionate — a transparent, crystalline, water-soluble powder, C 3 H 5 NaO 2 , used in foodstuffs to prevent mold growth, and in medicine as a fungicide.
- sodium pyroborate — borax1 .
- sodium-vapor lamp — an electric lamp in which sodium vapor is activated by current passing between two electrodes, producing a yellow, glareless light: used on streets and highways.
- software platform — a major piece of software, as an operating system, an operating environment, or a database, under which various smaller application programs can be designed to run.
- sound spectrogram — a graphic representation, produced by a sound spectrograph, of the frequency, intensity, duration, and variation with time of the resonance of a sound or series of sounds.
- south sea company — a British joint stock company that traded in South America in the 18th century. The South Sea Company took over the national debt in return for a monopoly of trade with the South Seas, causing feverish speculation in their stocks, and a financial crash in 1720 (the South Sea Bubble)
- southampton water — an inlet of the English Channel in S England
- sparc xterminal 1 — (computer) Sun's lowest cost networked Unix desktop, it is board-upgradeable to a SPARC 4. It comes with a choice of frame buffers: 8-bit colour, Turbo GX, or Turbo GX plus. This product was expected to replace the SPARCclassic X. UK availability was planned for March 1995.
- spark transmitter — a transmitting set that generates electromagnetic waves by the oscillatory discharge from a capacitor through an inductor and a spark gap.
- spatial summation — the act or process of summing.
- special committee — a committee, as of a legislative body, that is formed to examine and report on a specific bill or issue.
- special messenger — a postal worker who delivers mail by special delivery
- specific humidity — the ratio of the mass of water vapor in air to the total mass of the mixture of air and water vapor.
- spectromicroscope — a microscope with an attached spectroscope.
- spectrophotometer — an instrument for making photometric comparisons between parts of spectra.
- spectrophotometry — an instrument for making photometric comparisons between parts of spectra.
- spectroradiometer — an instrument for determining the radiant-energy distribution in a spectrum, combining the functions of a spectroscope with those of a radiometer.
- spectrum analyser — an instrument that splits an input waveform into its frequency components, which are then displayed
- spectrum analysis — the determination of the constitution or condition of bodies and substances by means of the spectra they produce.
- spectrum disorder — any of a group of disorders each having symptoms that occur on a continuum and certain features that are shared along its spectrum but that manifest in markedly different forms and degrees. See also autism spectrum disorder.
- speech impediment — speaking disorder
- sperrin mountains — a mountain range in NW Northern Ireland
- spinal meningitis — infection of spinal membrane
- 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.
- spiritus frumenti — whiskey.
- spongy parenchyma — the lower layer of the ground tissue of a leaf, characteristically containing irregularly shaped cells with relatively few chloroplasts and large intercellular spaces.