16-letter words containing n, a, p, r
- shorthand typist — A shorthand typist is a person who types and writes shorthand, usually in an office.
- sicilian vespers — a general massacre of the French in Sicily by the local population, begun at the sound of the vesper bell on Easter Monday, 1282.
- singapore strait — a strait between Singapore Island and the Riau Archipelago at the S end of the Malay Peninsula: shipping channel between the South China Sea and the Malacca Strait. 65 miles (105 km) long and 10 miles (16 km) wide.
- sleeping draught — any drink containing a drug or agent that induces sleep
- sleeping partner — silent partner.
- small/fine print — The small print or the fine print of something such as an advertisement or a contract consists of the technical details and legal conditions, which are often printed in much smaller letters than the rest of the text.
- soft pornography — soft-core pornography.
- solar prominence — prominence (def 3).
- solid propellant — a rocket propellant in solid form, usually containing a mixture or combination of fuel and oxidizer.
- southern baptist — a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, founded in Augusta, Georgia, in 1845, that is strictly Calvinistic and active in religious publishing and education.
- southern uplands — a hilly region extending across S Scotland: includes the Lowther, Moorfoot, and Lammermuir hills
- spanish mackerel — an American game fish, Scomberomorus maculatus, inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean.
- spanish moroccan — of or relating to the former Spanish colony of Spanish Morocco (now part of Morocco) or its inhabitants
- spanish-american — noting or pertaining to the parts of America where Spanish is the prevailing language.
- sparking voltage — the minimum voltage required to produce a spark across a given spark gap.
- sparring partner — a boxer who spars with and otherwise serves to train a boxer who is preparing for a bout.
- speaking trumpet — a trumpet-shaped instrument used to carry the voice a great distance or held to the ear by a deaf person to aid his hearing
- spear-head spoon — diamond-point spoon.
- special clearing — (in Britain) the clearing of a cheque through a bank in less than the usual three days, for an additional charge
- special interest — special-interest group (def 1).
- sphygmomanometer — an instrument, often attached to an inflatable air-bladder cuff and used with a stethoscope, for measuring blood pressure in an artery.
- sphygmomanometry — an instrument, often attached to an inflatable air-bladder cuff and used with a stethoscope, for measuring blood pressure in an artery.
- spin the platter — a game in which one member of a group spins a platter on its edge and a designated member must catch it before it falls or pay a forfeit.
- spiny-rayed fish — any of various fishes, as basses and perches, that have sharp, often pointed and usually rigid fin spines.
- spiritual incest — marriage or a sexual relationship between persons related by spiritual affinity or with a person under a solemn vow of chastity
- spiritualization — to make spiritual.
- splanchnic nerve — Anatomy. any of several nerves to the viscera and blood vessels of the chest and pelvic areas.
- splanchnopleural — the double layer formed by the association of the lower layer of the lateral plate of mesoderm with the underlying entoderm, which develops into the embryonic viscera.
- spotted redshank — a sandpiper, Tringa erythropus, which is a large wader with red legs
- spraying machine — a device for spraying large volumes of liquid, such as insecticide onto crops
- spreading center — a linear zone in the sea floor along which magma rises and from which adjacent crustal plates are moving apart.
- spreading factor — a substance, as hyaluronidase, that promotes the diffusion of a material through body tissues
- spring ephemeral — any of various woodland wildflowers that appear above ground in early spring, flower and fruit, and die in a short two-month period.
- spring mountains — a mountain range in S Nevada extending to the California border. Highest peak, Charleston Peak. 11,919 feet (3635 meters).
- spring snowflake — a European amaryllidaceous plant, Leucojum vernum, with white nodding bell-shaped flowers
- springer spaniel — a dog of either of two breeds of medium-sized spaniels, used for flushing and retrieving game.
- stage production — a play or show which is performed on stage
- standing cypress — a plant, Ipomopsis rubra, of the southern U.S., having feathery leaves and clusters of red and yellow flowers.
- start-up company — new business
- state apartments — the most impressive rooms in a palace or mansion, used by royalty, or to receive visiting dignitaries
- state department — state (def 12).
- stationary point — a point on a curve at which the tangent is either horizontal or vertical, such as a maximum, a minimum, or a point of inflection
- sticking plaster — an adhesive cloth or other material for covering and closing superficial wounds, holding bandages in place, etc.
- stonecrop family — the plant family Crassulaceae, characterized by succulent herbaceous plants and shrubs with simple, fleshy leaves, clusters of small flowers, and dry, dehiscent fruit, and including hen-and-chickens, houseleek, kalanchoe, live-forever, orpine, sedum, and stonecrop.
- strange particle — any elementary particle with a strangeness quantum number other than zero.
- studio apartment — an apartment consisting of one main room, a kitchen or kitchenette, and a bathroom. Compare efficiency apartment.
- sugar plantation — a large area of land where sugar is grown
- sulfanilyl group — the para form of the group C 6 H 6 NO 2 S–, derived from sulfanilic acid.
- sulfarsphenamine — a yellow, water-soluble, arsenic-containing powder, C 1 4 H 1 4 As 2 N 2 Na 2 O 8 S 2 , formerly used in the treatment of syphilis.
- 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.