15-letter words containing n, a, s, c
- special edition — newspaper, magazine: extra issue
- special licence — a licence permitting a marriage to take place by dispensing with the usual legal conditions
- special partner — a partner whose liability for the firm's debts is limited to the amount that partner has invested in the firm.
- special session — a session, as of a legislature or council, called to meet in addition to those held regularly.
- special student — a student who is not seeking a degree but enrols in a course, esp to gain academic credits
- speckle pattern — the visual appearance of a star as viewed through a large telescope, with irregularities caused by the distorting effect of local turbulence in the earth's atmosphere.
- speech training — training designed to improve spoken skills, such as voice projection
- speed indicator — an instrument for counting the number of revolutions of a gasoline engine.
- spherical angle — an angle formed by arcs of great circles of a sphere.
- spinach-rhubarb — an Ethiopian plant, Rumex abyssinicus, of the buckwheat family, having leaves that are sometimes used as spinach and leafstalks sometimes used as rhubarb.
- splanchnopleure — 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.
- sporting chance — an even or fair opportunity for a favorable outcome in an enterprise, as winning in a game of chance or in any kind of contest: They gave the less experienced players a sporting chance by handicapping the experts.
- spotted cowbane — a North American water hemlock, Cicuta maculata, of the parsley family, having a purple-mottled stem, white flowers, and deadly poisonous, tuberlike roots.
- spring-cleaning — a complete cleaning of a place, as a home, done traditionally in the spring of the year.
- sprinkler dance — a celebratory dance in which participants extend one arm and shake it to imitate the action of a rotating water sprinkler
- stacking swivel — a metal swivel attached to the stock of a military rifle for use in hooking three rifles together to form a stack.
- stage direction — an instruction written into the script of a play, indicating stage actions, movements of performers, or production requirements.
- stand-up comedy — telling jokes to an audience
- standard candle — a unit of luminous intensity; the candela: not in scientific usage because of possible confusion with a former unit (international candle)
- standard clause — a clause which is inserted as standard into certain types of contracts or agreements
- standing charge — fixed energy costs
- stannic sulfide — a yellowish or brownish, water-insoluble powder, SnS 2 , usually used suspended in lacquer or varnish for gilding and bronzing metals, wood, paper, etc.; mosaic gold.
- star attraction — the main or most popular attraction, as of a tourist destination, etc
- star connection — a connection used in a polyphase electrical device or system of devices in which the windings each have one end connected to a common junction, the star point, and the other end to a separate terminal
- starting blocks — the rigid blocks adjustable at an angle and mounted on a track against which a runner's shoes are placed to aid in starting
- state education — education provided by the state; education which is not private
- station officer — a person who is in charge of a fire station
- storm insurance — insurance cover against damage caused by windstorms
- straight-acting — (of a gay person) having the mannerisms of a heterosexual person: used esp by gay people of other gay people
- straining piece — (in a queen-post roof) a horizontal beam uniting the tops of the two queen posts, and resisting the thrust of the roof.
- strait of canso — a channel in Canada, between the Nova Scotia mainland and S Cape Breton Island
- street accident — a traffic accident
- stretch a point — a sharp or tapering end, as of a dagger.
- structural gene — cistron.
- structural iron — iron shaped for use in construction.
- student teacher — a student who is studying to be a teacher and who, as part of the training, observes classroom instruction or does closely supervised teaching in an elementary or secondary school.
- studio audience — spectators on a TV set
- sub-corporation — an association of individuals, created by law or under authority of law, having a continuous existence independent of the existences of its members, and powers and liabilities distinct from those of its members. See also municipal corporation, public corporation.
- sub-machine gun — a lightweight automatic or semiautomatic gun, fired from the shoulder or hip.
- subcivilization — a division of a civilization
- subclavian vein — either of a pair of veins, one on each side of the body, that return blood from the arms to the heart.
- subconjunctival — the mucous membrane that lines the exposed portion of the eyeball and inner surface of the eyelids.
- subcontraoctave — the octave below the contraoctave, which is three octaves below the middle C octave on a standard keyboard
- subject heading — a title or heading of a category, esp in a bibliography or index
- subject-raising — a rule that moves the subject of a complement clause into the clause in which it is embedded, as in the derivation of He is likely to be late from It is likely that he will be late
- subsidiary coin — a coin, especially one made of silver, having a value less than that of the monetary unit.
- substance abuse — long-term, pathological use of alcohol or drugs, characterized by daily intoxication, inability to reduce consumption, and impairment in social or occupational functioning; broadly, alcohol or drug addiction.
- subtrochanteric — Anatomy. either of two knobs at the top of the femur, the greater on the outside and the lesser on the inside, serving for the attachment of muscles between the thigh and pelvis.
- subvocalization — the act or process of producing subvocal speech
- suck it and see — to try something to find out what it is, what it is like, or how it works