18-letter words containing n, o, c, f
- reproduction proof — repro proof.
- rhondda cynon taff — a county borough in S Wales, created from part of Mid Glamorgan in 1996. Pop: 231 600 (2003 est). Area: 558 sq km (215 sq miles)
- school for scandal — a comedy of manners (1777) by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
- school of motoring — a centre where people pay for lessons to learn to drive
- scientific officer — a police officer who carries out forensic examinations
- scruff of the neck — If someone takes you by the scruff of the neck, they take hold of the back of your neck or collar suddenly and roughly.
- secondary offering — the sale of a large block of outstanding stock off the floor of an exchange, usually by a major stockholder.
- security of tenure — (in Britain) the right of a tenant to continue to occupy a dwelling or site unless the landlord obtains a court order for possession of the property or termination of the tenancy agreement
- self-actualization — the achievement of one's full potential through creativity, independence, spontaneity, and a grasp of the real world.
- self-certification — statement of sick leave
- self-comprehending — to understand the nature or meaning of; grasp with the mind; perceive: He did not comprehend the significance of the ambassador's remark.
- self-contemplation — the act or process of thinking about oneself or one's values, beliefs, behavior, etc.
- self-contradiction — an act or instance of contradicting oneself or itself.
- self-contradictory — an act or instance of contradicting oneself or itself.
- self-glorification — a glorified or more splendid form of something.
- self-gratification — the act of pleasing or satisfying oneself, especially the gratifying of one's own impulses, needs, or desires.
- self-incrimination — the act of incriminating oneself or exposing oneself to prosecution, especially by giving evidence or testimony.
- self-instructional — pertaining to or constituting learning materials and conditions arranged so that students can proceed to learn on their own with little or no supervision.
- self-justification — the act or fact of justifying oneself, especially of offering excessive reasons, explanations, excuses, etc., for an act, thought, or the like.
- self-mortification — the inflicting of pain or privation on oneself: He was certain that self-mortification was the only road to salvation.
- self-preoccupation — the state of being preoccupied.
- self-recrimination — the act of recriminating, or countercharging: Hope gave way to recrimination with both sides claiming the moral high ground.
- senior aircraftman — a rank in the Royal Air Force comparable to that of a private in the army, though not the lowest rank in the Royal Air Force
- sense of direction — Your sense of direction is your ability to know roughly where you are, or which way to go, even when you are in an unfamiliar place.
- sequence of tenses — the sequence according to which the tense of a subordinate verb in a sentence is determined by the tense of the principal verb, as in I believe he is lying, I believed he was lying, etc
- shrubby cinquefoil — a small shrub, Potentilla fruticosa, of the rose family, native to the Northern temperate region, having pinnate leaves and numerous, showy, bright-yellow flowers.
- sign of the zodiac — one of the twelve constellations along the path of the ecliptic.
- significant symbol — a verbal or nonverbal gesture, as a word or smile, that has acquired a conventionalized meaning.
- silvery cinquefoil — any of several plants belonging to the genus Potentilla, of the rose family, having yellow, red, or white five-petaled flowers, as P. reptans (creeping cinquefoil) of the Old World, or P. argentea (silvery cinquefoil) of North America.
- six-finger country — an isolated area considered as being inhabited by people who practise inbreeding
- skin friction drag — aerodynamic resistance or drag due to the contact of moving air with the surface of an airplane, a glider, etc.
- society of friends — a Christian denomination, founded in England c. 1650 by George Fox, that has no formal creed, liturgy, or priesthood and rejects violence in human relations, esp. warfare
- soft touch sealing — Soft touch sealing is a copolymer seal for a tank, with characteristics designed for softness, used instead of a metal seal to help avoid fire when sparks are generated.
- software backplane — (programming, tool) A CASE framework from Atherton.
- sonic depth finder — a sonar instrument that uses echolocation to measure depths under water.
- stand confessed as — to be revealed or admitted as
- state of emergency — If a government or other authority declares a state of emergency in an area, it introduces special measures such as increased powers for the police or army, usually because of civil disorder or because of a natural disaster such as an earthquake.
- statement of claim — law: first pleading
- statements of case — the formal written statements presented alternately by the plaintiff and defendant in a lawsuit setting out the respective matters relied upon
- stepping-off place — jumping-off place (def 2).
- sub-classification — to arrange in subclasses.
- symmetric function — a polynomial in several indeterminates that stays the same under any permutation of the indeterminates.
- take cognizance of — note, acknowledge
- terms of reference — Terms of reference are the instructions given to someone when they are asked to consider or investigate a particular subject, telling them what they must deal with and what they can ignore.
- the back of beyond — a very remote place
- to fall into place — If things fall into place, events happen naturally to produce a situation you want.
- traffic controller — a person whose job is to control the flow of air traffic
- transmogrification — to change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely; transform.
- transrectification — rectification occurring in one circuit as a result of the application of an alternating voltage to another circuit.
- triangle of forces — a triangle whose sides represent the magnitudes and directions of three forces whose resultant is zero and which are therefore in equilibrium