12-letter words containing n, o, u, i, s
- sixth column — the persons residing in a country at war who are devoted to aiding the fifth column in its activities, especially by lowering morale, spreading rumors, etc.
- slopping out — In prisons where prisoners have to use buckets as toilets, slopping out is the practice in which they empty the buckets.
- slow-burning — (of combustible material) burning relatively slowly
- slumpflation — a situation in which economic depression is combined with increasing inflation
- sniff around — dog: try to pick up scent
- snow bunting — a bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis, of the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere having white plumage.
- snow pudding — a pudding, prepared by folding egg whites into a lemon gelatin mixture.
- sofa surfing — (of a homeless person) the practice of staying temporarily with various friends and relatives while attempting to find permanent accommodation
- solifluction — creep (def 22a).
- solitudinous — the state of being or living alone; seclusion: to enjoy one's solitude.
- solution set — the roots or values satisfying a given equation or inequality, or a set of simultaneous equations or inequalities
- somnambulism — sleepwalking.
- somnambulist — sleepwalking.
- somniloquism — sleep-talking
- somniloquize — to talk in one's sleep
- sounion head — the tip of the Attica peninsula, E central Greece: site of ancient temple ruins.
- soup kitchen — a place where food, usually soup, is served at little or no charge to the needy.
- south island — the largest island of New Zealand. 58,093 sq. mi. (150,460 sq. km).
- south-facing — facing towards the south
- soviet union — the legislature of the former Soviet Union and its successor states, consisting of an upper house (Soviet of the Union or Council of the Union) whose delegates are elected on the basis of population, and a lower house (Soviet of Nationalities or Council of Nationalities) whose delegates are elected to represent the various nationalities.
- spaciousness — containing much space, as a house, room, or vehicle; amply large.
- speciousness — apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible: specious arguments.
- spermagonium — Botany, Mycology. spermogonium.
- spermogonium — one of the cup-shaped or flask-shaped receptacles in which the spermatia of certain fungi and red algae are produced.
- spiral-bound — having a spiral binding.
- spoil ground — an area within a body of water, especially in the sea, where dredged material is deposited.
- spongicolous — relating to the skeleton of some marine animals
- sporangiolum — a small sporangium
- sporting gun — a gun intended for hunting
- spun-bonding — a process for forming nonwoven fabrics, usually of limited durability, by bonding continuous-filament synthetic fibers immediately after extrusion.
- square piano — a piano with a rectangular, horizontal body.
- stanniferous — containing tin; tin-bearing
- stauropegion — (in an autocephalous church) a monastery subject directly to the primate.
- stegosaurian — having the characteristics of a stegosaur
- sternutation — the act of sneezing.
- stick around — to pierce or puncture with something pointed, as a pin, dagger, or spear; stab: to stick one's finger with a needle.
- stirrup bone — the stapes, one of the three bones of the middle ear
- stockpunisht — punished by being put in stocks
- stone bruise — a bruise on the sole of the foot, caused by walking on or striking against a small stone or other hard object.
- storage unit — rented space to store items
- stringcourse — a horizontal band or course, as of stone, projecting beyond or flush with the face of a building, often molded and sometimes richly carved.
- strontium 90 — a harmful radioactive isotope of strontium, produced in certain nuclear reactions and present in their fallout.
- studiousness — disposed or given to diligent study: a studious boy.
- stuffing box — a device for preventing leakage of gases or liquids along a moving rod or shaft at the point at which it leaves a cylinder, tank, ship hull, etc.
- stupefaction — the state of being stupefied; stupor.
- sub-function — the kind of action or activity proper to a person, thing, or institution; the purpose for which something is designed or exists; role.
- sub-religion — a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
- subabdominal — below or beneath the abdomen
- subarachnoid — of, relating to, or situated below the arachnoid membrane.
- subarcuation — a structure that is somewhat arched