16-letter words containing o, s, t, r, e
- restriction site — the place on a DNA molecule where a restriction enzyme acts.
- retrocessionaire — a reinsurance company that accepts or takes a retrocession.
- return on assets — the amount of profit computed by dividing net income before interest and taxes by the cost of assets, usually expressed as a percentage. Abbreviation: ROA.
- returned soldier — a soldier who has served abroad
- reverse commuter — a commuter who lives in a city and commutes to a job in the suburbs.
- reverse mortgage — a type of home mortgage under which an elderly homeowner is allowed a long-term loan in the form of monthly payments against his or her paid-off equity as collateral, repayable when the home is eventually sold. Abbreviation: RAM.
- reverse takeover — the purchase of a larger company by a smaller company, esp of a public company by a private company
- richmond heights — a city in E Missouri, near St. Louis.
- rigid designator — an expression that identifies the same individual in every possible world: for example, "Shakespeare" is a rigid designator since it is possible that Shakespeare might not have been a playwright but not that he might not have been Shakespeare
- robert t. morris — The creator of the "Internet Worm" that wreaked havoc on many Internet systems for a day or two. Morris, the son of an NSA spook, did some jail time for releasing the worm.
- rocket scientist — a specialist in rocketry.
- roosevelt island — Formerly Welfare Island, Blackwells Island. an island in the East River, New York City: residential community. 1½ miles (2½ km) long.
- root mean square — the square root of the arithmetic mean of the squares of the numbers in a given set of numbers. Abbreviation: rms.
- rotation of axes — a process of replacing the axes in a Cartesian coordinate system with a new set of axes making a specified angle with and having the same origin as the original axes.
- run-time support — run-time system
- russian roulette — a game of high risk in which each player in turn, using a revolver containing one bullet, spins the cylinder of the revolver, points the muzzle at the head, and pulls the trigger.
- saint peter port — a port and resort in the Channel Islands: the capital of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, on the E coast of the island of Guernsey. Pop: 28 310 (2001)
- saint-john perse — (Alexis Saint-Léger Léger) 1887–1975, French diplomat and poet: Nobel Prize in literature 1960.
- sandstone quarry — a quarry from which sand is extracted
- sangre de cristo — a mountain range in S Colorado and N New Mexico: a part of the Rocky Mountains. Highest peak, Blanca Peak, 14,390 feet (4385 meters).
- saorstat eireann — Irish name of Irish Free State.
- saturation level — carrying capacity.
- scar tissue code — (humour, programming) Old code that is commented out but still included in the current release.
- schlieren method — a method for detecting regions of differing densities in a clear fluid by photographing a beam of light passed obliquely through it.
- schneider trophy — a trophy for air racing between seaplanes of any nation, first presented by Jacques Schneider (1879–1928) in 1913; won outright by Britain in 1931
- school inspector — an official whose job is to inspect schools and to report on their quality and conditions
- schoolteacherish — showing characteristics thought to be typical of a schoolteacher, as strictness and primness.
- sclerenchymatous — supporting or protective tissue composed of thickened, dry, and hardened cells.
- score points off — to gain an advantage at someone else's expense
- scottish borders — a council area in SE Scotland, on the English border: created in 1996, it has the same boundaries as the former Borders Region: it is mainly hilly, with agriculture (esp sheep farming) the chief economic activity. Administrative centre: Newtown St Boswells. Pop: 108 280 (2003 est). Area: 4734 sq km (1827 sq miles)
- scottish terrier — one of a Scottish breed of small terriers having short legs and a wiry, steel-gray, brindled, black, sandy, or wheaten coat.
- scratch together — to assemble with difficulty
- seat of learning — People sometimes refer to a university or a similar institution as a seat of learning.
- second-story man — a burglar who enters through an upstairs window.
- secondary accent — a stress accent weaker than primary accent but stronger than lack of stress.
- secondary growth — an increase in the thickness of the shoots and roots of a vascular plant as a result of the formation of new cells in the cambium.
- secondary market — the market that exists for an issue after large blocks of shares have been publicly distributed.
- secondary stress — Engineering. a stress induced by the elastic deformation of a structure under a temporary load.
- secondary tissue — tissue derived from cambium.
- secured creditor — a creditor who has a secured loan
- security council — the division of the United Nations charged with maintaining international peace, composed of five permanent members (U.S., Russian Federation, France, United Kingdom, and the People's Republic of China) and ten temporary members, each serving for two years.
- security officer — civilian, policeman or soldier who is responsible for security in a town or country
- sedimentary rock — rock formed from compacted minerals
- seidlitz powders — a mild laxative consisting of tartaric acid, sodium bicarbonate, and Rochelle salt, which are dissolved separately, mixed, and drunk after effervescence.
- sekondi-takoradi — a seaport in SW Ghana.
- selective memory — an ability to remember some facts while apparently forgetting others, especially when they are inconvenient
- self-affirmation — the act or an instance of affirming; state of being affirmed.
- self-approbation — approval; commendation.
- self-degradation — the act of degrading.
- self-denigration — to speak damagingly of; criticize in a derogatory manner; sully; defame: to denigrate someone's character.