13-letter words containing p, a, r, i
- spanish broom — a spiny, often leafless shrub, Genista hispanica, of the legume family, native to southern Europe, having clustered, golden-yellow flowers and hairy pods.
- spanish cedar — a tropical American tree, Cedrela odorata, of the mahogany family.
- spanish river — a river in S Ontario, Canada, flowing S into the North Channel of Lake Huron. 150 miles (241 km) long.
- spark erosion — a method of machining using a shaped electrode which erodes the workpiece by an electric spark discharge between itself and the workpiece
- sparking plug — spark plug (def 1).
- speaking part — a part in which the character speaks scripted dialogue
- spear carrier — a supernumerary in a theatrical or operatic production, as one of a group of soldiers or a member of a crowd; extra.
- special offer — bargain
- special order — A special order is an extra order or an order for an item specially requested by a customer.
- special-order — to obtain by specific individual order: to special-order a dining-room chandelier.
- spectatorship — the state of being a spectator
- spectral line — a line in a spectrum due to the absorption or emission of light at a discrete frequency.
- speechreading — the act or process of determining the intended meaning of a speaker by utilizing all visual clues accompanying speech attempts, as lip movements, facial expressions, and bodily gestures, used especially by people with impaired hearing.
- speed reading — a method of reading faster than normal, esp by skimming
- sperm washing — a technique that separates sperm from the seminal fluid, used especially for isolating active sperm for artificial insemination.
- spermatangium — the organ that produces spermatia in red algae.
- spermatogenic — relating to the development of spermatozoa
- spermatotoxic — spermotoxic.
- spermatotoxin — spermotoxin.
- sperry univac — (company) One of the divisions of Sperry Corporation at the time that company merged with the Burroughs Corporation to form Unisys Corporation.
- spiral casing — a spiral passage for directing the water from a penstock around a water turbine and into the rotor.
- spiral galaxy — a galaxy having a spiral structure.
- spiral nebula — (formerly) a spiral galaxy.
- spiral spring — a form of spring consisting of a wire coiled in a helix.
- splatter film — a film containing many scenes of violent and gruesome murders.
- spoiler party — a third political party formed to draw votes away from one of the two major parties, thus spoiling its chance of winning an election.
- sporting lady — a prostitute.
- sportscasting — the reporting of a sports event by radio or television broadcast.
- sportsmanlike — a man who engages in sports, especially in some open-air sport, as hunting, fishing, racing, etc.
- sportsmanship — the character, practice, or skill of a sportsman.
- spread option — spread (def 25b).
- spreadability — capable of being spread; easily spread: a soft, spreadable cheese.
- spring a leak — to develop a leak
- spring beauty — any American spring plant belonging to the genus Claytonia, of the purslane family, especially C. virginica, having an elongated cluster of white flowers tinged with pink.
- spring valley — a city in SW California, near San Diego.
- spring-loaded — (of a machine part) kept normally in a certain position by a spring: a spring-loaded safety valve.
- springboarded — a flexible board, projecting over water, from which divers leap or spring.
- spurge family — the large plant family Euphorbiaceae, characterized by herbaceous plants, shrubs, and trees having milky juice, simple alternate leaves or no leaves, usually petalless flowers often with showy bracts, and capsular fruit, and including cassava, croton, crown-of-thorns, poinsettia, snow-on-the-mountain, spurge, and the plants that produce castor oil, rubber, and tung oil.
- spying charge — an accusation of having taken part in espionage
- square splice — a scarf joint between two pieces, having the form of a half-lap joint with a thicker and a thinner section for each piece, the thicker one being at the end: used to resist tension.
- stader splint — a splint consisting of an adjustable metal rod with a steel pin at either end for insertion in the bone above and below a fracture.
- stage whisper — a loud whisper on a stage, meant to be heard by the audience.
- standard lisp — A subset of Lisp 1.5 developed by A. Hearn primarily for implementing REDUCE. It was replaced by Portable Sandard LISP.
- standing crop — the totality of living things in an ecosystem at a given time.
- star sapphire — a sapphire, cut cabochon, exhibiting asterism in the form of a colorless six-rayed star.
- stargazey pie — a Cornish fish pie served with the head of the fish protruding through the crust
- starting post — the upright pole marking the beginning of a racecourse
- staying power — ability or strength to last or endure; endurance; stamina.
- step aerobics — a set of aerobic exercises designed to improve the cardiovascular system, which consists of stepping on and off a special box of adjustable height
- stepparenting — parenting within a stepfamily