16-letter words containing p, e, r, l, c
- republican party — one of the two major political parties in the U.S.: originated 1854–56.
- republican river — a river flowing E from E Colorado through Nebraska and Kansas into the Kansas River. 422 miles (680 km) long.
- restriction play — a limited number of opening moves that are predetermined by their chance selection from an accepted list.
- reversal process — a process for converting the negative on a film or plate to a positive by bleaching and redeveloping.
- rhynchocephalian — belonging or pertaining to the Rhynchocephalia, an order of lizardlike reptiles that are extinct except for the tuatara.
- riau archipelago — a group of islands belonging to Indonesia, off the SE coast of the Malay Peninsula, at the entrance to the Strait of Malacca. 36,510 sq. mi. (94,561 sq. km).
- rice-paper plant — an araliaceous plant, Tetrapanax papyriferum of Taiwan, the pith of which is pared and flattened into sheets to make rice paper
- rochelle powders — (not in technical use) Seidlitz powders.
- rocket-propelled — using rocket power as the chief motive force.
- scarlet eggplant — a hairy, prickly plant, Solanum integrifolium, of the nightshade family, native to Africa, grown for its furrowed, nearly round, scarlet or yellow ornamental fruit.
- schaumburg-lippe — a former state in NW Germany.
- school inspector — an official whose job is to inspect schools and to report on their quality and conditions
- scrovegni chapel — Arena Chapel.
- sculpture garden — a garden that showcases sculptures in landscaped surroundings
- secondary phloem — phloem derived from the cambium during secondary growth.
- self-deprecating — belittling or undervaluing oneself; excessively modest.
- self-deprecation — belittling or undervaluing oneself; excessively modest.
- self-deprecatory — belittling or undervaluing oneself; excessively modest.
- self-description — a statement, picture in words, or account that describes; descriptive representation.
- self-descriptive — having the quality of describing; characterized by description: a descriptive passage in an essay.
- self-exculpatory — intended to excuse oneself from blame or guilt
- self-preoccupied — preoccupied by one's own concerns
- self-proclaiming — to announce or declare in an official or formal manner: to proclaim war.
- self-pronouncing — having the pronunciation indicated, especially by diacritical marks added on original spellings rather than by phonetic symbols: a self-pronouncing dictionary.
- self-replicating — reproducing itself by its own power or inherent nature: self-replicating organisms.
- self-reproducing — to make a copy, representation, duplicate, or close imitation of: to reproduce a picture.
- settlement price — The settlement price is the average price of a financial instrument at the end of a trading day.
- shag pile carpet — a large piece of thick material with a nap of long rough strands that you put on a floor
- showy crab apple — a large Japanese bush or tree, Malus floribunda, of the rose family, having red fruit and rose-colored flowers that fade to white.
- sicilian vespers — a general massacre of the French in Sicily by the local population, begun at the sound of the vesper bell on Easter Monday, 1282.
- single precision — using one word rather than two or more to represent a number.
- slave labor camp — labor camp (def 1).
- solar prominence — prominence (def 3).
- spanish mackerel — an American game fish, Scomberomorus maculatus, inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean.
- special clearing — (in Britain) the clearing of a cheque through a bank in less than the usual three days, for an additional charge
- special delivery — (in the U.S. Postal Service) delivery of mail outside the regularly scheduled hours, by a special messenger, upon the payment of an extra fee.
- special interest — special-interest group (def 1).
- spectacled cobra — Indian cobra.
- spectrobolometer — an instrument consisting of a spectroscope and a bolometer, for determining the distribution of radiant energy in a spectrum.
- spectroheliogram — a photograph of the sun made with a spectroheliograph.
- spherical excess — the difference between the sum of the angles of a spherical triangle and two right angles.
- spiral staircase — stairs that wind round
- spiritual incest — marriage or a sexual relationship between persons related by spiritual affinity or with a person under a solemn vow of chastity
- splanchnic nerve — Anatomy. any of several nerves to the viscera and blood vessels of the chest and pelvic areas.
- splanchnopleural — 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.
- spotted mackerel — a small mackerel, Scomberomorus queenslandicus, of northern Australian waters
- sql access group — (body) The origanisaton which defined Call-Level Interface, on which ODBC is based. It is now part of X/Open.
- sticking plaster — an adhesive cloth or other material for covering and closing superficial wounds, holding bandages in place, etc.
- stonecrop family — the plant family Crassulaceae, characterized by succulent herbaceous plants and shrubs with simple, fleshy leaves, clusters of small flowers, and dry, dehiscent fruit, and including hen-and-chickens, houseleek, kalanchoe, live-forever, orpine, sedum, and stonecrop.
- strange particle — any elementary particle with a strangeness quantum number other than zero.