16-letter words containing p, r, e, c, t, s
- speech therapist — sb who treats speaking disorders
- 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
- spotted mackerel — a small mackerel, Scomberomorus queenslandicus, of northern Australian waters
- spreader-ditcher — a machine for shaping and cleaning roadbeds and ditches and for freeing tracks of ice and snow by plowing and digging.
- spreading center — a linear zone in the sea floor along which magma rises and from which adjacent crustal plates are moving apart.
- spreading factor — a substance, as hyaluronidase, that promotes the diffusion of a material through body tissues
- stage production — a play or show which is performed on stage
- standing cypress — a plant, Ipomopsis rubra, of the southern U.S., having feathery leaves and clusters of red and yellow flowers.
- stereomicroscope — stereoscopic microscope.
- 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.
- storage capacity — amount of room or space
- strange particle — any elementary particle with a strangeness quantum number other than zero.
- stretch receptor — muscle spindle.
- subsistence crop — a food plant which is grown by a farmer for consumption by himself and his family, leaving little or nothing to be marketed
- summer complaint — an acute condition of diarrhea, occurring during the hot summer months chiefly in infants and children, caused by bacterial contamination of food and associated with poor hygiene.
- super-injunction — an instruction or order issued by a court imposing restrictions on reporting, including any reference to the restriction itself
- superfecundation — the fertilization of two or more ova discharged at the same ovulation by successive acts of sexual intercourse.
- superficialities — being at, on, or near the surface: a superficial wound.
- superunification — a theory intended to describe the electromagnetic force, the strong force, the weak force, and gravity as a single, unified force.
- surface-printing — planography.
- tandem computers — (company) A US computer manufacturer. Quarterly sales $544M, profits $49M (Aug 1994).
- telespectroscope — a combination of a telescope and a spectroscope, used for spectroscopic analysis of radiation from stars and other celestial bodies
- the first couple — the US president and their spouse
- the great escape — a film (1963) directed by John Sturges, written by James Clavell and W.R. Burnett, based on a book by Paul Brickhill, and starring Steve McQueen. It follows an attempt made by Allied prisoners of war to escape a German prisoner of war camp during World War II
- the preconscious — preconscious mental activity
- the public purse — money from or controlled by the government
- the-card-players — a painting (1892) by Paul Cézanne.
- thermoplasticity — soft and pliable when heated, as some plastics, without any change of the inherent properties.
- three-piece suit — men's formal outfit
- through-composed — having different music for each verse: a through-composed song. Compare strophic (def 2).
- to coin a phrase — You say 'to coin a phrase' to show that you realize you are making a pun or using a cliché.
- to compare notes — If you compare notes with someone on a particular subject, you talk to them and find out whether their opinion, information, or experience is the same as yours.
- to keep a secret — If you say that someone can keep a secret, you mean that they can be trusted not to tell other people a secret that you have told them.
- to rest in peace — If you express the wish that a dead person may rest in peace, you are showing respect and sympathy for him or her. 'Rest in peace' or 'RIP' is also sometimes written on gravestones.
- topsail schooner — a sailing vessel fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts with square sails above the foresail, and often with a square sail before the foresail.
- transfer company — a company that transports people or luggage for a relatively short distance, as between terminals of two railroad lines.
- transfer pricing — the setting of a price for the transfer of raw materials, components, products, or services between the trading units of a large organization
- transport police — the national police force for railways in Britain, which protects rail operators, staff and passengers
- troop the colors — to parade the colors, or flag, before troops
- two-pot screamer — a person easily influenced by alcohol
- twofold purchase — a purchase using a double standing block and a double running block so as to give a mechanical advantage of four or five, neglecting friction, depending on whether the hauling is on the standing block or the running block.
- uncinate process — a curved, bony process on certain ribs of birds that projects backward and overlaps the succeeding rib, serving to strengthen the thorax.
- undercompensated — to compensate or pay less than is fair, customary, or expected.
- underconsumption — the act of consuming, as by use, decay, or destruction.
- united provinces — (used with a singular or plural verb) former name of Uttar Pradesh.
- upsilon particle — the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet (Υ, υ).
- vest-pocket park — pocket park.
- visible spectrum — the range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation that is normally visible, from 380 to 760 nm.