19-letter words containing r, i, c, o
- republic of vietnam — the name (from 1955–75) for South Vietnam, as an independent republic, following the division of the country in 1954 into North Vietnam and South Vietnam
- research fellowship — the position or office of someone who conducts academic research into a subject at a university, etc
- reserved occupation — in time of war, an occupation from which one will not be called up for military service
- resistance movement — a movement fighting (for freedom, etc), often secretly or illegally, against an invader in an occupied country or against the country's government, etc
- resonance radiation — radiation emitted by an atom or molecule, having the same frequency as that of an incident particle, as a photon, and usually involving a transition to the lowest energy level of the atom or molecule.
- resorcinolphthalein — fluorescein.
- restorative justice — a theory and method in criminal justice in which it is arranged that the victim and the community receive restitution from the offender.
- restriction enzymes — any of a group of enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of DNA molecules at specific sites: used for gene splicing in recombinant DNA technology and for chromosome mapping.
- reticular formation — a network of neurons in the brainstem involved in consciousness, regulation of breathing, the transmission of sensory stimuli to higher brain centers, and the constantly shifting muscular activity that supports the body against gravity.
- reticuloendothelial — pertaining to, resembling, or involving cells of the reticuloendothelial system.
- reversible reaction — a reaction that, depending on ambient conditions, can proceed in either of two directions: the production of the reaction products from the reactants, or the production of the original reactants from the formed reaction products. Compare equilibrium (def 4).
- rhetorical question — a question asked solely to produce an effect or to make an assertion and not to elicit a reply, as “What is so rare as a day in June?”.
- rhodesian ridgeback — a large short-haired breed of dog characterized by a ridge of hair growing along the back in the opposite direction to the rest of the coat. It was originally a hunting dog from South Africa
- right circular cone — a cone whose surface is generated by lines joining a fixed point to the points of a circle, the fixed point lying on a perpendicular through the center of the circle.
- risk excess of loss — Risk excess of loss is a type of reinsurance that is given to an insurer to protect against a single loss or risk incurred at a specified amount.
- rock-paper-scissors — a method of selecting, for example, which of two people perform a task: each person simultaneously makes one of three hand gestures representing a rock, a sheet of paper, and a pair of scissors respectively. Each gesture defeats one and is defeated by one of the other two: rock defeats scissors but is defeated by paper; paper defeats rock but is defeated by scissors. The person whose gesture defeats the other is selected
- rocky mountain goat — a long-haired, white, antelopelike wild goat, Oreamnos americanus, of mountainous regions of western North America, having short, black horns.
- ruffini's corpuscle — an end organ of certain sensory neurons that branches out parallel to the skin and responds to steady pressure.
- run-length encoding — A kind of compression algorithm which replaces sequences ("runs") of consecutive repeated characters (or other units of data) with a single character and the length of the run. This can either be applied to all input characters, including runs of length one, or a special character can be used to introduce a run-length encoded group. The longer and more frequent the runs are, the greater the compression that will be achieved. This technique is particularly useful for encoding black and white images where the data units would be single bit pixels.
- saccharofarinaceous — pertaining to or consisting of sugar and meal.
- saccharolactic acid — mucic acid.
- sacrifice operative — a euphemistic term for a suicide bomber
- san francisco peaks — a mountain mass in N Arizona: highest point in the state, Humphrey's Peak, 12,611 feet (3845 meters).
- san juan capistrano — a city in SW California: site of old Spanish mission; known for annual return of swallows, said to occur on March 19.
- sandwich generation — the generation of people still raising their children while having to care for their aging parents.
- sanitary protection — Sanitary protection is sanitary towels or tampons.
- saturation coverage — news coverage (of an event, etc) that is very thorough in order not to miss any details
- scattersite housing — public housing, especially for low-income families, built throughout an urban area rather than being concentrated in a single neighborhood.
- screen actors guild — a labor union for motion-picture performers, founded in 1933. Abbreviation: SAG.
- secondary dentition — the permanent dentition
- secondary education — education at high-school level
- secondary infection — an infection resulting from another infection
- secondary intention — See under intention (def 5b).
- secondary picketing — the picketing by strikers of a place of work that supplies goods to or distributes goods from their employer
- secondary qualities — one of the qualities attributed by the mind to an object perceived, such as color, temperature, or taste.
- secondary-intention — an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result.
- secretarial college — a college where people are trained to be secretaries
- seleucia tracheotis — an ancient city in SE Asia Minor, on the River Calycadnus (modern Goksu Nehri): captured by the Turks in the 13th century; site of present-day Silifke (Turkey)
- self-congratulating — the expression or feeling of uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's own accomplishment, good fortune, etc.; complacency.
- self-congratulation — the expression or feeling of uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's own accomplishment, good fortune, etc.; complacency.
- self-discrimination — an act or instance of discriminating, or of making a distinction.
- self-reconstruction — an act of reconstructing.
- semiconductor laser — a laser in which a semiconductor is the light-emitting source, used in many medical procedures.
- senatorial courtesy — the practice in the U.S. Senate of confirming only those presidential appointees approved by both senators from the state of the appointee, or by the senior senator of the president's party.
- senatorial district — one of a fixed number of districts into which a state of the U.S. is divided, each electing one member to the state senate.
- sensitometric curve — characteristic curve.
- sexual inter-course — genital contact, especially the insertion of the penis into the vagina followed by orgasm; coitus; copulation.
- sexual reproduction — reproduction involving the union of gametes.
- sharp-focus realism — photorealism.
- siberian forest cat — a breed of powerfully-built long-haired cat, typically tabby with a white ruff and white paws