16-letter words containing s, a, d
- sexual deviation — a type of mental disorder characterized by a preference for or obsession with unusual sexual practices, as pedophilia, sadomasochism, or exhibitionism.
- shaggy dog story — a funny story, traditionally about a talking dog, that, after an often long and involved narration of unimportant incidents, has an absurd or irrelevant punch line.
- shaggy-dog story — a funny story, traditionally about a talking dog, that, after an often long and involved narration of unimportant incidents, has an absurd or irrelevant punch line.
- shake one's head — to move or sway with short, quick, irregular vibratory movements.
- shakedown cruise — extortion, as by blackmail or threats of violence.
- shaker and mover — mover and shaker
- share and enjoy! — 1. Commonly found at the end of software release announcements and README files, this phrase indicates allegiance to the hacker ethic of free information sharing (see hacker ethic). 2. The motto of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation (the ultimate gaggle of incompetent suits) in Douglas Adams's "Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy". The irony of using this as a cultural recognition signal appeals to freeware hackers.
- shared ownership — (in Britain) a form of house purchase whereby the purchaser buys a proportion of the dwelling, usually from a local authority or housing association, and rents the rest
- shared resources — the sharing of peripherals among several terminals
- shepherd's plaid — a checkered black and white pattern
- shoot one's load — (of a man) to ejaculate at orgasm
- shoot-to-disable — of or relating to shooting by soldiers or police that is intended to disable rather than kill
- shorthand typing — shorthand and typing
- shorthand typist — A shorthand typist is a person who types and writes shorthand, usually in an office.
- shorthand writer — a person trained to write in shorthand
- shot in the dark — a discharge of a firearm, bow, etc.
- shoulder harness — the part of a seat belt that goes over the shoulder and diagonally across the chest.
- show cause order — a court order issued to a party in a lawsuit, directing that party to appear to give reasons why a certain action should not be put into effect by the court.
- show-me attitude — a sceptical frame of mind
- sidestream smoke — secondhand smoke.
- silver medallist — a competitor who comes second in a contest or race and is awarded a medal of silver
- single-barrelled — (of a firearm) having a single barrel
- sinus meridianii — an area on the equator of Mars, appearing as a dark region when viewed telescopically from the earth.
- sir herbert read — George, 1733–98, American political leader: served in the Continental Congress 1774–77.
- situation comedy — a comedy drama, especially a television series made up of discrete episodes about the same group of characters, as members of a family.
- slang dictionary — a specialized dictionary covering the words, phrases, and idioms that reflect the least formal speech of a language. These terms are often metaphorical and playful, and are likely to be evanescent as the spoken language changes from one generation to another. Much slang belongs to specific groups, as the jargon of a particular class, profession, or age group. Some is vulgar. Some slang terms have staying power as slang, but others make a transition into common informal speech, and then into the standard language. An online slang dictionary, such as the Dictionary.com Slang Dictionary, provides immediate information about the meaning and history of a queried term and its appropriateness or lack of appropriateness in a range of social and professional circumstances.
- sleeping draught — any drink containing a drug or agent that induces sleep
- snakebite remedy — hard liquor.
- social darwinism — a 19th-century theory, inspired by Darwinism, by which the social order is accounted as the product of natural selection of those persons best suited to existing living conditions and in accord with which a position of laissez-faire is advocated.
- social democracy — a political ideology advocating a gradual transition to socialism or a modified form of socialism by and under democratic political processes.
- sodium bisulfate — a colorless crystalline compound, NaHSO 4 , soluble in water: used in dyeing, in the manufacture of cement, paper, soap, and an acid-type cleaner.
- sodium carbonate — Also called soda ash. an anhydrous, grayish-white, odorless, water-soluble powder, Na 2 CO 3 , usually obtained by the Solvay process and containing about 1 percent of impurities consisting of sulfates, chlorides, and bicarbonates of sodium: used in the manufacture of glass, ceramics, soaps, paper, petroleum products, sodium salts, as a cleanser, for bleaching, and in water treatment.
- sodium cyclamate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble powder, NaC 6 NH 1 2 SO 3 , that has been used as a sweetening agent: banned by the FDA in 1970.
- sodium methylate — a white, free-flowing, flammable powder, CH 3 ONa, decomposed by water to sodium hydroxide and methyl alcohol: used chiefly in organic synthesis.
- sodium pentothal — the sodium salt of thiopental sodium.
- sodium perborate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, NaBO 2 ⋅3H 2 O or NaBO 3 ⋅4H 2 O, used chiefly as a bleaching agent and antiseptic.
- sodium phosphate — Also called monobasic sodium phosphate. a white, crystalline, slightly hygroscopic, water-soluble powder, NaH 2 PO 4 , used chiefly in dyeing and in electroplating.
- soft in the head — stupid or foolish
- solid propellant — a rocket propellant in solid form, usually containing a mixture or combination of fuel and oxidizer.
- solid state disk — (SSD)
Any kind of solid-state storage device that appears to the system as a disk drive. SSDs are more expensive that the same capacity of magnetic disk but have much shorter access time. - sonata da camera — an instrumental musical form, common in the Baroque period, usually consisting of a series of dances.
- sonata da chiesa — an instrumental musical form, common in the Baroque period, that usually consists of four movements alternating between slow and fast.
- sounding balloon — a balloon carrying instruments aloft to make atmospheric measurements, especially a radiosonde balloon.
- sounding machine — any of various machines for taking and recording soundings.
- south plainfield — a city in N New Jersey.
- southern uplands — a hilly region extending across S Scotland: includes the Lowther, Moorfoot, and Lammermuir hills
- spanish windlass — a stick used as a device for twisting and tightening a rope or cable
- speak one's mind — give one's frank opinion
- spear-head spoon — diamond-point spoon.
- 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.