13-letter words containing s, a, r, i
- buridan's ass — an example intended to show the deficiency of reason. An ass standing equidistant from two identical heaps of oats starves to death because reason provides no grounds for choosing to eat one rather than the other
- burning glass — a convex lens for concentrating the sun's rays into a small area to produce heat or fire
- burt standish — Burt L. pseudonym of Gilbert Patten.
- bus mastering — bus master
- business card — A person's business card or their card is a small card which they give to other people, and which has their name and details of their job and company printed on it.
- business park — an area specially designated and landscaped to accommodate business offices, warehouses, light industry, etc
- bustard quail — button quail.
- bustard-quail — any of several birds of the family Turnicidae, of warmer parts of the Old World, resembling but not related to the true quail. Also called bustard quail, hemipode.
- busto arsizio — a city in Lombardy, N Italy.
- by contraries — contrary to what is expected
- by its nature — If you say that something has a particular characteristic by its nature or by its very nature, you mean that things of that type always have that characteristic.
- cabin cruiser — A cabin cruiser is a motor boat which has a cabin for people to live or sleep in.
- cabinetmakers — Plural form of cabinetmaker.
- caesaropapism — the theory that the state should have authority over the church in ecclesiastical matters; Erastianism
- cafe curtains — short, straight curtains, esp. for covering the lower part of a window, hung from a rod by means of sliding rings
- calcariferous — having a spur or spurs
- calisaya bark — the bark of any of several tropical trees of the rubiaceous genus Cinchona, esp C. calisaya, from which quinine is extracted
- called strike — a pitch not swung at by a batter but ruled a strike by the umpire.
- calligraphist — fancy penmanship, especially highly decorative handwriting, as with a great many flourishes: She appreciated the calligraphy of the 18th century.
- candleberries — Plural form of candleberry.
- candy striper — a volunteer worker in a hospital
- candy-striped — (esp of clothing fabric) having narrow coloured stripes on a white background
- candy-striper — a person, often a teenager, who works as a volunteer in a hospital.
- cantus firmus — an existing melody used as the basis for a new polyphonic composition
- cape crawfish — an edible South African spiny lobster, Jasus lalandii.
- capellmeister — a person in charge of an orchestra, esp in an 18th-century princely household
- caprivi strip — narrow strip of land, c. 50 mi (80 km) wide, of NE Namibia, extending eastward to the Zambezi River: c. 300 mi (483 km) long
- car insurance — financial protection against loss as a result of an automobile accident or theft
- caravansaries — Plural form of caravansary.
- caravanserais — Plural form of caravanserai.
- carbolic soap — a disinfectant soap containing phenol
- carbon tissue — a sheet of paper coated with pigmented gelatine, used in the carbon process
- carbon-tissue — paper faced with a preparation of carbon or other material, used between two sheets of plain paper in order to reproduce on the lower sheet that which is written or typed on the upper.
- carboniferous — yielding coal or carbon
- carbonisation — (chiefly, British) alternative spelling of carbonization.
- carcinologist — a person who specializes in carcinology
- carcinomatous — a malignant and invasive epithelial tumor that spreads by metastasis and often recurs after excision; cancer.
- cardiganshire — a former county of W Wales: became part of Dyfed in 1974; reinstated as Ceredigion in 1996
- cardinal fish — a small brightly coloured fish found in shallow tropical seas, of the family Apogonidae, the male of which often broods eggs in its mouth
- cardinal sign — any of the four astrological signs, Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn, that begin at the equinoxes and solstices, thus marking the beginning of the seasons: characterized by the attribute of strong initiative.
- cardinalities — Plural form of cardinality.
- cardiologists — Plural form of cardiologist.
- cardiopathies — Plural form of cardiopathy.
- cardioversion — restoring the rhythm of the heart to normal by applying direct-current electrical shock.
- carias andino — Tiburcio [tee-voor-syaw] /tiˈvur syɔ/ (Show IPA), 1876–1968, Honduran lawyer, soldier, and statesman: president 1933–49.
- caribbean sea — an almost landlocked sea, part of the Atlantic Ocean, bounded by the Caribbean islands, Central America, and the N coast of South America. Area: 2 718 200 sq km (1 049 500 sq miles)
- carillonneurs — Plural form of carillonneur.
- carnivalesque — characteristic of, suitable for, or like a carnival
- carnivorously — In a carnivorous manner.
- carol service — a service, held in a church around Christmas, at which Christmas carols are sung