18-letter words containing s, e, m, n, o
- postmaster general — the executive head of the postal system of a country.
- postmillenarianism — postmillennialism.
- postviral syndrome — debilitating condition occurring as a sequel to viral illness
- potassium myronate — sinigrin.
- prayer of manasses — a book of the Apocrypha.
- precious moonstone — moonstone (def 1).
- presumption of law — a presumption based upon a policy of law or a general rule and not upon the facts or evidence in an individual case.
- prisoner's dilemma — (in game theory) a scenario in which the outcome of one person's decision is determined by the simultaneous decisions of the other participants, resulting in a bad outcome for all of them if all act in their own self-interest.
- processionary moth — a moth of the family Thaumetopoeidae, esp the oak processionary moth (Thaumetopoea processionea), the larvae of which leave the communal shelter nightly for food in a V-shaped procession
- prometheus unbound — a drama in verse (1820) by Shelley.
- provision merchant — a person or company in the business of retailing food and other provisions
- psychogalvanometer — a type of galvanometer for detecting and measuring psychogalvanic currents.
- ptomaine poisoning — (erroneously) food poisoning thought to be caused by ptomaine.
- pull someone's leg — either of the two lower limbs of a biped, as a human being, or any of the paired limbs of an animal, arthropod, etc., that support and move the body.
- pulmonary embolism — the blockage of a pulmonary artery, often by a blood clot, that stops the flow of blood to the lungs and which can result in death if untreated
- pulmonic airstream — a current of lung air set in motion by the respiratory muscles in the production of speech.
- put the mockers on — stop, thwart
- raman spectroscopy — a form of spectroscopy which uses the Raman effect for studying molecules
- recess appointment — a person appointed to an office by the President of the United States without approval from the Senate because the Senate is in recess
- registered company — a company which has officially registered its business
- remains to be seen — If you say that it remains to be seen whether something will happen, you mean that nobody knows whether it will happen.
- restoration comedy — English comedy of the period of the Restoration, stressing manners and social satire.
- restriction enzyme — 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.
- resuscitation room — an intensive care unit
- retirement pension — income: no longer at work
- retrograde amnesia — a memory disorder characterized by an inability to remember events or experiences that occurred before a significant point in time.
- seasonal promotion — Seasonal promotions are items marketed to customers at the appropriate time of year, such as coats in the winter and bathing suits in the summer.
- second commandment — “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them”: second of the Ten Commandments.
- second triumvirate — the coalition and joint rule of the Roman Empire by Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian, begun in 43 bc
- secondary consumer — (in the food chain) a carnivore that feeds only upon herbivores.
- secondary emission — the emission of electrons (secondary electrons) from a material that is bombarded with electrons or ions.
- sedimentation tank — a tank into which sewage is passed to allow suspended solid matter to separate out
- segmental phonemes — phonemes consisting of sound segments; hence, the vowel, consonant, and semivowel sounds of a language
- self-comprehending — to understand the nature or meaning of; grasp with the mind; perceive: He did not comprehend the significance of the ambassador's remark.
- self-contemplation — the act or process of thinking about oneself or one's values, beliefs, behavior, etc.
- self-determination — determination by oneself or itself, without outside influence.
- self-incrimination — the act of incriminating oneself or exposing oneself to prosecution, especially by giving evidence or testimony.
- self-manifestation — an act of manifesting.
- self-mortification — the inflicting of pain or privation on oneself: He was certain that self-mortification was the only road to salvation.
- self-recrimination — the act of recriminating, or countercharging: Hope gave way to recrimination with both sides claiming the moral high ground.
- sell someone a pup — to swindle someone by selling him something worthless
- semi-microanalysis — any analytical method in which the weight of the sample is between 10 and 100 milligrams.
- semiprecious stone — See at semiprecious.
- senior aircraftman — a rank in the Royal Air Force comparable to that of a private in the army, though not the lowest rank in the Royal Air Force
- senior common room — (in British universities, colleges, etc) a common room for the use of academic staff
- sex discrimination — the practice of treating male and female people unequally
- shipping documents — documents relating to the sending of a shipment of goods, for example containing details of contents, weight, value etc.
- shotgun microphone — a directional microphone with a narrow-angle range of sensitivity.
- simone de beauvoir — Simone [see-mawn] /siˈmɔn/ (Show IPA), (Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand) 1908–86, French playwright, novelist, and essayist.
- simple enumeration — a procedure for arriving at empirical generalizations by haphazard accumulation of positive instances.