18-letter words containing s, e, n, o, f
- self-fertilization — Botany. fertilization of an ovum of a plant by a male gamete from the same flower (opposed to cross-fertilization).
- self-glorification — a glorified or more splendid form of something.
- self-gratification — the act of pleasing or satisfying oneself, especially the gratifying of one's own impulses, needs, or desires.
- self-incrimination — the act of incriminating oneself or exposing oneself to prosecution, especially by giving evidence or testimony.
- self-instructional — pertaining to or constituting learning materials and conditions arranged so that students can proceed to learn on their own with little or no supervision.
- self-interrogation — the act of interrogating; questioning.
- self-justification — the act or fact of justifying oneself, especially of offering excessive reasons, explanations, excuses, etc., for an act, thought, or the like.
- 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-preoccupation — the state of being preoccupied.
- self-raising flour — flour with baking powder
- self-recrimination — the act of recriminating, or countercharging: Hope gave way to recrimination with both sides claiming the moral high ground.
- sell oneself short — If you sell someone short, you do not point out their good qualities as much as you should or do as much for them as you should.
- 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
- sense of direction — Your sense of direction is your ability to know roughly where you are, or which way to go, even when you are in an unfamiliar place.
- sequence of tenses — the sequence according to which the tense of a subordinate verb in a sentence is determined by the tense of the principal verb, as in I believe he is lying, I believed he was lying, etc
- shift one's ground — to change one's argument or defense
- shrubby cinquefoil — a small shrub, Potentilla fruticosa, of the rose family, native to the Northern temperate region, having pinnate leaves and numerous, showy, bright-yellow flowers.
- sign of the zodiac — one of the twelve constellations along the path of the ecliptic.
- silvery cinquefoil — any of several plants belonging to the genus Potentilla, of the rose family, having yellow, red, or white five-petaled flowers, as P. reptans (creeping cinquefoil) of the Old World, or P. argentea (silvery cinquefoil) of North America.
- six-finger country — an isolated area considered as being inhabited by people who practise inbreeding
- slip of the tongue — If you describe something you said as a slip of the tongue, you mean that you said it by mistake.
- society of friends — a Christian denomination, founded in England c. 1650 by George Fox, that has no formal creed, liturgy, or priesthood and rejects violence in human relations, esp. warfare
- soft touch sealing — Soft touch sealing is a copolymer seal for a tank, with characteristics designed for softness, used instead of a metal seal to help avoid fire when sparks are generated.
- software backplane — (programming, tool) A CASE framework from Atherton.
- soldier of fortune — a person who independently seeks pleasure, wealth, etc., through adventurous exploits.
- solid-fuel heating — heating that uses solid fuel, such as coal or coke
- sonic depth finder — a sonar instrument that uses echolocation to measure depths under water.
- sound and the fury — a novel (1929) by William Faulkner.
- spur-of-the-moment — occurring or done without advance preparation or deliberation; extemporaneous; unplanned: a spur-of-the-moment decision.
- squinting modifier — a word or phrase that can modify either the words that precede it or those that follow, as frequently in the sentence Studying frequently is tedious.
- stand confessed as — to be revealed or admitted as
- state of emergency — If a government or other authority declares a state of emergency in an area, it introduces special measures such as increased powers for the police or army, usually because of civil disorder or because of a natural disaster such as an earthquake.
- state of the union — A State of the Union speech or address is a speech, given once a year, in which the president of the United States talks about the current political issues that affect the country as a whole and about his plans for the year ahead.
- statement of claim — law: first pleading
- statements of case — the formal written statements presented alternately by the plaintiff and defendant in a lawsuit setting out the respective matters relied upon
- stepping-off place — jumping-off place (def 2).
- stinking goosefoot — a European goosefoot with foul-smelling leaves
- strait of magellan — a strait between the mainland of S South America and Tierra del Fuego, linking the S Pacific with the S Atlantic. Length: 600 km (370 miles). Width: up to 32 km (20 miles)
- sunflower seed oil — the oil extracted from sunflower seeds, used as a salad oil, in the manufacture of margarine, etc
- sutton-in-ashfield — a market town in N central England, in W Nottinghamshire. Pop: 41 951 (2001)
- symmetric function — a polynomial in several indeterminates that stays the same under any permutation of the indeterminates.
- terms of reference — Terms of reference are the instructions given to someone when they are asked to consider or investigate a particular subject, telling them what they must deal with and what they can ignore.
- the bird has flown — the person in question has fled or escaped
- the final solution — the code name used by the Nazis to refer to the plan of mass murder of the Jews
- the queen of sheba — a queen of the Sabeans, who visited Solomon (I Kings 10:1–13)
- thorfinn karlsefni — 980–after 1007, Icelandic navigator, explorer, and leader of early colonizing expedition to Vinland, in North America.
- throw oneself into — to propel or cast in any way, especially to project or propel from the hand by a sudden forward motion or straightening of the arm and wrist: to throw a ball.
- time of one's life — the system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another.
- to find one's feet — If you say that someone is finding their feet in a new situation, you mean that they are starting to feel confident and to deal with things successfully.