15-letter words containing s, e, r, i, c, a
- aortic stenosis — abnormal narrowing of the aorta, especially of its orifice, usually as a result of rheumatic fever or embryologic anomalies.
- apical meristem — meristem at the apex of a root or shoot.
- apostle pitcher — a stoneware pitcher decorated in relief with figures of the apostles.
- apprenticeships — Plural form of apprenticeship.
- arabic numerals — the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and the 0 (zero) that originated in India; Hindu-Arabic numerals
- archaeobotanist — A person engaged in archaeobotany.
- archiepiscopacy — a form of church government in which power is vested in archbishops.
- archiepiscopate — the rank, office, or term of office of an archbishop
- arms inspection — the official checking of a country's weapons and other military equipment, usually to check that international agreements have been respected
- army air forces — a unit comprising almost all aviation, with its personnel, equipment, etc.: it became part of the Air Force on July 26, 1947.
- articles of war — the disciplinary and legal procedures by which the naval and military forces of Great Britain were bound before the 19th century
- artificialness' — made by human skill; produced by humans (opposed to natural): artificial flowers.
- ascribed status — the social position assigned to a person on the basis of kinship, ethnic group, sex, etc.
- asiatic cholera — cholera (def 1).
- asymmetric bars — a pair of wooden or fibreglass bars placed parallel to each other but set at different heights, for various exercises
- asymmetric time — musical time consisting of an odd number of beats in each bar divided into uneven combinations, such as 3 + 2, 4 + 3, 2 + 3 + 2, etc
- at first glance — If you say that something is true or seems to be true at first glance, you mean that it seems to be true when you first see it or think about it, but that your first impression may be wrong.
- at short notice — Notice is used in expressions such as 'at short notice', 'at a moment's notice' or 'at twenty-four hours' notice', to indicate that something can or must be done within a short period of time.
- at your service — You can use 'at your service' after your name as a formal way of introducing yourself to someone and saying that you are willing to help them in any way you can.
- atherosclerosis — a degenerative disease of the arteries characterized by patchy thickening of the inner lining of the arterial walls, caused by deposits of fatty material; a form of arteriosclerosis
- atherosclerotic — Of, pertaining to, or afflicted with atherosclerosis.
- athletic sports — sports, esp track and field events, in which athleticism is required
- atmospherically — pertaining to, existing in, or consisting of the atmosphere: atmospheric vapors.
- autodestructive — likely to cause one's own destruction
- back plastering — the introduction of partitions of lath and plaster between the inner and outer surfaces of a stud wall in order to improve the insulating properties of the wall.
- backseat driver — If you refer to a passenger in a car as a backseat driver, they annoy you because they constantly give you advice about how to drive.
- bacterial ghost — a bacterial cell that is emptied and filled artificially with another substance
- bacteriophagous — Pertaining to the predation and consumption of bacterium.
- barley sandwich — a drink of beer, esp at lunch time
- barn conversion — the adaptation of a farm barn into a building serving a different use, such as a house or commercial premises
- basic anhydride — a compound formed by removing water from a more complex compound: an oxide of a nonmetal (acid anhydride) or a metal (basic anhydride) that forms an acid or a base, respectively, when united with water.
- basic autocoder — Early system on IBM 7070. Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959).
- bear comparison — to be sufficiently similar in class or range to be compared with (something else), esp favourably
- béarnaise sauce — a creamy sauce, esp. for meat or fish, made of butter and egg yolks and flavored with wine, vinegar, shallots, and herbs
- berenice's hair — the constellation Coma Berenices
- beta conversion — (theory) A term from lambda-calculus for beta reduction or beta abstraction.
- big sandy creek — a river in central Colorado, flowing NE and SE to the Arkansas River near Lamar: site of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre. 200 miles (322 km) long.
- borderline case — a person or thing that is not clearly classifiable as something
- brachial plexus — a network of nerves in the armpits and neck, innervating the shoulders, arms, and hands.
- brachistochrone — the curve between two points through which a body moves under the force of gravity in a shorter time than for any other curve; the path of quickest descent
- brackett series — a series of lines in the infrared spectrum of hydrogen.
- branching rules — rules that are used to break down a complex problem into several smaller problems
- branchiostegous — branchiostegal.
- bravais lattice — any of 14 possible space lattices found in crystals
- breathing space — A breathing space is a short period of time between two activities in which you can recover from the first activity and prepare for the second one.
- bristol channel — an inlet of the Atlantic, between S Wales and SW England, merging into the Severn estuary. Length: about 137 km (85 miles)
- british america — British North America.
- bronchial tubes — the bronchi or their smaller divisions
- brush discharge — a slightly luminous electrical discharge between points of high charge density when the charge density is insufficient to cause a spark or around sharp points on a highly charged conductor because of ionization of air molecules in their vicinity
- buckinghamshire — a county in SE central England, containing the Vale of Aylesbury and parts of the Chiltern Hills: the geographic and ceremonial county includes Milton Keynes, which became an independent unitary authority in 1997. Administrative centre: Aylesbury. Pop (excluding Milton Keynes): 478 000 (2003 est). Area (excluding Milton Keynes): 1568 sq km (605 sq miles)