16-letter words containing s, f, e
- self-vindication — the act of vindicating.
- self-vulcanizing — to treat (rubber) with sulfur and heat, thereby imparting strength, greater elasticity, durability, etc.
- semiprofessional — actively engaged in some field or sport for pay but on a part-time basis: semiprofessional baseball players.
- serpentine front — a front, as of a chest of drawers, having a horizontal compound curve with a convex section between two concave ones.
- service families — families which have a member serving in the armed forces
- shaft horsepower — the horsepower delivered to the driving shaft of an engine, as measured by a torsion meter. Abbreviation: shp, SHP.
- sheffer's stroke — a function of two sentences, equivalent to the negation of their conjunction, and written p|q (p and q are both not true) where p,q, are the arguments: p|q is false only when p,q are both true. It is possible to construct all truth functions out of this one alone
- sheffield shield — (in Australia) the former name for the trophy of the annual interstate cricket competition
- shifting spanner — an adjustable spanner
- ship of the line — a former sailing warship armed powerfully enough to serve in the line of battle, usually having cannons ranged along two or more decks; battleship.
- shoulder surfing — a form of credit-card fraud in which the perpetrator stands behind and looks over the shoulder of the victim as he or she withdraws money from an automated teller machine, memorizes the card details, and later steals the card
- sickness benefit — Sickness benefit is money that you receive regularly from the government when you are unable to work because of illness.
- silky flycatcher — any of several passerine birds of the family Ptilogonatidae, of the southwestern U.S. to Panama, related to the waxwings.
- sit on the fence — to be unable or unwilling to commit oneself
- slap in the face — smack on the cheek
- small/fine print — The small print or the fine print of something such as an advertisement or a contract consists of the technical details and legal conditions, which are often printed in much smaller letters than the rest of the text.
- smelting furnace — an industrial oven used to heat ore in order to extract metal
- snoqualmie falls — falls of the Snoqualmie River, in W Washington. 270 feet (82 meters) high.
- soapberry family — the plant family Sapindaceae, characterized by chiefly tropical trees, shrubs, or herbaceous vines having compound leaves, clustered flowers, and berrylike, fleshy, or capsular fruit, and including the balloon vine, golden rain tree, litchi, and soapberry.
- society of jesus — a member of a Roman Catholic religious order (Society of Jesus) founded by Ignatius of Loyola in 1534.
- 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 bisulfite — Sodium bisulfite is a crystalline compound used as an antioxidant and stabilizing agent.
- soft commodities — nonmetal commodities such as cocoa, sugar, and grains, bought and sold on a futures market
- soft in the head — stupid or foolish
- software library — a collection of programs that are used to develop software
- software package — bundle of files to execute computer program
- sole beneficiary — the only beneficiary
- something fierce — desperately, intensely
- soufflé omelette — a very light fluffy dish made with egg yolks and stiffly beaten egg whites
- south plainfield — a city in N New Jersey.
- speak for itself — be self-evident
- species-specific — associated with or limited to one species only.
- specific gravity — the ratio of the density of any substance to the density of some other substance taken as standard, water being the standard for liquids and solids, and hydrogen or air being the standard for gases.
- specific impulse — a measure, usually in seconds, of the efficiency with which a rocket engine utilizes its propellants, equal to the number of pounds of thrust produced per pound of propellant burned per second.
- specific surface — The specific surface is the ratio of a particle's surface area to its volume or mass.
- spiny-rayed fish — any of various fishes, as basses and perches, that have sharp, often pointed and usually rigid fin spines.
- split infinitive — an expression in which there is a word or phrase, especially an adverb or adverbial phrase, between to and its accompanying verb form in an infinitive, as in to readily understand.
- spreading factor — a substance, as hyaluronidase, that promotes the diffusion of a material through body tissues
- spring snowflake — a European amaryllidaceous plant, Leucojum vernum, with white nodding bell-shaped flowers
- staffing officer — someone who recruits, hires, and ensures the interests of staff and employees in an organization
- stalked puffball — a puffball-like mushroom of the genus Tulestoma, maturing in early winter.
- standoff missile — a missile capable of striking a distant target after launch by an aircraft outside the range of missile defences
- state of affairs — situation
- state of the art — the latest and most sophisticated or advanced stage of a technology, art, or science.
- state-of-the-art — the latest and most sophisticated or advanced stage of a technology, art, or science.
- step out of line — to fail to conform to expected standards, attitudes, etc
- stephen f austin — Alfred, 1835–1913, English poet: poet laureate 1896–1913.
- stocking stuffer — a small, usually inexpensive gift that is placed with others in a Christmas stocking.
- stonecrop family — the plant family Crassulaceae, characterized by succulent herbaceous plants and shrubs with simple, fleshy leaves, clusters of small flowers, and dry, dehiscent fruit, and including hen-and-chickens, houseleek, kalanchoe, live-forever, orpine, sedum, and stonecrop.
- street furniture — pieces of equipment, such as streetlights and pillar boxes, placed in the street for the benefit of the public