16-letter words containing s, g, n
- sliding friction — frictional resistance to relative movement of surfaces on loaded contact
- sling one's hook — to leave
- slubberdegullion — a slovenly or worthless person
- slugging average — a measure of the effectiveness of a batter in making base hits, obtained by dividing the total bases reached by hitting by the number of official times at bat and carrying out the result to three decimal places. A batter making 275 total bases in 500 times at bat has a slugging average of .550.
- smelting furnace — an industrial oven used to heat ore in order to extract metal
- smooth breathing — a symbol (') used in the writing of Greek to indicate that the initial vowel over which it is placed is unaspirated.
- social gathering — party, get-together
- sociolinguistics — the study of language as it functions in society; the study of the interaction between linguistic and social variables.
- soft brown sugar — a type of moist sugar made by coating white sugar with dark molasses
- soft furnishings — home fabrics
- soft pornography — soft-core pornography.
- solemn high mass — a Mass sung with the assistance of a deacon and subdeacon.
- something fierce — desperately, intensely
- sounding balloon — a balloon carrying instruments aloft to make atmospheric measurements, especially a radiosonde balloon.
- sounding machine — any of various machines for taking and recording soundings.
- south burlington — a town in NW Vermont.
- south huntington — a town in central Long Island, in SE New York.
- sparking voltage — the minimum voltage required to produce a spark across a given spark gap.
- sparring partner — a boxer who spars with and otherwise serves to train a boxer who is preparing for a bout.
- speak in tongues — to engage in glossolalia
- speaking trumpet — a trumpet-shaped instrument used to carry the voice a great distance or held to the ear by a deaf person to aid his hearing
- special clearing — (in Britain) the clearing of a cheque through a bank in less than the usual three days, for an additional charge
- special handling — (in the U.S. Postal Service) the handling of third- and fourth-class mail as first-class upon the payment of a fee.
- special pleading — Law. pleading that alleges special or new matter in avoidance of the allegations made by the opposite side.
- speed networking — the practice of trying to form business connections and contacts through meetings at which individuals are given the opportunity to have several conversations of limited duration with strangers
- spelling mistake — error in writing a word
- sphygmomanometer — an instrument, often attached to an inflatable air-bladder cuff and used with a stethoscope, for measuring blood pressure in an artery.
- sphygmomanometry — an instrument, often attached to an inflatable air-bladder cuff and used with a stethoscope, for measuring blood pressure in an artery.
- spill one's guts — the alimentary canal, especially between the pylorus and the anus, or some portion of it. Compare foregut, midgut, hindgut.
- spongy-mesophyll — the lower layer of the ground tissue of a leaf, characteristically containing irregularly shaped cells with relatively few chloroplasts and large intercellular spaces.
- spraying machine — a device for spraying large volumes of liquid, such as insecticide onto crops
- spreading center — a linear zone in the sea floor along which magma rises and from which adjacent crustal plates are moving apart.
- spreading factor — a substance, as hyaluronidase, that promotes the diffusion of a material through body tissues
- spring ephemeral — any of various woodland wildflowers that appear above ground in early spring, flower and fruit, and die in a short two-month period.
- spring mountains — a mountain range in S Nevada extending to the California border. Highest peak, Charleston Peak. 11,919 feet (3635 meters).
- spring snowflake — a European amaryllidaceous plant, Leucojum vernum, with white nodding bell-shaped flowers
- springer spaniel — a dog of either of two breeds of medium-sized spaniels, used for flushing and retrieving game.
- staffing officer — someone who recruits, hires, and ensures the interests of staff and employees in an organization
- stage production — a play or show which is performed on stage
- stagedoor johnny — a man who often goes to a theater or waits at a stage door to court an actress.
- stamp collecting — Stamp collecting is the hobby of building up a collection of stamps.
- standard english — the English language in its most widely accepted form, as written and spoken by educated people in both formal and informal contexts, having universal currency while incorporating regional differences.
- standing cypress — a plant, Ipomopsis rubra, of the southern U.S., having feathery leaves and clusters of red and yellow flowers.
- standing ovation — rising to applaud
- standing rigging — rigging remaining permanently in position as a means of steadying various spars, shrouds, stays, etc. (contrasted with running rigging).
- statutory change — a change in the law
- sterling heights — a city in SE Michigan, near Detroit.
- sth rings a bell — If you say that something rings a bell, you mean that it reminds you of something, but you cannot remember exactly what it is.
- stick at nothing — to be prepared to do anything; be unscrupulous or ruthless
- sticking plaster — an adhesive cloth or other material for covering and closing superficial wounds, holding bandages in place, etc.