17-letter words containing s, i, c, a
- liberal democrats — (in Britain) a political party with centrist policies; established in 1988 as the Social and Liberal Democrats when the Liberal Party merged with the Social Democratic Party; renamed Liberal Democrats in 1989
- librocubicularist — (rare) A person who reads in bed.
- lincoln's sparrow — a North American sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii, having a buff breast with black streaks.
- line of scrimmage — an imaginary line parallel to the goal lines that passes from one sideline to the other through the point of the football closest to the goal line of each team.
- linking consonant — a consonant inserted between two vowels in speech
- lipopolysaccaride — a molecule, consisting of lipid and polysaccharide components, that is the main constituent of the cell walls of Gram-negative bacteria
- lisp machine lisp — (language) An extension of Maclisp, now called Zetalisp.
- load displacement — the weight, in long tons, of a cargo vessel loaded so that the summer load line touches the surface of the water.
- local anaesthesia — the use of anaesthetics that affect a particular area of the body
- local anaesthetic — sth injected to numb a body part for pain relief
- loco supra citato — l.s.c.
- lombrosian school — a school of criminology, promulgating the theories and employing the methods developed by Lombroso.
- luggage insurance — insurance against the loss of luggage while travelling
- luminous efficacy — the quotient of the luminous flux of a radiation and its corresponding radiant flux
- luminous exitance — the ability of a surface to emit light expressed as the luminous flux per unit area at a specified point on the surface
- macro-linguistics — a field of study concerned with language in its broadest sense and including cultural and behavioral features associated with language.
- macroinstructions — Plural form of macroinstruction.
- magellanic clouds — either of two irregular galactic clusters in the southern heavens that are the nearest independent star system to the Milky Way.
- magnetic constant — the permeability of free space, which has the value 4π × 10–7 henry per metre
- magnetic roasting — roasting of a nonmagnetic ore to render it magnetic so that it can be separated from gangue by means of a magnetic field.
- magnetoelasticity — the phenomenon, consisting of a change in magnetic properties, exhibited by a ferromagnetic material to which stress is applied.
- magnetoresistance — a change in the electrical resistance of a material upon exposure to a magnetic field.
- mains electricity — electricity supplied to a building through wires
- maintained school — a school financially supported by the state
- maintainer script — (Debian) One of the scripts (preinst, prerm, postinst, postrm) that may be included in a Debian binary package. These scripts may create and/or remove symlinks, files or directories that, for some reason, could not be done directly by dpkg. Maintainer scripts frequently create or update the symlinks in the /etc/rc?.d directories and start, stop, or restart daemons.
- maintenance costs — the costs associated with keeping a road, building, vehicle, or machine in good condition by regularly checking it and repairing it when necessary
- majority decision — a decision supported by more than half the people involved
- make conversation — If you make conversation, you talk to someone in order to be polite and not because you really want to.
- malagasy republic — former name of Madagascar.
- manicure scissors — scissors for manicuring or trimming the nails
- manifest function — any function of an institution or other social phenomenon that is planned and intentional.
- marais des cygnes — a river in E central Kansas and W Missouri, flowing SE to the Osage River. 150 miles (241 km) long.
- maraschino cherry — a cherry cooked in colored syrup and flavored with maraschino, used to garnish desserts, cocktails, etc.
- mare fecunditatis — (Sea of Fertility) a dark plain in the fourth quadrant and extending into the first quadrant of the face of the moon: about 160,000 sq. mi. (415,000 sq. km).
- mariner's compass — a compass used for navigational purposes, consisting of a pivoted compass card in a gimbal-mounted, nonferrous metal bowl.
- mascarene islands — a group of islands in the Indian Ocean, E of Madagascar, including Mauritius, Reunion, and Rodrigues.
- masculine caesura — a caesura occurring immediately after a stressed or a long syllable.
- mass merchandiser — a retailer or retail store that seeks to sell large quantities of goods quickly through such means as discounting, customer self-service, or unadorned display and packaging, as in a warehouse.
- master of science — a master's degree given usually in a specific branch of the natural sciences, mathematics, or technology.
- materialistically — excessively concerned with physical comforts or the acquisition of wealth and material possessions, rather than with spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.
- materials science — the study of the characteristics and uses of various materials, as glass, plastics, and metals.
- maternal instinct — motherly urge to protect and nurture
- maurice of nassau — Prince of Orange 1567-1625; Du. statesman & military leader
- mechanical tissue — a plant tissue made up of hard, thick-walled cells that add strength to an organ
- media access unit — (networking) (MAU or Multistation Access Unit, MSAU) In a Token Ring network, a device to attach multiple network stations in a star topology, internally wired to connect the stations into a logical ring. The MAU contains relays to short out nonoperating stations. Multiple MAUs can be connected into a larger ring through their Ring In/Ring Out connectors.
- medical insurance — a type of insurance intended to cover possible future medical expenses
- meissen porcelain — Dresden china.
- mercantile system — a system of political and economic policy, evolving with the modern national state and seeking to secure a nation's political and economic supremacy in its rivalry with other states. According to this system, money was regarded as a store of wealth, and the goal of a state was the accumulation of precious metals, by exporting the largest possible quantity of its products and importing as little as possible, thus establishing a favorable balance of trade.
- merchant shipping — shipping which is involved in commerce (rather than defence, etc)
- mercy otis warren — Earl, 1891–1974, U.S. lawyer and political leader: chief justice of the U.S. 1953–69.