17-letter words containing s, i, d, e, f
- positive definite — (of a quadratic form) positive for all real values of the variables, where the values are not all zero.
- positive feedback — Electronics. the process of returning part of the output of a circuit, system, or device to the input, either to oppose the input (negative feedback) or to aid the input (positive feedback) acoustic feedback.
- pre-modifications — an act or instance of modifying.
- presiding officer — the person who presides over the Scottish Parliament or Welsh Assembly
- pseudo-scientific — any of various methods, theories, or systems, as astrology, psychokinesis, or clairvoyance, considered as having no scientific basis.
- qualified success — If you describe something as a qualified success, you mean that it is only partly successful.
- queen of puddings — a pudding made of moist but firm breadcrumb and custard mixture topped with jam and meringue
- reformed spelling — a revised orthography intended to simplify the spelling of English words, especially to eliminate unpronounced letters, as by substituting thru for through, tho for though, slo for slow, etc.
- registered office — official business address
- sacrifice paddock — a grassed area allowed to be grazed completely, to be cultivated and resown later
- sacrificial anode — Chemistry. an anode that is attached to a metal object subject to electrolysis and is decomposed instead of the object.
- scientific method — a method of research in which a problem is identified, relevant data are gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from these data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested.
- self-administered — to manage (affairs, a government, etc.); have executive charge of: to administer the law.
- self-aggrandizing — increase of one's own power, wealth, etc., usually aggressively.
- self-belay device — (in climbing) a device used to pay out a safety rope as required
- self-commendation — the act of commending; recommendation; praise: commendation for a job well done.
- self-condemnation — the act of condemning.
- self-conditioning — Also called operant conditioning, instrumental conditioning. a process of changing behavior by rewarding or punishing a subject each time an action is performed until the subject associates the action with pleasure or distress.
- self-depreciating — self-deprecating.
- self-dissociation — an act or instance of dissociating.
- self-introduction — the act of introducing or the state of being introduced.
- self-reproduction — the act or process of reproducing.
- semi-manufactured — the making of goods or wares by manual labor or by machinery, especially on a large scale: the manufacture of television sets.
- sidesaddle flower — a pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea.
- single-sheet feed — a mechanism for feeding or taking single sheets of paper into a printer
- smoke-filled room — a place, as a hotel room, for conducting secret negotiations, effecting compromises, devising strategy, etc.
- south farmingdale — a town on central Long Island, in SE New York.
- south frigid zone — the part of the earth's surface between the Antarctic Circle and the South Pole.
- southern studfish — See under studfish.
- specific humidity — the ratio of the mass of water vapor in air to the total mass of the mixture of air and water vapor.
- speech difficulty — a problem encountered in speaking
- springfield rifle — a single-shot, breechloading .45-caliber rifle used by the U.S. Army from 1867 to 1893.
- stannous fluoride — a white, crystalline powder, SnF 2 , slightly soluble in water: used as a source of fluorine in the prevention of dental caries, especially as a toothpaste additive.
- stratified sample — a sample that is not drawn at random from the whole population, but separately from a number of disjoint strata of the population in order to ensure a more representative sample
- striped killifish — a killifish, Fundulus majalis, of the Atlantic coast of the U.S., the female of which is marked with black stripes.
- sulfonyl chloride — a colorless liquid, SO 2 Cl 2 , having a very pungent odor and corrosive to the skin and mucous membranes: used as a chlorinating or sulfonating agent.
- sustentation fund — a fund, esp in the Church of Scotland, to augment the support of ministers
- the life and soul — a person regarded as the main source of merriment and liveliness
- the right side of — in favour with
- thermal diffusion — the separation of constituents, often isotopes, of a fluid under the influence of a temperature gradient.
- traffic diversion — a special route arranged for traffic to follow when the normal route cannot be used
- unclassified road — a road that has not been given a grade because it is of a basic standard
- under the sign of — during that portion of the year when the sun is passing through and thus subject to the influence of (a specified sign of the zodiac)
- veiltail goldfish — an artificially bred, indoor variety of goldfish, usually golden or calico and of a spheroid shape, having a fully divided, drooping tail fin exceeding the body in length.
- wedding breakfast — meal served at wedding reception
- wings of the dove — a novel (1902) by Henry James.