17-letter words containing s, i, l, y
- play with oneself — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- point reyes lilac — a prostrate shrub, Ceanothus gloriosus, of southern California, having leathery, roundish leaves and purplish or deep-blue flowers.
- polystyrene chips — small pieces of polystyrene used for insulating or packing
- positive polarity — the grammatical characteristic of a word or phrase, such as delicious or rather, that may normally only be used in a semantically or syntactically positive or affirmative context
- positive theology — a theological approach or tradition in which the nature of God is thought to be knowable and is understood through positive statements. See also cataphasis (def 2).
- postal stationery — an envelope, postal card, wrapper, or aérogramme, with the stamp printed directly on the paper.
- power supply unit — (hardware) (PSU) An electronic module that converts high voltage (110 or 240 VAC) alternating current mains electricity into smoothed direct current at the various differnt voltages required by the motherboard; internal peripheral devices, cheifly storage devices: hard disks, CD or DVD, floppy disks and external connections such as USB. A PSU needs a high enough power output rating to supply all the devices connected to it and should output as little as possible electrical noise, both on the output wires and as electromagnetic radiation. See also uninterruptable power supply.
- primary qualities — any of the qualities inherent in an object, namely quantity, extent, figure, solidity, and motion or rest.
- professional army — an army of trained soldiers
- prosperity gospel — a modern version or, according to some, perversion of the gospel according to which the full blessings of God available to those who approach Him in faith and obedience include wealth, health and power
- psychoeducational — designating or of psychological methods, as intelligence tests, used in evaluating learning ability
- psychographically — Psychology. a graph indicating the relative strength of the personality traits of an individual.
- psycholinguistics — the study of the relationship between language and the cognitive or behavioral characteristics of those who use it.
- psychoprophylaxis — Lamaze method.
- publicity-seeking — eager to attract publicity
- purely and simply — You use purely and simply to emphasize that the thing you are mentioning is the only thing involved.
- pyroligneous acid — a yellowish, acidic, water-soluble liquid, containing about 10 percent acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood: used for smoking meats.
- pyrosulfuric acid — a strong, crystalline acid, H2S2O7, prepared commercially as a heavy, oily, fuming liquid: used in making explosives and dyes, as a sulfating agent, etc.
- quality assurance — a system for ensuring a desired level of quality in the development, production, or delivery of products and services: Quality assurance for nursing homes begins with a set of standards. Abbreviation: QA.
- quality newspaper — a more serious newspaper which gives detailed accounts of world events, as well as reports on business, culture, and society
- recrystallization — to become crystallized again.
- royal institution — a British society founded in 1799 for the dissemination of scientific knowledge
- sable island pony — a variety of wild pony found on Sable Island, Nova Scotia
- sanitary landfill — landfill.
- secondary glazing — insulation by means of a second pane of glass, or a sheet of plastic: a simple form of double glazing
- secondary quality — one of the qualities attributed by the mind to an object perceived, such as color, temperature, or taste.
- secondary sealing — Secondary sealing is a system of wiper seals used in floating roof tanks.
- self-belay device — (in climbing) a device used to pay out a safety rope as required
- semi-permeability — permeable only to certain small molecules: a semipermeable membrane.
- semimicroanalysis — any analytical method in which the weight of the sample is between 10 and 100 milligrams.
- sensory paralysis — impairment or loss of sensation in a part or area of the body
- seven deadly sins — Christianity: worst vices
- shopping bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- shopping-bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- shuttle diplomacy — diplomatic negotiations carried out by a mediator who travels back and forth between the negotiating parties.
- simplicity itself — If you say that something is simplicity itself, you are emphasizing that it is very simple or easy.
- situational irony — irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected.
- social psychology — the psychological study of social behavior, especially of the reciprocal influence of the individual and the group with which the individual interacts.
- socially excluded — suffering from social exclusion
- socially included — benefiting from social inclusion
- socioeconomically — of, relating to, or signifying the combination or interaction of social and economic factors: socioeconomic study; socioeconomic status.
- sodium salicylate — a white, crystalline compound, C 7 H 5 NaO 3 , soluble in water, alcohol, and glycerol: used in medicine as an analgesic, antipyretic, and anti-inflammatory, and as a preservative.
- softvelocity inc. — (company) The distributors of the Clarion family of application development systems.
- sorolla y bastida — Joaquín [hwah-keen] /ʰwɑˈkin/ (Show IPA), 1863–1923, Spanish painter.
- spastic paralysis — a condition in which the muscles affected are marked by tonic spasm and increased tendon reflexes.
- spatial frequency — the measure of fine detail in an optical image in terms of cycles per millimetre
- spectroscopically — an optical device for producing and observing a spectrum of light or radiation from any source, consisting essentially of a slit through which the radiation passes, a collimating lens, and an Amici prism.
- spectrum analysis — the determination of the constitution or condition of bodies and substances by means of the spectra they produce.
- speech difficulty — a problem encountered in speaking
- spherical polygon — a closed figure formed by arcs of great circles on a spherical surface.