12-letter words containing s, l, a, i
- lapis lazuli — a deep-blue mineral composed mainly of lazurite with smaller quantities of other minerals, used mainly as a gem or as a pigment.
- lasciviously — inclined to lustfulness; wanton; lewd: a lascivious, girl-chasing old man.
- laser tuning — a technique for adjusting a laser's output frequency to within a specific range, especially in semiconductors.
- laser-guided — (of a missile, etc) guided with the use of a laser beam
- latchstrings — Plural form of latchstring.
- lateral lisp — a speech defect consisting in pronouncing s and z like or nearly like the th- sounds of thin and this, respectively.
- laticiferous — bearing or containing latex.
- latifundista — the owner of a latifundio in Latin America or Spain.
- latin school — a secondary school emphasizing instruction in Latin and Greek.
- latin square — a square array of numbers, letters, etc., in which each item appears exactly once in each row and column: used in statistical analysis.
- latitudinous — having latitude, scope, range, breadth, etc., especially of ideas, interests, interpretations, or the like: a Renaissance man of latitudinous outlook.
- laughing gas — nitrous oxide.
- laundry list — a lengthy, especially random list of items: a laundry list of hoped-for presents; a laundry list of someone's crimes.
- laureateship — a person who has been honored for achieving distinction in a particular field or with a particular award: a Nobel laureate.
- law of sines — a law stating that the ratio of a side of a plane triangle to the sine of the opposite angle is the same for all three sides.
- lawbreakings — Plural form of lawbreaking.
- lawyer's wig — the shaggy ink-cap
- lawyerliness — Quality of being lawyerly.
- laxadaisical — Misspelling of lackadaisical.
- laxativeness — the condition or quality of being laxative
- lay siege to — attack
- leading case — a case that is regarded as having settled a particular point of law; a case that is used as guidance for legal decisions
- lecithinases — Plural form of lecithinase.
- lectionaries — Plural form of lectionary.
- legalisation — Alternative spelling of legalization.
- legionnaires — Plural form of legionnaire.
- legislations — the act of making or enacting laws.
- legislatures — a deliberative body of persons, usually elective, who are empowered to make, change, or repeal the laws of a country or state; the branch of government having the power to make laws, as distinguished from the executive and judicial branches of government.
- lemnian seal — the earth of the Greek island of Lemnos, which is famous for its medicinal properties
- lenticularis — (meteorology) a cloud species which consists of rounded lens shaped of cloud, often forming near mountains. Associated with cirrocumulus, and altocumulus, and sometimes stratocumulus genera.
- leprosariums — Plural form of leprosarium.
- leptosomatic — a person of asthenic build.
- levalloisian — of, relating to, or characteristic of a distinctive late Lower and Middle Paleolithic method of preparing a stone core so that preformed thin, oval or triangular flakes with sharp edges could be struck from it.
- levi strauss — David Friedrich [dah-veet free-drikh] /ˈdɑ vit ˈfri drɪx/ (Show IPA), 1808–74, German theologian, philosopher, and author.
- levi-strauss — Claude, 1908–2009, French anthropologist and educator, born in Belgium: founder of structural anthropology.
- lex talionis — the principle or law of retaliation that a punishment inflicted should correspond in degree and kind to the offense of the wrongdoer, as an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; retributive justice.
- liberal arts — humanities and social sciences
- liberalising — Present participle of liberalise.
- liberalistic — the quality or state of being liberal, as in behavior or attitude.
- liberalities — Plural form of liberality.
- libertarians — Plural form of libertarian.
- lie in state — the condition of a person or thing, as with respect to circumstances or attributes: a state of health.
- life savings — a person who rescues another from danger of death, especially from drowning.
- lifestreamer — a person who provides an online record of his or her life, either by means of live video footage or via an online collection of social network updates, blogs, and photos
- lifting sail — a sail that when filled tends to raise the hull of a ship or boat (opposed to driving sail).
- ligurian sea — a part of the Mediterranean between Corsica and the NW coast of Italy.
- likeableness — Likeability.
- lilliputians — Plural form of lilliputian.
- limacologist — a person who specialises in the study of slugs
- line islands — a group of islands in the central Pacific Ocean, S of the Hawaiian Islands: eight belong to the Republic of Kiribati, three are U.S. dependencies. 193 sq. mi. (500 sq. km).