18-letter words containing s, o, r, c
- secondary syphilis — the second stage of syphilis, characterized by eruptions of the skin and mucous membrane.
- secretary of state — the head and chief administrator of the U.S. Department of State. Compare foreign minister.
- security of tenure — (in Britain) the right of a tenant to continue to occupy a dwelling or site unless the landlord obtains a court order for possession of the property or termination of the tenancy agreement
- selective abortion — the aborting of particular embryos for medical or social reasons
- self-certification — statement of sick leave
- self-comprehending — to understand the nature or meaning of; grasp with the mind; perceive: He did not comprehend the significance of the ambassador's remark.
- self-contradiction — an act or instance of contradicting oneself or itself.
- self-contradictory — an act or instance of contradicting oneself or itself.
- self-glorification — a glorified or more splendid form of something.
- self-gratification — the act of pleasing or satisfying oneself, especially the gratifying of one's own impulses, needs, or desires.
- self-incrimination — the act of incriminating oneself or exposing oneself to prosecution, especially by giving evidence or testimony.
- self-instructional — pertaining to or constituting learning materials and conditions arranged so that students can proceed to learn on their own with little or no supervision.
- self-mortification — the inflicting of pain or privation on oneself: He was certain that self-mortification was the only road to salvation.
- self-preoccupation — the state of being preoccupied.
- self-recrimination — the act of recriminating, or countercharging: Hope gave way to recrimination with both sides claiming the moral high ground.
- semi-microanalysis — any analytical method in which the weight of the sample is between 10 and 100 milligrams.
- semiprecious stone — See at semiprecious.
- senior aircraftman — a rank in the Royal Air Force comparable to that of a private in the army, though not the lowest rank in the Royal Air Force
- senior common room — (in British universities, colleges, etc) a common room for the use of academic staff
- senior high school — a school attended after junior high school and usually consisting of grades 10 through 12.
- sense of direction — Your sense of direction is your ability to know roughly where you are, or which way to go, even when you are in an unfamiliar place.
- sentence connector — a word or phrase that introduces a clause or sentence and serves as a transition between it and a previous clause or sentence, as for example also in I'm buying eggs and also I'm looking for a dessert for tonight. It may be preceded by a coordinating conjunction such as and in the above example
- septic sore throat — an acute, toxic, streptococcus infection of the throat producing fever, tonsillitis, and other serious effects.
- sex discrimination — the practice of treating male and female people unequally
- sexual intercourse — genital contact, especially the insertion of the penis into the vagina followed by orgasm; coitus; copulation.
- shipping container — a large, strong container, usually of metal, used to store goods in during shipment
- short, sharp shock — A short, sharp shock is a punishment that is fairly harsh and severe but only lasts for a short time.
- shotgun microphone — a directional microphone with a narrow-angle range of sensitivity.
- shrubby cinquefoil — a small shrub, Potentilla fruticosa, of the rose family, native to the Northern temperate region, having pinnate leaves and numerous, showy, bright-yellow flowers.
- shugart associates — (company) The disk drive company, founded by Alan F. Shugart, which developed SCSI. Alan left Shugart Associates in 1974 [did he quit or was he fired?]. Shugart Associates was bought, and eventually shut down by Xerox.
- shugart technology — Seagate Technology
- silvery cinquefoil — any of several plants belonging to the genus Potentilla, of the rose family, having yellow, red, or white five-petaled flowers, as P. reptans (creeping cinquefoil) of the Old World, or P. argentea (silvery cinquefoil) of North America.
- sinclair radionics — Sinclair Research
- six-finger country — an isolated area considered as being inhabited by people who practise inbreeding
- sixth-form college — (in England and Wales) a college offering A-level and other courses to pupils over sixteen from local schools, esp from those that do not have sixth forms
- skin friction drag — aerodynamic resistance or drag due to the contact of moving air with the surface of an airplane, a glider, etc.
- sling psychrometer — a psychrometer so designed that the wet-bulb thermometer can be ventilated, to expedite evaporation, by whirling in the air.
- small claims court — a special court established to handle small claims or debts, usually without the services of lawyers.
- small-claims court — a special court established to handle small claims or debts, usually without the services of lawyers.
- so much the better — You can say 'so much the better' or 'all the better' to indicate that it is desirable that a particular thing is used, done, or available.
- social bookmarking — the practice of saving bookmarked Web pages to a public website as a way to share the links with other Internet users: Social bookmarking is a tool that allows you to add tags and comments to your bookmarks.
- social engineering — the application of the findings of social science to the solution of actual social problems.
- social environment — the environment developed by humans as contrasted with the natural environment; society as a whole, especially in its relation to the individual.
- societal marketing — marketing that takes into account society's long-term welfare
- society of friends — a Christian denomination, founded in England c. 1650 by George Fox, that has no formal creed, liturgy, or priesthood and rejects violence in human relations, esp. warfare
- sodium bicarbonate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, in powder or granules, NaHCO 3 , usually prepared by the reaction of soda ash with carbon dioxide or obtained from the intermediate product of the Solvay process by purification: used chiefly in the manufacture of sodium salts, baking powder, and beverages, as a laboratory reagent, as a fire extinguisher, and in medicine as an antacid.
- software backplane — (programming, tool) A CASE framework from Atherton.
- sole-charge school — a rural school with only one teacher
- solubility product — the maximum number of undissociated ions, of an electrolyte in a saturated solution, capable at a given temperature of remaining in equilibrium with the undissolved phase of the solution.
- solvent extraction — Solvent extraction is the separation of a particular substance from a mixture by dissolving that substance in a solvent that will dissolve it, but which will not dissolve any other substance in the mixture.