14-letter words containing s, p, e, i
- king's pattern — a spoon pattern of the 19th century having a stem decorated with threads, scrolls, and shell motifs.
- kirghiz steppe — a steppe in Kazakhstan.
- kiss principle — /kis' prin'si-pl/ Keep It Simple, Stupid. A maxim often invoked when discussing design to fend off creeping featurism and control complexity of development. Possibly related to the marketroid maxim on sales presentations, "Keep It Short and Simple". See also Occam's Razor.
- kit inspection — inspection of soldiers' kit by a superior officer, to make sure it is all clean, working, and in a good state
- kleptoparasite — A bird, insect, or other animal that habitually robs animals of other species of food.
- kola peninsula — Also called Kola Peninsula. a peninsula in the NW Russian Federation in Europe, between the White and Barents seas.
- kola-peninsula — Also called Kola Peninsula. a peninsula in the NW Russian Federation in Europe, between the White and Barents seas.
- l-asparaginase — an enzyme that destroys asparagine, a nonessential amino acid needed as a nutrient by rapidly growing cells: used in treating leukemia
- lady's-slipper — any orchid of the genus Cypripedium, the flowers of which have a protruding petal somewhat resembling a slipper: all species are reduced in numbers, some greatly.
- laissez passer — a permit; pass, especially one issued in lieu of a passport.
- laissez-passer — a permit; pass, especially one issued in lieu of a passport.
- lake nipissing — a lake in central Canada, in E Ontario between the Ottawa River and Georgian Bay. Area: 855 sq km (330 sq miles)
- lapsus linguae — a slip of the tongue.
- laryngoscopies — Plural form of laryngoscopy.
- le misanthrope — a comedy (1666) by Molière.
- lead poisoning — Pathology. a toxic condition produced by ingestion, inhalation, or skin absorption of lead or lead compounds, resulting in various dose-related symptoms including anemia, nausea, muscle weakness, confusion, blindness, and coma. Also called plumbism, saturnism. this condition occurring in adults whose work involves contact with lead products.
- leamington spa — a city in Warwickshire, central England: health resort.
- legislatorship — The office or position of a legislator.
- lepidopterists — Plural form of lepidopterist.
- lepontine alps — a range of the S central Alps, in S Switzerland and N Italy. Highest peak: Monte Leone, 3553 m (11 657 ft)
- lexicographers — Plural form of lexicographer.
- lexicographist — (chiefly, archaic) A student specialising in the discipline of lexicography; lexicographer.
- licentiateship — a person who has received a license, as from a university, to practice an art or profession.
- lieutenantship — the office of a lieutenant
- life preserver — a buoyant jacket, belt, or other like device for keeping a person afloat.
- life president — the president of a club, society, etc, who will remain president until death
- lindelof space — a topological space having the property that every cover consisting of open sets has a subcover consisting of a countable number of subsets.
- listed company — A listed company is a company whose shares are quoted on a stock exchange.
- listening post — Military. a post or position, as in advance of a defensive line, established for the purpose of listening to detect the enemy's movements.
- locking pliers — pliers whose jaws are connected at a sliding pivot, permitting them to be temporarily locked in a fixed position for ease in grasping and turning nuts.
- lopping shears — long-handled pruning shears.
- louis napoleon — (Louis Napoleon; Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte) [loo-ee;; French lwee] /ˈlu i;; French lwi/ (Show IPA), 1808–73, president of France 1848–52, emperor of France 1852–70 (nephew of Napoleon I).
- louis philippe — ("Citizen King") 1773–1850, king of France 1830–48.
- lugger topsail — a fore-and-aft topsail used above a lugsail.
- lz compression — Lempel-Ziv compression
- machine pistol — a fully automatic pistol; submachine gun.
- magnetic strip — a strip of magnetic material on which information may be stored, as by an electromagnetic process, for automatic reading, decoding, or recognition by a device that detects magnetic variations on the strip: a credit card with a magnetic strip to prevent counterfeiting.
- magnetospheric — Of, pertaining to, or happening within the magnetosphere.
- make it snappy — apt to snap or bite; snappish, as a dog.
- make-up artist — sb: applies performers' cosmetics
- malpighiaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Malpighiaceae, a family of tropical plants many of which are lianas
- marsupial bone — epipubis.
- marsupial mole — a burrowing Australian marsupial of the genus Notoryctes, resembling a common mole in form and behavior.
- masterplanning — to construct a master plan for: to master-plan one's career.
- mauritius hemp — a tropical American plant, Furcraea foetida, having large, fleshy leaves, cultivated as a source of a hemplike fiber.
- meadow parsnip — any North American plant belonging to the genus Thaspium, of the parsley family, having yellow or purple flowers.
- megascopically — macroscopically
- megasporangium — a sporangium containing megaspores.
- mephistopheles — Medieval Demonology. one of the seven chief devils and the tempter of Faust.
- mesaticephalic — (anatomy) Having a cranium with a medium ratio of length to breadth.