14-letter words containing s, p, e, r
- irreplevisable — not replevisable; not capable of being replevied.
- irrespectively — without regard to something else, especially something specified; ignoring or discounting (usually followed by of): Irrespective of my wishes, I should go.
- irresponsibles — Plural form of irresponsible.
- isentropically — in an isentropic manner
- j/psi particle — the lightest of the psi particles, the first particle to be discovered that contains a charmed quark.
- japanese cedar — Japan cedar.
- japanese larch — a tree, Larix kaempferi, of Japan, having bluish-green leaves and egg-shaped cones.
- japanese paper — paper of a high rag content, used for woodcuts, engravings, etc.
- jet propulsion — the propulsion of a body by its reaction to a force ejecting a gas or a liquid from it.
- jump the shark — any of a group of elongate elasmobranch, mostly marine fishes, certain species of which are large, voracious, and sometimes dangerous to humans.
- jumping spider — any of several small, hairy spiders, of the family Salticidae, that stalk and jump upon their prey instead of snaring it in a web.
- kapellmeisters — Plural form of kapellmeister.
- kastrop-rauxel — Castrop-Rauxel.
- kentish plover — Charadrius alexandrinus, a small wading bird belonging to the plover family, breeding in the tropics and subtropics; it is white and greyish-brown, with black legs and bill
- kindred spirit — likeminded person
- 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.
- kleptoparasite — A bird, insect, or other animal that habitually robs animals of other species of food.
- know the ropes — to perceive or understand as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly and with certainty: I know the situation fully.
- l-asparaginase — an enzyme that destroys asparagine, a nonessential amino acid needed as a nutrient by rapidly growing cells: used in treating leukemia
- l-shaped curve — a curve on a graph that shows a sharp fall after which values remain low for a long period
- 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.
- laryngoscopies — Plural form of laryngoscopy.
- late-type star — any star with a surface temperature below that of the sun, of spectral type K, M, C, or S
- lawson cypress — Port Orford cedar.
- le misanthrope — a comedy (1666) by Molière.
- lease-purchase — the continuing use of property or goods under a lease for a stipulated period with option for the lessee to buy and with part of the rental charges credited toward the purchase price.
- legislatorship — The office or position of a legislator.
- leopard's-bane — any composite plant of the genus Doronicum, of Europe and Asia, having alternate, usually clasping leaves and heads of yellow flowers.
- lepidopterists — Plural form of lepidopterist.
- letters patent — legal conveyancing documents
- leukodystrophy — (medicine) Any of a group of disorders characterized by progressive degeneration of the white matter of the brain, caused by imperfect growth or development of the myelin sheath that acts as an insulator around nerve fibres.
- lexicographers — Plural form of lexicographer.
- lexicographist — (chiefly, archaic) A student specialising in the discipline of lexicography; lexicographer.
- 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
- locker-lampson — Frederick (Frederick Locker) 1821–95, English poet.
- 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.
- lords temporal — a member of the House of Lords who is not a member of the clergy.
- lugger topsail — a fore-and-aft topsail used above a lugsail.
- lz compression — Lempel-Ziv compression
- macrocephalous — Having a large head.
- madhya pradesh — a state in central India. 119,016 sq. mi. (308,252 sq. km). Capital: Bhopal.
- 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.
- magnetospheres — Plural form of magnetosphere.
- magnetospheric — Of, pertaining to, or happening within the magnetosphere.