16-letter words containing s, p, i, l, e
- slap in the face — smack on the cheek
- sleep like a top — a toy, often inversely conical, with a point on which it is made to spin.
- sleeping draught — any drink containing a drug or agent that induces sleep
- sleeping partner — silent partner.
- slip one over on — to hoodwink or trick
- smack one's lips — If you smack your lips, you open and close your mouth noisily, especially before or after eating, to show that you are eager to eat or enjoyed eating.
- small/fine print — The small print or the fine print of something such as an advertisement or a contract consists of the technical details and legal conditions, which are often printed in much smaller letters than the rest of the text.
- soapberry family — the plant family Sapindaceae, characterized by chiefly tropical trees, shrubs, or herbaceous vines having compound leaves, clustered flowers, and berrylike, fleshy, or capsular fruit, and including the balloon vine, golden rain tree, litchi, and soapberry.
- sodium pentothal — the sodium salt of thiopental sodium.
- solar prominence — prominence (def 3).
- solid dispersion — Solid dispersion is the process of dispersing a solid through a liquid in order to increase contact.
- solid propellant — a rocket propellant in solid form, usually containing a mixture or combination of fuel and oxidizer.
- south plainfield — a city in N New Jersey.
- spanish bluebell — a bulbous plant, Endymion hispanicus, of the lily family, native to Spain and Portugal, having blue, white, or pink, bell-shaped flowers.
- spanish mackerel — an American game fish, Scomberomorus maculatus, inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean.
- spanish omelette — an omelette made by adding green peppers, onions, tomato, etc, to the eggs
- sparking voltage — the minimum voltage required to produce a spark across a given spark gap.
- speak for itself — be self-evident
- special clearing — (in Britain) the clearing of a cheque through a bank in less than the usual three days, for an additional charge
- special delivery — (in the U.S. Postal Service) delivery of mail outside the regularly scheduled hours, by a special messenger, upon the payment of an extra fee.
- special handling — (in the U.S. Postal Service) the handling of third- and fourth-class mail as first-class upon the payment of a fee.
- special interest — special-interest group (def 1).
- special pleading — Law. pleading that alleges special or new matter in avoidance of the allegations made by the opposite side.
- specific impulse — a measure, usually in seconds, of the efficiency with which a rocket engine utilizes its propellants, equal to the number of pounds of thrust produced per pound of propellant burned per second.
- spectroheliogram — a photograph of the sun made with a spectroheliograph.
- spelling mistake — error in writing a word
- spherical excess — the difference between the sum of the angles of a spherical triangle and two right angles.
- spill one's guts — the alimentary canal, especially between the pylorus and the anus, or some portion of it. Compare foregut, midgut, hindgut.
- spin the platter — a game in which one member of a group spins a platter on its edge and a designated member must catch it before it falls or pay a forfeit.
- spinone italiano — one of an Italian breed of large all-purpose hunting dogs having a short wiry coat, solid white or white with light brown or yellow patches in color.
- spiral staircase — stairs that wind round
- spiritual healer — a faith healer
- spiritual incest — marriage or a sexual relationship between persons related by spiritual affinity or with a person under a solemn vow of chastity
- splanchnic nerve — Anatomy. any of several nerves to the viscera and blood vessels of the chest and pelvic areas.
- split infinitive — an expression in which there is a word or phrase, especially an adverb or adverbial phrase, between to and its accompanying verb form in an infinitive, as in to readily understand.
- spring ephemeral — any of various woodland wildflowers that appear above ground in early spring, flower and fruit, and die in a short two-month period.
- spring snowflake — a European amaryllidaceous plant, Leucojum vernum, with white nodding bell-shaped flowers
- springer spaniel — a dog of either of two breeds of medium-sized spaniels, used for flushing and retrieving game.
- sprinkler system — apparatus for automatically extinguishing fires in a building, consisting of a system of water pipes in or below the ceilings, with valves or sprinklers usually made to open automatically at a certain temperature.
- stamp collecting — Stamp collecting is the hobby of building up a collection of stamps.
- stamp collection — the act of collecting postage stamps as a hobby
- stannic sulphide — an insoluble solid compound of tin usually existing as golden crystals or as a yellowish-brown powder: used as a pigment. Formula: SnS2
- state capitalism — a form of capitalism in which the central government controls most of the capital, industry, natural resources, etc.
- stenothermophile — a stenothermophilic bacterium.
- step out of line — to fail to conform to expected standards, attitudes, etc
- sticking plaster — an adhesive cloth or other material for covering and closing superficial wounds, holding bandages in place, etc.
- stinging capsule — a nematocyst.
- stonecrop family — the plant family Crassulaceae, characterized by succulent herbaceous plants and shrubs with simple, fleshy leaves, clusters of small flowers, and dry, dehiscent fruit, and including hen-and-chickens, houseleek, kalanchoe, live-forever, orpine, sedum, and stonecrop.
- stop-limit order — stop order.
- strange particle — any elementary particle with a strangeness quantum number other than zero.