16-letter words containing s, p, o, n
- boatswain's pipe — a whistle used formerly to give orders on board ship
- boston cream pie — a cake of two layers with icing and a creamy filling
- boston tea party — a raid in 1773 made by citizens of Boston (disguised as Indians) on three British ships in the harbour as a protest against taxes on tea and the monopoly given to the East India Company. The contents of several hundred chests of tea were dumped into the harbour
- boundary dispute — dispute between neighbours about the boundary between their properties
- bowman's capsule — a membranous, double-walled capsule surrounding a glomerulus of a nephron.
- branchiopneustic — breathing by means of gills, as certain aquatic insect larvae.
- bristlecone pine — a coniferous tree, Pinus aristata, of the western US, bearing cones with bristle-like prickles: one of the longest-lived trees, useful in radiocarbon dating
- bust one's chops — Usually, chops. the jaw.
- button one's lip — to stop talking: often imperative
- bypass operation — an operation involving redirection of blood flow, either to avoid a diseased blood vessel or in order to perform heart surgery
- cantor's paradox — the paradox derived from the supposition of an all-inclusive universal set, since every set has more subsets than members while every subset of such a universal set would be a member of it
- capsizing moment — the moment of an upsetting couple.
- carbonless paper — a sheet of paper impregnated with dye which transfers writing or typing onto the copying surface below without the necessity for carbon pigment
- castor-oil plant — a tall euphorbiaceous Indian plant, Ricinus communis, cultivated in tropical regions for ornament and for its poisonous seeds, from which castor oil is extracted
- chattel personal — an item of movable personal property, such as furniture, domestic animals, etc
- checking deposit — a deposit on which cheques may be drawn
- chemical weapons — toxic chemicals used as weapons
- chinese pavilion — crescent (def 6).
- chinese primrose — any plant of the genus Primula, as P. vulgaris (English primrose) of Europe, having yellow flowers, or P. sinensis (Chinese primrose) of China, having flowers in a variety of colors. Compare primrose family.
- chinese-pavilion — a shape resembling a segment of a ring tapering to points at the ends.
- chipping sparrow — a common North American sparrow, Spizella passerina, having brown-and-grey plumage and a white eye stripe
- chondrodysplasia — (medicine) A genetic disorder characterized by short-limbed dwarfism.
- chymotrypsinogen — the inactive precursor of chymotrypsin
- circumscriptions — Plural form of circumscription.
- closed-captioned — (of a video recording) having subtitles which appear on screen only if the cassette is played through a special decoder
- colorado springs — a city and resort in central Colorado. Pop: 370 448 (2003 est)
- commissionership — The role or office of commissioner.
- common spoonbill — a wading bird of warm regions, Platalea leucorodia, having a long horizontally flattened bill: family Threskiornithidae, order Ciconiiformes
- community spirit — willingness and desire to participate in activities that promote a community
- company of jesus — former name of the Society of Jesus.
- compartmentalise — to divide into categories or compartments.
- complex analysis — the branch of mathematics dealing with analytic functions of a complex variable.
- complex sentence — a sentence containing at least one main clause and one subordinate clause
- complicitousness — (rare, possibly nonstandard) Complicity.
- compliments slip — a slip of paper sent with a parcel that identifies the sender and expresses compliments
- composite motion — a motion in a deliberative body that combines elements of several related motions
- composite number — a positive integer that can be factorized into two or more other positive integers
- compositionality — The property of being compositional.
- compression wave — a shock wave that compresses the medium through which it is transmitted.
- compromise joint — a joint for linking together rails having different sections.
- computer science — the study of computers and their application
- conspicuity tape — a highly reflective strip or tape used on a vehicle, clothing, etc., to make it more visible in low light.
- conspiratorially — the act of conspiring.
- constant mapping — (networking) A precursor to ARP used by some TCP software in which the destination Ethernet address is constructed from the top 24 bits of the source Ethernet address followed by the low 24 bits of the (class A) destination Internet address. For this scheme the top 24 bits of the Ethernet address must be the same on all hosts on the network.
- constructed type — (types) A type formed by applying some type constructor function to one or more other types. The usual constructions are functions: t1 -> t2, products: (t1, t2), sums: t1 + t2 and lifting: lift(t1). (In LaTeX, the lifted type is written with a subscript \perp). See also algebraic data type, primitive type.
- consumption weed — groundsel tree.
- contemporariness — existing, occurring, or living at the same time; belonging to the same time: Newton's discovery of the calculus was contemporary with that of Leibniz.
- contemptibleness — The state or quality of being contemptible.
- contemptuousness — showing or expressing contempt or disdain; scornful; disrespectful.
- conversation pit — a usually sunken portion of a room or living area with chairs, sofas, etc., often grouped around a fireplace, where people can gather to talk.