16-letter words containing s, u
- october surprise — a major event, occurring shortly before a presidential election, which influences the result
- off-the-shoulder — not covering the shoulder
- oligonucleotides — Plural form of oligonucleotide.
- on your doorstep — If a place is on your doorstep, it is very near to where you live. If something happens on your doorstep, it happens very close to where you live.
- one's cup of tea — the dried and prepared leaves of a shrub, Camellia sinensis, from which a somewhat bitter, aromatic beverage is prepared by infusion in hot water.
- online thesaurus — a thesaurus or dictionary of words with the same or nearly the same meanings, or synonyms, and their opposites, or antonyms, such as Thesaurus.com, available on the Internet or the World Wide Web, accessed through a web browser, and used by entering a query term into a search box on the site. An online thesaurus provides immediate electronic access to lists of alternate terms for the queried word, covering its various shades of meaning: This online thesaurus showed me that smart, as an adjective, not only means intelligent, but also stylish, or lively, and gave long lists of other words for each meaning.
- opportunity cost — the money or other benefits lost when pursuing a particular course of action instead of a mutually-exclusive alternative: The company cannot afford the opportunity cost attached to policy decisions made by the current CEO.
- opportunity shop — a shop selling second-hand goods for charitable funds
- optical illusion — something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality.
- organophosphorus — Denoting synthetic organic compounds containing phosphorus, especially pesticides and nerve gases of this kind.
- orthodox judaism — Judaism as observed by Orthodox Jews.
- orthodoxy sunday — a solemn festival held on the first Sunday of Lent (Orthodoxy Sunday) commemorating the restoration of the use of icons in the church (a.d. 842) and the triumph over all heresies.
- osculating plane — the plane containing the circle of curvature of a point on a given curve.
- osmium tetroxide — a crystalline or amorphous, colorless, poisonous compound, OsO 4 , soluble in water, alcohol, and ether: used for microscopic staining, in photography, and as a catalyst in organic synthesis.
- osmotic pressure — the force that a dissolved substance exerts on a semipermeable membrane, through which it cannot penetrate, when separated by it from pure solvent.
- ostentatiousness — characterized by or given to pretentious or conspicuous show in an attempt to impress others: an ostentatious dresser.
- out of the woods — the hard, fibrous substance composing most of the stem and branches of a tree or shrub, and lying beneath the bark; the xylem.
- out on one's ear — dismissed unceremoniously
- outside director — a director of a company who is not employed by that company but is often employed by a holding or associated company
- outsmart oneself — to have one's efforts at cunning or cleverness result in one's own disadvantage
- over-consumption — the act of consuming, as by use, decay, or destruction.
- over-nourishment — something that nourishes; food, nutriment, or sustenance.
- over-speculation — the contemplation or consideration of some subject: to engage in speculation on humanity's ultimate destiny.
- overcautiousness — the quality or state of being too cautious, wary, or careful
- overenthusiastic — full of or characterized by enthusiasm; ardent: He seems very enthusiastic about his role in the play.
- overnumerousness — very many; being or existing in great quantity: numerous visits; numerous fish.
- oversubscription — to subscribe for more of than is available, expected, or required: The charity drive was oversubscribed by several thousand dollars.
- pacific sturgeon — a dark gray sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus, inhabiting marine and fresh waters along the northwestern coast of North America, valued as a food and sport fish.
- padded shoulders — (on a garment) shoulders lined, stuffed, or filled out with soft material, esp in order to give them a higher or wider shape
- paediatric nurse — a nurse who specializes in the care of children
- paint-by-numbers — formulaic; showing no original thought or creativity
- pairs tournament — an event in a sport such as tennis or darts open to pairs of competitors
- palmer peninsula — former name of Antarctic Peninsula.
- panel discussion — a formal discussion before an audience for which the topic, speakers, etc., have been selected in advance.
- papillary muscle — one of the small bundles of muscles attached to the ventricle walls and to the chordae tendineae that tighten these tendons during ventricular contraction.
- parasol mushroom — a common edible field mushroom, Macrolepiota (Lepiota) procera, having a light-brown, scaly cap.
- paratuberculosis — Johne's disease.
- parkerhouse roll — a yeast roll shaped by folding over a flat, round piece of buttered dough
- partial pressure — the pressure that a gas in a mixture of gases would exert if it occupied the same volume as the mixture at the same temperature.
- passive immunity — immunity resulting from the injection of antibodies or sensitized lymphocytes from another organism or, in infants, from the transfer of antibodies through the placenta or from colostrum.
- paterson's curse — a purple-flowered noxious plant, Echium plantagineum, a close relative of viper's bugloss, naturalized in Australia and NZ where its harmfulness to livestock has prompted attempts to limit its spread
- paulinus of nola — Saint. ?353–431 ad, Roman consul and Christian poet; bishop of Nola (409–431). Feast day: June 22
- pay-as-you-throw — denoting a system for waste collection in which households are charged according to the amount of refuse they leave
- peninsular state — Florida (used as a nickname).
- pentothal sodium — thiopental sodium
- people smuggling — People smuggling or people trafficking is the practice of bringing immigrants into a country illegally.
- people's commune — a usually rural, Communist Chinese social and administrative unit of from 2000 to 4000 families combined for collective farming, fishing, mining, or industrial projects.
- percussion drill — a drill that is operated by percussion
- permaculturalist — a system of cultivation intended to maintain permanent agriculture or horticulture by relying on renewable resources and a self-sustaining ecosystem.
- person of colour — a person who is not White