12-letter words containing u, n, s
- sinking fund — a fund to extinguish an indebtedness, usually a bond issue.
- sinus iridum — (Bay of Rainbows) a semicircular dark plain in the second quadrant of the face of the moon.
- sinusoidally — Mathematics. of or relating to a sinusoid.
- sitting bull — 1834–90, American Indian warrior: leader of the Hunkpapa; victor at Little Bighorn, 1876.
- sitting duck — a helpless or easy target or victim: a sitting duck for shady financial schemes.
- situationism — the theory that behavior is chiefly response to immediate situations.
- situationist — the theory that behavior is chiefly response to immediate situations.
- six counties — the historic counties of Northern Ireland, which no longer have a local government function
- sixth column — the persons residing in a country at war who are devoted to aiding the fifth column in its activities, especially by lowering morale, spreading rumors, etc.
- skating turn — a turn made by someone on roller or ice skates
- slaughterman — a person employed to kill animals in a slaughterhouse
- sleep around — to take the rest afforded by a suspension of voluntary bodily functions and the natural suspension, complete or partial, of consciousness; cease being awake.
- sliding rule — (formerly) a slide rule.
- slopping out — In prisons where prisoners have to use buckets as toilets, slopping out is the practice in which they empty the buckets.
- slothfulness — sluggardly; indolent; lazy.
- slow neutron — a neutron with low kinetic energy, especially one slowed by the moderator in a nuclear reactor.
- slow-burning — (of combustible material) burning relatively slowly
- slubberingly — in a slubbering or slovenly manner
- slumberingly — in a slumbering manner
- slumpflation — a situation in which economic depression is combined with increasing inflation
- smooth hound — a smooth dogfish, especially Mustelus mustelus, inhabiting waters along the coast of Europe.
- snatch squad — a squad of soldiers or police trained to deal with demonstrations by picking out and arresting the alleged ringleaders
- sneak out of — leave secretly
- sniff around — dog: try to pick up scent
- snout beetle — weevil (def 1).
- snow bunting — a bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis, of the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere having white plumage.
- snow pudding — a pudding, prepared by folding egg whites into a lemon gelatin mixture.
- snowed under — If you say that you are snowed under, you are emphasizing that you have a lot of work or other things to deal with.
- sofa surfing — (of a homeless person) the practice of staying temporarily with various friends and relatives while attempting to find permanent accommodation
- solifluction — creep (def 22a).
- solitudinous — the state of being or living alone; seclusion: to enjoy one's solitude.
- solution set — the roots or values satisfying a given equation or inequality, or a set of simultaneous equations or inequalities
- somnambulant — to walk during sleep; sleepwalk.
- somnambulate — to walk during sleep; sleepwalk.
- somnambulism — sleepwalking.
- somnambulist — sleepwalking.
- somniloquism — sleep-talking
- somniloquize — to talk in one's sleep
- son of a gun — a rogue; rascal; scoundrel: That son of a gun still owes me $20.
- sonorousness — giving out or capable of giving out a sound, especially a deep, resonant sound, as a thing or place: a sonorous cavern.
- sound camera — a motion-picture camera that is capable of photographing silently at the normal speed of 24 fps and operating in synchronization with separate audio recording equipment.
- sound change — any phonetic or phonological change in spoken language, for example the replacement of one speech sound with another, or the loss of a particular sound
- sound effect — any sound, other than music or speech, artificially reproduced to create an effect in a dramatic presentation, as the sound of a storm or a creaking door.
- sound system — equipment for playing music
- sounion head — the tip of the Attica peninsula, E central Greece: site of ancient temple ruins.
- soup kitchen — a place where food, usually soup, is served at little or no charge to the needy.
- soup to nuts — (of a meal) complete or impressive in number of courses.
- soup-to-nuts — (of a meal) complete or impressive in number of courses.
- south island — the largest island of New Zealand. 58,093 sq. mi. (150,460 sq. km).
- south korean — a country in E Asia: formed 1948 after the division of the former country of Korea at 38° N. 36,600 sq. mi. (94,795 sq. km). Capital: Seoul. Compare Korea.