17-letter words containing u, p, s, a, l
- pyroligneous acid — a yellowish, acidic, water-soluble liquid, containing about 10 percent acetic acid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood: used for smoking meats.
- pyrosulfuric acid — a strong, crystalline acid, H2S2O7, prepared commercially as a heavy, oily, fuming liquid: used in making explosives and dyes, as a sulfating agent, etc.
- quality newspaper — a more serious newspaper which gives detailed accounts of world events, as well as reports on business, culture, and society
- quasiexperimental — (medicine) Describing a trial in which the assignment to a group is based upon an experimental condition.
- refuse a proposal — If an insurer refuses a proposal, it does not agree to underwrite a risk proposed by a potential client.
- res ipsa loquitur — the rule that an injury is due to the defendant's negligence when that which caused it was under his or her control or management and the injury would not have happened had proper management been observed.
- russell's paradox — a paradox of set theory in which an object is defined in terms of a class of objects that contains the object being defined, resulting in a logical contradiction.
- school playground — school's outdoor recreation area
- scrophulariaceous — belonging to the Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family of plants.
- self-perpetuating — continuing oneself in office, rank, etc., beyond the normal limit.
- self-purification — a natural process of purifying, as the ability of a body of water to rid itself of pollutants.
- separating funnel — a large funnel having a tap in its output tube, used to separate immiscible liquids
- septicemic plague — an especially dangerous form of plague in which the infecting organisms invade the bloodstream. Compare plague (def 2).
- sexual dimorphism — the condition in which the males and females in a species are morphologically different, as with many birds.
- sexual preference — Someone's sexual preference is the same as their sexual orientation.
- shetland pullover — a thick woollen sweater made from Shetland wool
- shuttle diplomacy — diplomatic negotiations carried out by a mediator who travels back and forth between the negotiating parties.
- sleeping quarters — the rooms where people sleep in a large building or complex or on a boat etc
- sliding vane pump — A sliding vane pump is a pump in which the vanes (=flat parts) are the main sealing element between the suction and discharge areas.
- sodium-vapor lamp — an electric lamp in which sodium vapor is activated by current passing between two electrodes, producing a yellow, glareless light: used on streets and highways.
- spanish influenza — the pandemic respiratory infection that spread throughout the world during 1917–18.
- spatial frequency — the measure of fine detail in an optical image in terms of cycles per millimetre
- spatial summation — the act or process of summing.
- special education — education that is modified or particularized for those with singular needs, as disabled or maladjusted people, slow learners, or gifted children.
- spectrum analyser — an instrument that splits an input waveform into its frequency components, which are then displayed
- spectrum analysis — the determination of the constitution or condition of bodies and substances by means of the spectra they produce.
- spiritual bouquet — the spiritual presentation of a good work to another person.
- spiritual healing — faith healing
- spot-illustration — a rounded mark or stain made by foreign matter, as mud, blood, paint, ink, etc.; a blot or speck.
- spruce gall aphid — any of various homopterous insects of the family Adelgidae, as Adelges abietis (spruce gall aphid) and Pineus pinifoliae (pine leaf aphid) that feed and form galls on conifers.
- strike-slip fault — a geological fault on which the movement is along the strike of the fault
- sulfurated potash — a yellowish-brown mixture consisting mainly of potassium polysulfides and potassium thiosulfate, used in treating mange.
- sunday supplement — a special section incorporated in the Sunday editions of many newspapers, often containing features on books, celebrities, home entertainment, gardening, and the like.
- super-nationalism — an extreme or fanatical loyalty or devotion to a nation.
- super-terrestrial — pertaining to, consisting of, or representing the earth as distinct from other planets.
- superalimentation — nourishment; nutrition.
- supercolumniation — the placing of one order of columns above another.
- supply and demand — economy: basic market theory
- supply management — business purchasing
- supra-nationalism — outside or beyond the authority of one national government, as a project or policy that is planned and controlled by a group of nations.
- supralapsarianism — the doctrine that the decree of election preceded human creation and the Fall (opposed to infralapsarianism).
- tactile corpuscle — an oval sense organ made of flattened cells and encapsulated nerve endings, occurring in hairless skin, as the tips of the fingers and toes, and functioning as a touch receptor.
- take upon oneself — to take the responsibility for; accept as a charge
- tapestry brussels — a carpet made with three-ply or four-ply worsted yarn drawn up in uncut loops to form a pattern over the entire surface (body Brussels) or made of worsted or woolen yarns on which a pattern is printed (tapestry Brussels)
- technical support — an advising and troubleshooting service provided by a manufacturer, typically a software or hardware developer, to its customers, often online or on the telephone.
- the popular press — cheap newspapers with a mass circulation; the tabloid press
- thiopental sodium — a barbiturate, C 11 H 18 N 2 NaO 2 S, used as an anesthetic in surgery and, in psychiatry, for narcoanalysis and to stimulate recall of past events.
- thousandths-place — last in order of a series of a thousand.
- tolpuddle martyrs — six farm workers sentenced to transportation for seven years in 1834 for administering an unlawful oath to form a trade union in the village of Tolpuddle, Dorset
- ultrametamorphism — metamorphism during which the temperature of a rock exceeds its melting point.