16-letter words containing v, i, s, c
- silver-lace vine — a hardy, twining, woody plant, Polygonum auberti, of the buckwheat family, native to western China and Tibet, having greenish-white, fragrant flowers in drooping clusters.
- social evolution — the gradual development of society and social forms, institutions, etc., usually through a series of peaceful stages. Compare revolution (def 2).
- 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.
- specific gravity — the ratio of the density of any substance to the density of some other substance taken as standard, water being the standard for liquids and solids, and hydrogen or air being the standard for gases.
- splanchnic nerve — Anatomy. any of several nerves to the viscera and blood vessels of the chest and pelvic areas.
- state's evidence — evidence given by an accomplice in a crime who becomes a voluntary witness against the other defendants: The defendants' case was lost when one of them turned state's evidence.
- steam locomotive — a locomotive moved by steam power generated in its own boiler: still in commercial use in nations that have not yet converted entirely to diesel and electric locomotives.
- superserviceable — overly disposed to be of service; officious.
- surveyor's chain — a series of objects connected one after the other, usually in the form of a series of metal rings passing through one another, used either for various purposes requiring a flexible tie with high tensile strength, as for hauling, supporting, or confining, or in various ornamental and decorative forms.
- terms of service — the contract for acceptable use of digital media as defined by the developer. Abbreviation: TOS, ToS.
- thick as thieves — very close friends
- thieves' kitchen — a thieves' hideout
- travel insurance — insurance which covers losses that may be incurred while travelling, such as medical expenses, flight cancellations, lost luggage, etc
- unattractiveness — the condition of not appealing to the senses or mind through beauty, form, character, etc
- unconversational — of, relating to, or characteristic of conversation: a conversational tone of voice.
- united provinces — (used with a singular or plural verb) former name of Uttar Pradesh.
- vancouver island — an island of SW Canada, off the SW coast of British Columbia: separated from the Canadian mainland by the Strait of Georgia and Queen Charlotte Sound, and from the US mainland by Juan de Fuca Strait; the largest island off the W coast of North America. Chief town: Victoria. Pop: 706 243 (2001). Area: 32 137 sq km (12 408 sq miles)
- vapor combustion — Vapor combustion is a closed burn system used for treating liquid waste which contains volatile organic compounds.
- vascular cambium — cambium.
- vasoconstriction — constriction of the blood vessels, as by the action of a nerve.
- vasoconstrictive — causing vasoconstriction.
- vegetable slicer — a device with a sharp blade for slicing vegetables finely;
- velcro fastening — a fastening made of Velcro
- verneuil process — a process for making synthetic rubies, sapphires, spinels, etc., by the fusion at high temperatures of powdered compounds.
- verruca vulgaris — the common wart.
- vertical tasting — a tasting of different vintages of one particular wine.
- vestibule school — a school in an industrial establishment where new employees are given specific training in the jobs they are to perform.
- viceregal assent — the formal signing of an act of parliament by a governor general, by which it becomes law
- victimless crime — a legal offense, as prostitution or gambling, to which all participating parties have consented.
- victorian values — qualities considered to characterize the Victorian period, including enterprise and initiative and the importance of the family
- videodisc player — an electronic device for playing videodiscs through a television set.
- vienna secession — thea Viennese movement of the late 19th and early 20th cent. in the arts and architecture, that rejected prevailing academic styles in favor of these of art nouveau
- vincent's angina — a disease characterized by ulceration of the mucosa of the tonsils, pharynx, and mouth, by the presence of abundant bacilli and spirochetes, and by the development of a membrane.
- virginia cowslip — a perennial woodland plant (Mertensia virginica) of the borage family, native to E North America and having clusters of blue or purple, bell-shaped flowers
- visible spectrum — the range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation that is normally visible, from 380 to 760 nm.
- visiting teacher — a teacher in a public school system, assigned to give home instruction to sick or disabled pupils.
- visual interface — (tool, text) (vi) /V-I/, /vi:/, *never* /siks/ A screen editor crufted together by Bill Joy for an early BSD release. vi became the de facto standard Unix editor and a nearly undisputed hacker favourite outside of MIT until the rise of Emacs after about 1984. It tends to frustrate new users no end, as it will neither take commands while expecting input text nor vice versa, and the default setup provides no indication of which mode the editor is in (one correspondent accordingly reports that he has often heard the editor's name pronounced /vi:l/). Nevertheless it is still widely used (about half the respondents in a 1991 Usenet poll preferred it), and even some Emacs fans resort to it as a mail editor and for small editing jobs (mainly because it starts up faster than the bulkier versions of Emacs). See holy wars.
- vital statistics — The vital statistics of a population are statistics such as the number of births, deaths, or marriages which take place in it.
- vitruvian scroll — a scroll forming a stylized wave pattern.
- welfare services — services that provide help with people's living conditions and financial problems
- west valley city — city in NC Utah, near Salt Lake City: pop. 109,000
- yeoman's service — good, useful, or workmanlike service: His trusty sword did him yeoman's service.