17-letter words starting with s
- sentimental value — personal, emotional significance
- separating funnel — a large funnel having a tap in its output tube, used to separate immiscible liquids
- separation center — a place at which military personnel are processed for release from active service.
- separation energy — binding energy (def 1).
- september weather — weather characteristic of the month of September, esp in being unpredictable as summer is ending and autumn is beginning
- septicemic plague — an especially dangerous form of plague in which the infecting organisms invade the bloodstream. Compare plague (def 2).
- sequential access — of or relating to a storage medium, as magnetic tape, in which records must be accessed by reading or writing from the beginning of the file.
- sequential-access — of or relating to a storage medium, as magnetic tape, in which records must be accessed by reading or writing from the beginning of the file.
- serendipity berry — miracle fruit (def 2).
- series connection — a circuit in which positive and negative cells are connected, thus increasing voltage
- servient tenement — land subject to an easement or servitude.
- set on a pedestal — an architectural support for a column, statue, vase, or the like.
- set one's cap for — a close-fitting covering for the head, usually of soft supple material and having no visor or brim.
- set one's hand to — to sign (a document)
- set one's mind on — to be determined on or determinedly desirous of
- set one's seal on — to mark with one's sign or seal
- set one's seal to — to mark with one's seal
- settlement houses — the act or state of settling or the state of being settled.
- settlement option — any of the options, other than immediate payment in a lump sum, by which the policyholder or beneficiary may choose to have the benefits of a policy paid.
- settlement worker — a person who works with underprivileged people in a settlement house.
- seven deadly sins — Christianity: worst vices
- seventh amendment — an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights, guaranteeing trial by jury.
- severance package — an amount of compensation paid by an organization to an employee who leaves because, through no fault of their own, the job to which they were appointed ceases to exist, as during rationalization, and no comparable job is available to them
- sexual dimorphism — the condition in which the males and females in a species are morphologically different, as with many birds.
- sexual generation — the gametophyte generation in the alternation of generations in plants that produces a zygote from male and female gametes.
- sexual harassment — unwelcome sexual advances made by an employer or superior, especially when compliance is made a condition of continued employment or advancement.
- sexual preference — Someone's sexual preference is the same as their sexual orientation.
- shake one's booty — to dance
- share certificate — a certificate of deposit issued by a credit union.
- sheepswool sponge — wool sponge.
- sheltered housing — accommodation designed esp for the elderly or infirm consisting of a group of individual premises, often with some shared facilities and a caretaker
- shepherd's needle — a European umbelliferous plant, Scandix pectenveneris, with long needle-like fruits
- shetland pullover — a thick woollen sweater made from Shetland wool
- shetland sheepdog — one of a breed of small sheepdogs resembling a miniature collie, raised originally in the Shetland Islands.
- shipping articles — articles of agreement.
- shipping industry — the industry concerned with transporting freight, esp by ship
- shirt-tail cousin — a distant cousin
- shit on a shingle — creamed chipped beef or ground beef in a sauce, served on toast.
- shoestring tackle — a tackle made around the ankles of the ball carrier.
- shoot one's cuffs — to expose one's shirt cuffs beyond the coat sleeves
- shooting incident — an incident involving guns
- shooting practice — practice in shooting for soldiers or other people who shoot guns
- shopping bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- shopping precinct — pedestrian area with shops
- shopping-bag lady — bag lady (def 1).
- short short story — a very short piece of prose fiction, much more condensed than the average short story.
- short-term memory — information retained in the brain and retrievable from it over a brief span of time (contrasted with long-term memory).
- shortcrust pastry — a basic type of pastry that is made with half the quantity of fat to flour, and has a crisp but crumbly texture
- shorten the reins — to take up the reins so that the distance between hand and bit is lessened, in order that the horse may be more collected
- shorter catechism — one of the two catechisms established by the Westminster Assembly in 1647, used chiefly in Presbyterian churches.