17-letter words starting with s
- schematic capture — The process of entering the logical design of an electronic circuit into a CAE system by creating a schematic representation of components and interconnections.
- scheme repository — A collection of free Scheme programs.
- schiff-s--reagent — a solution of rosaniline and sulfurous acid in water, used to test for the presence of aldehydes.
- schizophrenogenic — causative of schizophrenia.
- schmidt telescope — a wide-angle reflecting telescope used primarily for astronomical photography, in which spherical aberration and coma are reduced to a minimum by means of a spherical mirror with a corrector plate near its focus.
- school attendance — a measure of the number of children who attend school and the amount of time they are present
- school counsellor — a counsellor who is based in a school
- school playground — school's outdoor recreation area
- schwedler's maple — a variety of the Norway maple, Acer platanoides schwedleri, producing red leaves that subsequently turn green.
- scientific method — a method of research in which a problem is identified, relevant data are gathered, a hypothesis is formulated from these data, and the hypothesis is empirically tested.
- scientific theory — a coherent group of propositions formulated to explain a group of facts or phenomena in the natural world and repeatedly confirmed through experiment or observation: the scientific theory of evolution.
- scrape the barrel — to be forced to use one's last and weakest resource
- scratch 'n' sniff — denoting a product that releases a smell when scratched
- screaming meemies — extreme nervous tension
- screaming-meemies — extreme nervousness; hysteria (usually preceded by the).
- scrophulariaceous — belonging to the Scrophulariaceae, the figwort family of plants.
- sea grant college — a college or university doing research on marine resources under the U.S. National Sea Grant College and Program Act of 1966.
- sea-island cotton — a long-staple cotton, Gossypium barbadense, raised originally in the Sea Islands and now grown chiefly in the West Indies.
- seaman apprentice — a noncommissioned enlisted person ranking above seaman recruit and below seaman. Abbreviation: SA.
- search and rescue — Search and rescue operations involve looking for people who are lost or in danger, for example, after a war or a natural disaster, and bringing them back safely.
- seat-of-the-pants — using or based on experience, instinct, or guesswork: a seat-of-the-pants management style.
- seaweed marquetry — marquetry having the form of symmetrical, foliate scrolls, as on English cabinetwork of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
- second balkan war — Balkan War (def 2).
- second derivative — the derivative of the derivative of a function: Acceleration is the second derivative of distance with respect to time.
- second generation — being the second generation of a family to be born in a particular country: the oldest son of second-generation Americans.
- second lieutenant — an Army, Air Force, or Marine officer of the lowest commissioned rank. Compare ensign (def 4).
- second-generation — being the second generation of a family to be born in a particular country: the oldest son of second-generation Americans.
- second-hand smoke — from sb else's cigarette
- second-in-command — A second-in-command is someone who is next in rank to the leader of a group, and who has authority to give orders when the leader is not there.
- secondary battery — storage battery.
- secondary boycott — a boycott by union members against their employer in order to induce the employer to bring pressure on another company involved in a labor dispute with the union.
- secondary contact — communication or relationship between people characterized by impersonal and detached interest on the part of those involved.
- secondary glazing — insulation by means of a second pane of glass, or a sheet of plastic: a simple form of double glazing
- secondary process — the conscious mental activity and logical thinking controlled by the ego and influenced by environmental demands.
- secondary product — a product that is not the main product of an industry; a by-product
- secondary quality — one of the qualities attributed by the mind to an object perceived, such as color, temperature, or taste.
- secondary rainbow — a faint rainbow formed by light rays that undergo two internal reflections in drops of rain, appearing above the primary rainbow and having its colors in the opposite order.
- secondary sealing — Secondary sealing is a system of wiper seals used in floating roof tanks.
- secondary winding — A secondary winding is the winding of a transformer that receives its energy by electromagnetic induction from the primary winding.
- secretary-general — the head or chief administrative officer of a secretariat.
- securities dealer — a person who buys and sells securities
- securities market — the market in stocks, shares, bonds and other securities
- see someone right — to ensure fair treatment of (someone)
- seine-saint-denis — a department of N central France, in Île-de-France region. Capital: Bobigny. Pop: 1 396 122 (2003 est). Area: 236 sq km (92 sq miles)
- selective amnesia — the deliberate forgetting of something
- selective service — compulsory military service.
- self-acknowledged — widely recognized; generally accepted: an acknowledged authority on Chinese art.
- self-administered — to manage (affairs, a government, etc.); have executive charge of: to administer the law.
- self-aggrandizing — increase of one's own power, wealth, etc., usually aggressively.
- self-annihilation — self-destruction; suicide.