| strake | n. | continuous line of planking from bow to stern in a ship’s hull | nautical | |
| stramineous | adj. | straw-like | ||
| strangury | n. | painful and frequent urge to urinate, even when bladder is empty | ||
| stratosphere | n. | second layer of the earth’s atmosphere, in which temperature increases in stratified zones as altitude increases | ||
| stravaig | v. | to stroll, to walk about with no particular purpose | Scots | |
| straw boss | n. | member of work crew who acts as boss | ||
| strictly from hunger | adj. | terrible, really bad, of poor quality; only acceptable faute de mieux, of a poor choice driven by imperious necessity | slang | |
| stridor | n. | (pathology) harsh respiratory noise indicative of obstruction in breathing passages | ||
| stridulate | v. | to make a shrill grating, chirping, squeaking or similar sound by rubbing together body parts (e.g., as a cricket does) | ||
| stridulous | adj. | harsh, annoyingly shrill; of or related to stridor | ||
| strigil | n. | implement with curved blade used for scraping sweat and oil off the body after hot bath | ||
| strigoi | n. | undead spirits risen from the grave in Romanian folklore | ||
| stringhalt | n. | sudden equine lameness in rear legs of various causes | ||
| stroppy | adj. | argumentative, easily annoyed | British | |
| stube | n. | establishment serving drinks, primarily beer, and light food | ||
| stumer | n. | fraud; bad check; failure | slang | |
| stushie | n. | hubbub, fracas | Scots | |
| style it out | v. | to act in a confident manner in an embarrassing or uncomfortable situation so as to cause others to ignore one’s difficulty | slang | |
| stylobate | n. | top platform (usu. of three) of the crepidoma, foundation upon which main structure is built; course of masonry upon which columns are placed | architecture | |
| suasion | n. | act of persuading or influencing | ||
| sub judice | adv. | under judicial consideration | Latin | |
| sub verbo | prep. | “under the word”, citation form for entry in dictionary or encyclopedia (also abbreviated as s.v.) | Latin | |
| subacid | adj. | slightly sour; somewhat sharp or biting in tone or attitude | ||
| subduction | n. | movement of tectonic plate below and aside under the force of another crustal plate | ||
| subfusc | adj. | dusky, somber | ||
| subjacent | adj. | at a lower level, underlying, situated beneath something else | ||
| sublunary | adj. | worldly, earthly, terrestrial | ||
| subnivean | adj. | occurring beneath a layer of snow, subnival | ||
| subparallel | adj. | almost but not quite parallel | ||
| subpoena duces tecum | n. | writ commanding person to produce documents to the court | Latin | |
| subreption | n. | deceptive representation; an inference from such misrepresentation | ||
| subrident | adj. | with or accompanied by a smile | ||
| subvention | n. | grant of money for aid, support, or relief; honorarium paid to supposedly amateur athlete | ||
| succinct | adj. | terse | ||
| succory | n. | chicory | ||
| sucker | n. | inhabitant of Illinois | obsolete | |
| sucket | n. | sweet made from candied fruit | ||
| sucket fork | n. | eating utensil with spoon bowl on one end of the stem and two- or three-tined fork on the other, used for eating sweetmeats | ||
| sudarium | n. | cloth for wiping the face, handkerchief; (specifically) the cloth used by Saint Veronica to wipe the face of Jesus | ||
| sudorific | adj. | related to or causing sweat; drug which causes perspiration | ||
| sudoriparous | adj. | secreting sweat | ||
| suffragan | n. | subordinate bishop, or bishop of diocese other than the metropolitan diocese | ||
| suffrage | n. | vote in favor of a proposition or candidate | ||
| sulky | n. | light two-wheel cart with having only a seat for the driver | ||
| sultry | adj. | oppressively hot and humid, sweltering; arousing sexual desire | ||
| sumpter | n. | pack animal | ||
| sunder | v. | to split or cleave | ||
| super | n. | supernumerary | informal | |
| supercargo | n. | merchant ship’s officer in charge of the cargo and its sale | ||
| supercilious | adj. | contemptuously superior or disdainful |
