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Words that start with S

Six slippery snakes sailed southward on a silver ship to Sydney.

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S is for Spin

Something is spinning if it is moving around and around a central point. Windmills spin, so do spinning tops. If you throw a ball the right way, it will spin as it flies. Skaters and ballerinas sometimes spin while they are performing.
Spinning is also a way to turn raw materials like sheep's wool and cotton into fibers suitable for making into cloth.

S is for Spinach

Spinach is an edible green leafy plant that grows to about a foot tall. It is from Nepal and southeast Asia. Spinach can survive very severe frosts.
It is usually eaten cooked, on its own or with other food. Spinach goes well with cheese and garlic.

S is for Spine

Your spine, or vertebral column is the row of bones that runs along the centre of your back. Your spine is made of lots of small bones called vertebra.

S is for Spinifex

Spinifex is the common name for a type of tussocky grass that grows in arid regions of Australia. It has very sharp leaves.
As spinifex ages it grows outwards and dies in the centre and will form a circle that can be several metres across.
A spinning top is a child's toy that spins on a point. Different kinds of tops have different ways to start them spinning. Some are started by a cord, some by twisting them with your fingers, and more modern ones can have sophisticated mechanical means to get them spinning.
A spinning wheel is a device that is used to spin fibres like animal hair or linen into thread or yarn. Spinning wheels of various designs have been in use for hundreds of years. Spinning wheels are usually powered by a foot treadle or turning them by hand.
Today, yarn is made on a much larger scale by machines, powered by motors.

S is for Spinster

A spinster is a woman who is not married or in any kind of relationship.
The term is usually used to describe an older unmarried woman, while bachelor can be used to describe a man of any age.

S is for Spiral

A spiral is a curve that you make by drawing around a central dot while at the same time getting further and further away from the dot.

S is for Spire

A spire is a tall, pointed structure usually found as a type of roof on the tallest part of a grand building. Spires are common on churches and cathedrals.
A spirit level, or bubble level is a tool that is used to tell if something is horizontal or vertical. Spirit levels have one or more small tubes filled with liquid in them, with a bubble of air in the liquid. When the bubble is in the centre of the liquid, the spirit level is straight.

S is for Splash

A splash happens when something hits water fast. You make a big splash if you jump into a swimming pool. The splash in the picture is from someone throwing stones into a pond.

S is for Spleen

The spleen is an organ located inside the abdomen. The spleen is part of the immune system, and its job is to filter old and abnormal blood cells from the blood stream.

S is for Splinter

A splinter is a tiny piece of wood that is sharp at one end. You can get splinters in your hands if you work with splintery wood without gloves on.

S is for Split

You split something by hitting it so that it breaks lengthways along its grain. The rock in the picture has been split down the middle.
Large blocks of wood are usually split with an axe to turn them into firewood.
Spoke is a singular of spokes, which form part of a wheel.

S is for Spokes

Spokes are the thin parts of a wheel that connect the center of the wheel to the edges. Not all wheels have spokes, some are solid. Almost all kinds of bicycle wheels have spokes. Spoked wheels are lighter than solid wheels.

S is for Sponge

A modern day sponge is made from a kind of plastic that has been filled with bubbles while it is still liquid. The result is that sponges are soft and full of small holes. Sponges are great for cleaning things with, and because of the holes they are very good at soaking up spilled liquids.
Before modern sponges were invented, people used to use sea sponge skeletons as cleaning sponges.

S is for Spool

A spool is a cylinder-shaped object that you wrap something around. Most spools are used to store thread or cables.

S is for Spoon

A spoon is used for picking up food that isn't very hard or is in very small pieces, such as cereal, soup or stew. A very big spoon for serving soup is called a ladle.

S is for Spore

Spores are the way some bacteria, fungi, ferns and algae reproduce. One spore can grow into a whole new organism.
Spores are similar to seeds but they only need one parent not a male and a female parent like is needed to make seeds. Spores are also much smaller than seeds and do not have food reserves inside them.