19-letter words containing a, n, e, r
- splinterproof glass — glass that is designed not to form sharp splinters should it be shattered
- spread oneself thin — to draw, stretch, or open out, especially over a flat surface, as something rolled or folded (often followed by out).
- st. augustine grass — a low, mat-forming grass, Stenotaphrum secundatum, of the southern U.S. and tropical America, that is cultivated as a lawn grass.
- st. lawrence seaway — a series of channels, locks, and canals between Montreal and the mouth of Lake Ontario, a distance of 182 miles (293 km), enabling most deep-draft vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean, up the St. Lawrence River, to all the Great Lakes ports: developed jointly by the U.S. and Canada.
- st.-germain-en-laye — a city in N France, near Paris: royal château and forest; treaties 1570, 1632, 1679, 1919.
- staff-student ratio — the ratio of teachers to pupils or students in a school, college, or university
- stakeholder pension — In Britain, a stakeholder pension is a flexible pension scheme with low charges. Both employees and the state contribute to the scheme, which is optional, and is in addition to the basic state pension.
- standard atmosphere — an arbitrarily determined vertical distribution of atmospheric pressure, temperature, and density, assumed to have physical constants and conforming to parametric equations, used for calculations in ballistics, the design of pressure altimeters, etc.
- standing martingale — martingale (def 1).
- stanford university — (education) A University in the city of Palo Alto, California, noted for work in computing, especially artificial intelligence. See SAIL.
- stanford-binet test — a revised version of the Binet-Simon scale, prepared at Stanford University for use in the U.S.
- stationary engineer — a person who runs or is licensed to run a stationary engine.
- stationers' company — a company or guild of the city of London composed of booksellers, printers, dealers in writing materials, etc., incorporated in 1557.
- stationery cupboard — a cupboard where things like paper, pens and paper clips are kept
- step-up transformer — a device that transfers an alternating current from one circuit to one or more other circuits with an increase of voltage
- sternocleidomastoid — of, relating to, or involving the sternum, the clavicle, and the mastoid process.
- stick in one's craw — the crop of a bird or insect.
- straightforwardness — going or directed straight ahead: a straightforward gaze.
- strain at the leash — to be impatient to have freedom from restraint
- straits settlements — a former British crown colony in SE Asia: included the settlements of Singapore, Penang, Malacca, and Labuan.
- strangulated hernia — a hernia, especially of the intestine, that swells and constricts the blood supply of the herniated part, resulting in obstruction and gangrene.
- strawberry geranium — a plant, Saxifraga stolonifera (or S. sarmentosa), of the saxifrage family, native to eastern Asia, that has rounded, variegated leaves and numerous threadlike stolons and is frequently cultivated as a houseplant.
- streaming potential — the potential produced in the walls of a porous membrane or a capillary tube by forcing a liquid through it.
- strike a false note — to behave inappropriately
- structural engineer — A structural engineer is an engineer who works on large structures such as roads, bridges, and large buildings.
- subminiature camera — a very small, palm-sized still camera for taking photographs on 16-millimeter or similar film.
- subnuclear particle — any of the elementary particles, including those that do not exist in stable matter but appear as a result of high-energy collisions of other particles or nuclei.
- subsistence farming — farming whose products are intended to provide for the basic needs of the farmer, with little surplus for marketing.
- sun-and-planet gear — a planetary epicyclic gear train.
- superannuation fund — a fund used for paying pensions
- supernatural virtue — one of the three graces: faith, hope, or charity, infused into the human intellect and will by a special grace of God.
- supplementary angle — either of two angles that added together produce an angle of 180°.
- supplementary story — follow-up (def 3b).
- surplus reinsurance — Surplus reinsurance is reinsurance of amounts over a specified amount of insurance.
- suspensory ligament — any of several tissues that suspend certain organs or parts of the body, especially the transparent, delicate web of fibrous tissue that supports the crystalline lens.
- swallow one's words — to retract a statement, argument, etc, often in humiliating circumstances
- sweetheart contract — a contract made through collusion between management and labor representatives containing terms beneficial to management and detrimental to union workers.
- sweetheart neckline — a neckline on a woman's garment, as a dress, with a high back and a low-cut front with two curved edges resembling the conventionalized shape of a heart.
- synchromesh gearbox — A synchromesh gearbox is a usually manually operated transmission in which a change of gears takes place between gears that are already revolving at the same speed.
- synchronous machine — an alternating-current machine in which the average speed of normal operation is exactly proportional to the frequency of the system to which it is connected.
- take a running jump — a contemptuous expression of dismissal
- take it for granted — If you take it for granted that something is the case, you believe that it is true or you accept it as normal without thinking about it.
- take one's cue from — If you take your cue from someone or something, you do something similar in a particular situation.
- take someone's part — a portion or division of a whole that is separate or distinct; piece, fragment, fraction, or section; constituent: the rear part of the house; to glue the two parts together.
- take sth personally — If you take someone's remarks personally, you are upset because you think that they are criticizing you in particular.
- tall poppy syndrome — a tendency to disparage any person who has achieved great prominence or wealth
- talleyrand-perigord — Charles Maurice de [sharl moh-rees duh] /ʃarl moʊˈris də/ (Show IPA), Prince de Bénévent [duh bey-ney-vahn] /də beɪ neɪˈvɑ̃/ (Show IPA), 1754–1838, French statesman.
- taming of the shrew — a comedy (1594?) by Shakespeare.
- tamper-evident seal — A tamper-evident seal is a sealing device designed to reveal if the opening of a container has been interfered with.
- tarnished plant bug — a bug, Lygus lineolaris, of the family Miridae, that is a common and widely distributed pest of alfalfa and other legumes and of peach and other fruit trees.