20-letter words containing a, s, e, p
- square of opposition — a diagrammatic representation of the opposition of categorical propositions.
- st.-germain-des-pres — an area in Paris, on the Left Bank.
- staff of aesculapius — a representation of a forked staff with an entwining serpent, used as a symbol of the medical profession and as the insignia of the American Medical Association and other medical organizations. Compare caduceus (def 2).
- star spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
- star-spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
- state highway patrol — a state's road traffic police
- state representative — a person elected by a state to be a member of the House of Representatives
- ste. anne de beaupre — a village in S Quebec, in SE Canada, on the St. Lawrence, NE of Quebec: Roman Catholic shrine.
- steak and kidney pie — meat pastry
- step into the breach — If you step into the breach, you do a job or task which someone else was supposed to do or has done in the past, because they are suddenly unable to do it.
- step up to the plate — to move into batting position
- strawberry-raspberry — an arching, prickly, Japanese plant, Rubus illecebrosus, of the rose family, having an herbaceous stem, white, fragrant flowers, and large, edible, scarlet fruit.
- subpoena duces tecum — a writ directing a person to appear in court and to bring some document described in the writ.
- supersonic transport — a commercial jet airplane that can fly faster than the speed of sound. Abbreviation: SST.
- supplemental plumage — the third plumage assumed by certain birds having three different plumages in their annual cycle of molts.
- supplementary angles — either of two angles that added together produce an angle of 180°.
- swan's neck pediment — a broken pediment, the outline of which consists of a pair of S -curves tangent to the cornice level at the ends of the pediment, rising to a pair of scrolls on either side of the center, where a finial often rises between the scrolls.
- switchboard operator — a person who operates an installation in a telephone exchange, office, hotel, etc, at which the interconnection of telephone lines is manually controlled
- take pity on someone — If you take pity on someone, you feel sorry for them and help them.
- telesales department — the department of a company that deals with telesales
- television programme — a programme broadcast on television
- the (great) pyramids — the three large pyramids at Gîza, Egypt: the largest is the Pyramid of Khufu
- the legal profession — the profession of law
- theosophical society — a society founded by Madame Blavatsky and others, in New York in 1875, advocating a worldwide eclectic religion based largely on Brahmanic and Buddhistic teachings.
- third-party software — software created by programmers or publishers independent of the manufacturer of the hardware for which it is intended.
- throw up one's hands — the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb.
- to disturb the peace — If someone is accused of disturbing the peace, they are accused of behaving in a noisy and offensive way in public.
- to overstep the mark — If someone oversteps the mark, they behave in a way that is considered unacceptable.
- to push the boat out — If you push the boat out, you spend a lot of money on something, especially in order to celebrate.
- to put an end to sth — To put an end to something means to cause it to stop.
- to scrape the barrel — If you say that someone is scraping the barrel, or scraping the bottom of the barrel, you disapprove of the fact that they are using or doing something of extremely poor quality.
- to spread your wings — If you spread your wings, you do something new and rather difficult or move to a new place, because you feel more confident in your abilities than you used to and you want to gain wider experience.
- transposed conjugate — adjoint (def 2).
- transposition cipher — a cipher that rearranges the letters of the plain text in a different sequence.
- travel-sickness pill — a pill which is used to relieve the symptoms of travel or motion sickness, the condition of being nauseated from riding in a moving vehicle
- tropical disturbance — a very weak, or incipient, tropical cyclone.
- tropospheric scatter — transmission of radio frequency signals that have been scattered from irregularities in the troposphere to locations hundreds of kilometers distant.
- trumpet call for sth — a signal for something
- tubing head pressure — The tubing head pressure is the pressure on the tubing, which is measured at the wellhead.
- turn an honest penny — to earn money fairly and honestly
- upper yosemite falls — a section of Yosemite Falls in central California, in the Yosemite National Park that is 436 m (1430 ft) high
- upset the apple cart — to disrupt a procedure, spoil someone's plans, etc.
- video graphics array — (hardware) (VGA) A display standard for IBM PCs, with 640 x 480 pixels in 16 colours and a 4:3 aspect ratio. There is also a text mode with 720 x 400 pixels. IBM technical references define the *product name* of their original VGA display board as "Video Graphics Array", in contrast to the preceding boards, the "Color Graphics Adapter" (CGA) and "Enhanced Graphics Adapter" (EGA). See also Super Video Graphics Adapter.
- visually handicapped — unable to carry out normal activities because of defects of vision, including blindness
- western roman empire — the westernmost of the two empires created by the division of the later Roman Empire, esp after its final severance from the Eastern Roman Empire (395 ad)
- white bush (scallop) — a variety of summer squash having a saucer-shaped white fruit, scalloped around the edges
- white elephant stall — a stall, usually at a fete or fundraising event, where unwanted possessions are sold
- winter olympic games — an international contest of winter sports, esp skiing, held every four years
- wipe the slate clean — begin afresh
- with all due respect — despite my regard for you