20-letter words containing b, s, e, t

special boat service — a unit of the Royal Marines specializing in reconnaissance and sabotage
spectroscopic binary — a binary star having components that are not sufficiently separated to be resolved by a telescope, known to be a binary only bythe variations in wavelength of emitted light that are detected by a spectroscope.
spherical aberration — variation in focal length of a lens or mirror from center to edge, due to its spherical shape.
splice the mainbrace — to issue and partake of an extra allocation of alcoholic spirits
spontaneous abortion — miscarriage (def 1).
spontaneous-abortion — Also called voluntary abortion. the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy.
spotted crane's-bill — the American wild geranium, Geranium maculatum.
st. james-assiniboia — a city in SE Manitoba, in S central Canada: suburb of Winnipeg.
standard book number — International Standard Book Number. Abbreviation: SBN.
star spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
star-spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
stare sb in the face — If a situation or the answer to a problem is staring you in the face, it is very obvious, although you may not be immediately aware of it.
ste. anne de beaupre — a village in S Quebec, in SE Canada, on the St. Lawrence, NE of Quebec: Roman Catholic shrine.
stefan-boltzmann law — the law stating that the total energy radiated from a blackbody is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature.
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.
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.
subjective idea-list — a doctrine that the world has no existence independent of sensations or ideas.
subjective intension — the associations that an expression has for an individual; the intension he believes it to have
subpoena duces tecum — a writ directing a person to appear in court and to bring some document described in the writ.
subscription edition — an edition of one or more volumes for which a number of prospective purchasers place orders, usually in advance of publication.
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 sides/sb's side — If you take sides or take someone's side in an argument or war, you support one of the sides against the other.
telephone subscriber — a person who subscribes to a telephone service
television broadcast — sth shown on tv
the better to do sth — If you do something the better to do something else, you do the first thing in order to be able to do the second thing more effectively.
the canterbury tales — an uncompleted sequence of tales by Chaucer, written for the most part after 1387.
the toronto blessing — a variety of emotional reactions such as laughing, weeping, and fainting, experienced by participants in a form of charismatic Christian worship
to be a one-man show — to be reliant on one person alone
to be a warning shot — to be a warning
to be at loggerheads — to be in conflict
to beat one's breast — If you say that someone beats their breast, you are emphasizing that they are very angry or upset about something, or that they are pretending to be very angry or upset about it.
to burst into flames — If something bursts into flames or bursts into flame, it suddenly starts burning strongly.
to cross the rubicon — If you say that someone has crossed the Rubicon, you mean that they have reached a point where they cannot change a decision or course of action.
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 get off sb's back — If you tell someone to get off your back, you are telling them angrily to stop criticizing you or putting pressure on you.
to get your bearings — to find out where one is or to find out what one should do next
to give sb their due — You can say 'to give him his due', or 'giving him his due' when you are admitting that there are some good things about someone, even though there are things that you do not like about them.
to have it in for sb — If someone has it in for you, they do not like you and they want to make life difficult for you.
to hope for the best — If you are in a difficult situation and do something and hope for the best, you hope that everything will happen in the way you want, although you know that it may not.
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 sb's disadvantage — If something is to your disadvantage or works to your disadvantage, it creates difficulties for you.
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 show sb the ropes — to show someone how to do a particular job or task
to take years off sb — if you say that something such as an experience or a way of dressing has taken years off someone, you mean that it has made them look or feel much younger
to waste your breath — If someone says you are wasting your breath, they mean that the person you are talking to will not take any notice and so there is no point saying anything to them.
tomb of the unknowns — See under Unknown Soldier.
toothbrush moustache — a short narrow moustache, resembling the filaments of a toothbrush
tropical disturbance — a very weak, or incipient, tropical cyclone.
trustee savings bank — a British financial institution which offered savings facilities for small investors and was managed by unpaid trustees. Depositors had no voting rights and no say in financial or managerial matters. The bank is now a public limited company with the same rights and services as other banks and only retains the title in the abbreviated form TSB.
tubing head pressure — The tubing head pressure is the pressure on the tubing, which is measured at the wellhead.

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