20-letter words containing e, p, s, o, m
- republic of maldives — a republic occupying an archipelago of 1087 coral islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka: came under British protection in 1887; became independent in 1965 and a republic in 1968; member of the Commonwealth (1982–2016). The economy and infrastructure were severely damaged in the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. Official language: Divehi. Official religion: (Sunni) Muslim. Currency: rufiyaa. Capital: Malé. Pop: 393 988 (2013 est). Area: 298 sq km (115 sq miles)
- retinitis pigmentosa — degeneration of the retina manifested by night blindness and gradual loss of peripheral vision, eventually resulting in tunnel vision or total blindness.
- rocky mountain sheep — bighorn.
- rotations per minute — revolutions per minute
- royal leamington spa — a city in Warwickshire, central England: health resort.
- salmonella poisoning — an illness caused by ingestion of a salmonella bacterium
- semiautobiographical — pertaining to or being a fictionalized account of an author's own life.
- send someone packing — to dismiss or get rid of (someone) peremptorily
- single point mooring — monobuoy.
- societal development — the formation and transformation of social life, customs, institutions, etc.
- some hope/not a hope — If you say 'Some hope', or 'Not a hope', you think there is no possibility that something will happen, although you may want it to happen.
- sound motion picture — a motion picture with a soundtrack.
- south american plate — a major tectonic division of the earth's crust, comprising the continent of South America and several ocean basins and bounded on the north by the Caribbean Plate, on the east by the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, on the west by a submarine trench that borders the western coast of the continent, and on the south by the Antarctic Plate.
- south temperate zone — the part of the earth's surface between the tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle.
- space-time continuum — Also called space-time continuum. the four-dimensional continuum, having three spatial coordinates and one temporal coordinate, in which all physical quantities may be located.
- specific performance — (especially in the sale of land) literal compliance with one's contractual promises pursuant to a judicial mandate.
- spike someone's guns — a weapon consisting of a metal tube, with mechanical attachments, from which projectiles are shot by the force of an explosive; a piece of ordnance.
- spiral of archimedes — a curve that is the locus of a point that moves outward with uniform speed along a vector, beginning at the origin, while the vector rotates about the origin with uniform angular velocity. Equation (in polar coordinates): r = aθ.
- subpoena duces tecum — a writ directing a person to appear in court and to bring some document described in the writ.
- synoptic meteorology — a branch of meteorology analyzing data collected simultaneously over a wide region, for the purpose of weather forecasting.
- take pity on someone — If you take pity on someone, you feel sorry for them and help them.
- television programme — a programme broadcast on television
- the price of someone — what someone deserves, esp a fitting punishment
- to overstep the mark — If someone oversteps the mark, they behave in a way that is considered unacceptable.
- trumpet call for sth — a signal for something
- under the impression — If you are under the impression that something is the case, you believe that it is the case, usually when it is not actually the case.
- under the microscope — If you say that something is under the microscope, you mean that it is being studied very closely, usually because it is believed that something is wrong with it.
- unemployment figures — statistics relating to the number of people who are out of work
- upper yosemite falls — a section of Yosemite Falls in central California, in the Yosemite National Park that is 436 m (1430 ft) high
- 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)
- winter olympic games — an international contest of winter sports, esp skiing, held every four years
- woolly spider monkey — a rare related monkey, Brachyteles arachnoides, of SE Brazil