18-letter words containing e, s, r, o
- reprocessing plant — a plant where materials are treated in order to make them reusable
- rescind a contract — If an insurer rescinds an insurance contract, it terminates it because facts have been concealed or misrepresented by the proposer.
- residential school — (in Canada) a boarding school maintained by the Canadian government for Indian and Inuit children from sparsely populated settlements
- respiratory arrest — cessation of breathing
- respiratory system — the system by which oxygen is taken into the body and an exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide takes place; in mammals the system includes the nasal passages, pharynx, trachea, bronchi, and lungs.
- rest on one's oars — a long shaft with a broad blade at one end, used as a lever for rowing or otherwise propelling or steering a boat.
- restoration comedy — English comedy of the period of the Restoration, stressing manners and social satire.
- restraint of trade — action tending to interrupt the free flow of goods and services, as by price fixing and other practices that have the effect of reducing competition.
- restriction enzyme — any of a group of enzymes that catalyze the cleavage of DNA molecules at specific sites: used for gene splicing in recombinant DNA technology and for chromosome mapping.
- resurrection plant — a desert plant, Selaginella lepidophylla, occurring from Texas to South America, having stems that curl inward when dry.
- resuscitation room — an intensive care unit
- retirement pension — income: no longer at work
- retrograde amnesia — a memory disorder characterized by an inability to remember events or experiences that occurred before a significant point in time.
- reverse angle shot — Movies. reverse shot.
- reverse psychology — (in nontechnical use) a method of getting another person to do what one wants by pretending not to want it or to want something else or something more.
- reversionary bonus — a bonus added to the sum payable on death or at the maturity of a with-profits assurance policy
- revolutionary wars — American Revolution.
- rheims-douay bible — Douay Bible.
- rhode island white — one of a dual-purpose American breed of chickens having white feathers and a rose comb.
- rhodes scholarship — one of a number of scholarships at Oxford University, established by the will of Cecil Rhodes, for selected students (Rhodes scholars) from the British Commonwealth and the United States.
- ride a hobby horse — an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation: Her hobbies include stamp-collecting and woodcarving.
- rock cornish (hen) — Cornish (sense 3) Cornish (sense 3b)
- rolled-steel joist — a steel beam, esp one with a cross section in the form of a letter H or I
- rolling resistance — The rolling resistance of a wheel or ball is its resistance to movement caused by friction between it and the surface it is rolling on.
- rooted to the spot — If you are rooted to the spot, you are unable to move because you are very frightened or shocked.
- rosebay willowherb — a perennial onagraceous plant, Chamerion (formerly Epilobium) angustifolium, that has spikes of deep pink flowers and is widespread in open places throughout N temperate regions
- rotary clothesline — an apparatus of radiating spokes that support lines on which clothes are hung to dry
- row address strobe — (storage) (RAS) An input to a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) to indicate that the row address lines are valid.
- rub shoulders with — to mix with socially or associate with
- rubbish collection — the collection of domestic refuse for disposal
- run one's eye over — to glance at hurriedly
- russian federation — a republic extending from E Europe to N and W Asia. 6,593,000 sq. mi. (17,076,000 sq. km). Capital: Moscow.
- russian revolution — Also called February Revolution. the uprising in Russia in March, 1917 (February Old Style), in which the Czarist government collapsed and a provisional government was established.
- russo-japanese war — the war (1904–1905) between Russia and Japan.
- safety regulations — regulations or rules that are put in place to ensure a product, event, etc, is safe and not dangerous
- saint george's day — April 23, celebrated in parts of the British Commonwealth in honor of the patron saint of Britain and especially in New Zealand as a bank holiday.
- saint john's bread — carob (def 2).
- sao joao de meriti — a city in SE Brazil, NW of Rio de Janeiro.
- saturated solution — A saturated solution is a solution in which there is so much solute that if there was any more, it would not dissolve.
- schofield barracks — a town on central Oahu, in central Hawaii.
- scholarship holder — a person who, because of academic merit, receives financial aid for their studies
- school certificate — (in England and Wales between 1917 and 1951 and currently in New Zealand) a certificate awarded to school pupils who pass a public examination: the equivalent of GCSE
- science dictionary — a specialized dictionary covering terms in the life, earth, and physical sciences, such as the online Science Dictionary on Dictionary.com. A science dictionary includes many technical terms with precise, specialized meanings—terms not normally found in general dictionaries—making it an invaluable resource for students and professionals in scientific fields.
- scientific officer — a police officer who carries out forensic examinations
- scissors-and-paste — designating or of a piece of writing that has been assembled from a variety of sources rather than by original research, often in a hasty or uninspired way
- scottish deerhound — one of a Scottish breed of large, tall hunting dogs having a medium-length, wiry, gray or reddish-fawn coat, originally developed for hunting and bringing down deer, and known as the royal dog of Scotland.
- scottish secretary — the Secretary of State for Scotland, head of the Scotland Office, a UK government department with responsibility for some Scottish affairs
- scratch one's head — If you say that someone is scratching their head, you mean that they are thinking hard and trying to solve a problem or puzzle.
- scruff of the neck — If someone takes you by the scruff of the neck, they take hold of the back of your neck or collar suddenly and roughly.
- seafloor spreading — a process in which new ocean floor is created as molten material from the earth's mantle rises in margins between plates or ridges and spreads out.