18-letter words containing e, s, t, r, u
- 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.
- second triumvirate — the coalition and joint rule of the Roman Empire by Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian, begun in 43 bc
- secondary industry — manufacturing, services, etc.
- secular tertiaries — of the third order, rank, stage, formation, etc.; third.
- securities analyst — an expert who advises on investment in securities such as stocks, shares and bonds
- security agreement — business: contract
- security clearance — access to top secret information
- security of tenure — (in Britain) the right of a tenant to continue to occupy a dwelling or site unless the landlord obtains a court order for possession of the property or termination of the tenancy agreement
- selenium rectifier — a rectifier consisting of laminated plates of metal, usually iron, that have been coated with selenium on one side, with rectification taking place because the flow of electrons from the conductive metal to the selenium occurs more readily than the flow in the opposite direction.
- self-instructional — pertaining to or constituting learning materials and conditions arranged so that students can proceed to learn on their own with little or no supervision.
- self-preoccupation — the state of being preoccupied.
- self-understanding — mental process of a person who comprehends; comprehension; personal interpretation: My understanding of the word does not agree with yours.
- semiprecious stone — See at semiprecious.
- sentence structure — syntax
- separate but equal — pertaining to a racial policy, formerly practiced in some parts of the United States, by which black people could be segregated if granted equal opportunities and facilities, as for education, transportation, or jobs.
- sexual intercourse — genital contact, especially the insertion of the penis into the vagina followed by orgasm; coitus; copulation.
- sexual orientation — one's natural preference in sexual partners; predilection for homosexuality, heterosexuality, or bisexuality.
- shift one's ground — to change one's argument or defense
- shotgun microphone — a directional microphone with a narrow-angle range of sensitivity.
- shugart associates — (company) The disk drive company, founded by Alan F. Shugart, which developed SCSI. Alan left Shugart Associates in 1974 [did he quit or was he fired?]. Shugart Associates was bought, and eventually shut down by Xerox.
- shugart technology — Seagate Technology
- shunting operation — an operation in which rail coaches are manoeuvred
- simple enumeration — a procedure for arriving at empirical generalizations by haphazard accumulation of positive instances.
- six-finger country — an isolated area considered as being inhabited by people who practise inbreeding
- ski-mountaineering — a combination of the sports of skiing and mountaineering, for example by climbing up a mountain then skiing down it
- so much the better — You can say 'so much the better' or 'all the better' to indicate that it is desirable that a particular thing is used, done, or available.
- sodium bicarbonate — a white, crystalline, water-soluble solid, in powder or granules, NaHCO 3 , usually prepared by the reaction of soda ash with carbon dioxide or obtained from the intermediate product of the Solvay process by purification: used chiefly in the manufacture of sodium salts, baking powder, and beverages, as a laboratory reagent, as a fire extinguisher, and in medicine as an antacid.
- sodium tetraborate — borax1 .
- soldier of fortune — a person who independently seeks pleasure, wealth, etc., through adventurous exploits.
- sound and the fury — a novel (1929) by William Faulkner.
- sound spectrograph — an electronic device for recording a sound spectogram.
- southern cameroons — German Kamerun. a region in W Africa: a German protectorate 1884–1919; divided in 1919 into British and French mandates.
- southern rhodesian — a former name (until 1964) of Zimbabwe (def 1).
- spare-part surgery — surgical replacement of defective or damaged organs by transplant or insertion of artificial devices
- special prosecutor — (formerly) an independent counsel.
- specimen signature — a signature to be compared to an original signature in order to verify someone's identity
- spectrofluorimeter — an instrument in which the spectrum of secondarily emitted fluorescent light is used to identify chemical compounds.
- spectrofluorometer — an instrument in which the spectrum of secondarily emitted fluorescent light is used to identify chemical compounds.
- spur-of-the-moment — occurring or done without advance preparation or deliberation; extemporaneous; unplanned: a spur-of-the-moment decision.
- squinting modifier — a word or phrase that can modify either the words that precede it or those that follow, as frequently in the sentence Studying frequently is tedious.
- squirting cucumber — a Mediterranean plant, Ecballium elaterium, of the gourd family, whose ripened fruit forcibly ejects the seeds and juice.
- st. peter's square — a square surrounded by colonnades, forming a boundary of and an entrance to Vatican City, leading to St. Peter's: designed by Giovanni Bernini and built during the 17th century.
- stand one's ground — the solid surface of the earth; firm or dry land: to fall to the ground.
- standard schnauzer — schnauzer.
- store launch event — A store launch event is a special event, which publicizes the opening of a new store and at which discounts and free samples may be offered.
- strangeness number — a quantum number, designating the strangeness of an elementary particle, equivalent to the hypercharge minus the baryon number
- strike an attitude — to assume a posture or pose, often an affected or theatrical one
- strontium monoxide — a white insoluble solid substance used in making strontium salts and purifying sugar. Formula: SrO
- stroustrup, bjarne — Bjarne Stroustrup
- structural geology — the branch of geology dealing with the structure and distribution of the rocks that make up the crust of the earth. Also called tectonics. Compare structure (def 7a).