20-letter words containing g, o, s, i
- sex change operation — a surgical operation designed to change a person's physical sexual characteristics to those of the opposite sex
- shank of the evening — the latter part of the afternoon
- shifting cultivation — a land-use system, esp in tropical Africa, in which a tract of land is cultivated until its fertility diminishes, when it is abandoned until this is restored naturally
- shoulder-length hair — hair that reaches a person's shoulders
- sing for your supper — If someone has to sing for their supper, they have to do a job before they are allowed to do something they want to do.
- single point mooring — monobuoy.
- size-weight illusion — a standard sense illusion that a small object is heavier than a large object of the same weight
- skating championship — a competition for ice-skating
- slip through the net — If criminals slip through the net, they avoid being caught by the system or trap that was meant to catch them.
- snowflake generation — the generation of people who became adults in the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations
- soft gelatin capsule — A soft gelatin capsule is a type of capsule that is usually used to contain medicine in the form of liquid or powder, and which dissolves more quickly than a hard gelatin capsule.
- software engineering — the process of writing computer programs
- sound-and-light show — a nighttime spectacle or performance, at which a building, historic site, etc., is illuminated and the historic significance is imparted to spectators by means of narration, sound effects, and music.
- spatial technologies — (company) Distributors of the ACIS solid modelling engine.
- special patrol group — a former police unit tasked with counter terrorism in the Royal Ulster Constabulary
- 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.
- squatter sovereignty — (used contemptuously by its opponents) popular sovereignty (def 2).
- stained glass window — a window made of coloured glass, often showing religious pictures and usually seen in churches
- state highway patrol — a state's road traffic police
- straight as an arrow — direct, unwavering
- straight-cut tobacco — tobacco that is cut in such a way that it will lie flat.
- string correspondent — stringer (def 6).
- sunday-go-to-meeting — most presentable; best: Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes.
- synchronized skating — the art or sport of teams of up to twenty skaters holding onto each other and moving in patterns in time to music
- synoptic meteorology — a branch of meteorology analyzing data collected simultaneously over a wide region, for the purpose of weather forecasting.
- take something amiss — to be annoyed or offended by something
- television programme — a programme broadcast on television
- tetrahydrogestrinone — a synthetic anabolic steroid. Formula: C21H28O2
- the founding fathers — any of the men who were members of the U.S. Constituional Convention of 1787
- the gnomes of zurich — Swiss bankers and financiers
- the legal profession — the profession of law
- the roaring twenties — a phrase used to describe the decade of the 1920s (esp in America), so called due to the social, artistic, and cultural dynamism of the period
- the thinking process — thought; the activity of thinking
- the thousand guineas — an annual horse race, restricted to fillies, run at Newmarket since 1814
- the toronto blessing — a variety of emotional reactions such as laughing, weeping, and fainting, experienced by participants in a form of charismatic Christian worship
- there's no mistaking — You can say there is no mistaking something when you are emphasizing that you cannot fail to recognize or understand it.
- there's nothing like — a general expression of praise
- to be a warning shot — to be a warning
- 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 give someone hell — If you say that someone gives you hell, you are emphasizing that they shout at you very angrily because of something you have done wrong.
- to give up the ghost — If someone gives up the ghost, they stop trying to do something because they no longer believe they can do it successfully. If a machine gives up the ghost, it stops working.
- to put sth to rights — to make something consistent with justice, correctness, or orderly arrangement
- to reach new heights — to become higher than ever before
- to reserve the right — If you say that you reserve the right to do something, you mean that you will do it if you feel that it is necessary.
- to sb's disadvantage — If something is to your disadvantage or works to your disadvantage, it creates difficulties for you.
- 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.
- transcendental logic — (in Kantian epistemology) the study of the mind with reference to its perceptions of external objects and to the objective truth of such perceptions.
- transfer of training — transfer (def 19).
- transformation range — the temperature range within which austenite forms when a ferrous metal is heated, or within which it disappears when the metal is cooled.