18-letter words containing l, o, p, a
- spherical geometry — the branch of geometry that deals with figures on spherical surfaces.
- spin stabilization — a technique by which a bullet, rocket, etc, is made to spin around its longitudinal axis to assist it in maintaining a steady flight path
- spotted flycatcher — a European woodland songbird, Muscicapa striata, with a greyish-brown streaked plumage: family Muscicapidae (Old World flycatchers)
- stepping-off place — jumping-off place (def 2).
- subatomic particle — physics:
- super giant slalom — a slalom race in which the course is longer and has more widely spaced gates than in a giant slalom.
- super royal octavo — a book size, 63⁄4 by 101⁄4 inches
- super royal quarto — a book size, 101⁄4 by 131⁄2 inches
- supraorbital ridge — browridge.
- talent competition — a contest in which people compete by showcasing their talents, for example in singing, dancing, acrobatics, etc
- telephone exchange — a telecommunications facility to which subscribers' telephones connect, that switches calls among subscribers or to other exchanges for further routing.
- television company — a company that broadcasts programmes by television
- temporal summation — the act or process of summing.
- the family compact — the ruling oligarchy in Upper Canada in the early 19th century
- the lords temporal — (in Britain) peers other than bishops in their capacity as members of the House of Lords
- the palmetto state — a nickname for South Carolina
- the-cocktail-party — a play in verse (1950) by T. S. Eliot.
- thiosulphuric acid — an unstable acid known only in solutions and in the form of its salts. Formula: H2S2O3
- to all appearances — apparently
- to fall into place — If things fall into place, events happen naturally to produce a situation you want.
- to hold your peace — If you hold or keep your peace, you do not speak, even though there is something you want or ought to say.
- to learn the ropes — If you are learning the ropes, you are learning how a particular task or job is done.
- to lick into shape — If you lick, knock, or whip someone or something into shape, you use whatever methods are necessary to change or improve them so that they are in the condition that you want them to be in.
- to play favourites — to display favouritism
- to plough a furrow — If you say that someone ploughs a particular furrow or ploughs their own furrow, you mean that their activities or interests are different or isolated from those of other people.
- to pull a fast one — If you say that someone has pulled a fast one on you, you mean that they have cheated or tricked you.
- to scrape a living — If you say that someone scrapes a living or scratches a living, you mean that they manage to earn enough to live on, but it is very difficult. In American English, you say they scrape out a living or scratch out a living.
- to spill the beans — If you spill the beans, you tell someone something that people have been trying to keep secret.
- to take the plunge — If you take the plunge, you decide to do something that you consider difficult or risky.
- traditional option — an option that once purchased cannot be resold
- traditional policy — a life assurance policy in which the policyholder's premiums are paid into a general fund and his or her investment benefits are calculated according to actuarial formulae
- traditional weapon — a weapon having ceremonial tribal significance, such as an assegai or knobkerrie
- unit magnetic pole — the unit of magnetic pole strength equal to the strength of a magnetic pole that repels a similar pole with a force of one dyne, the two poles being placed in a vacuum and separated by a distance of one centimeter.
- universal coupling — a coupling between rotating shafts set at an angle to one another, allowing for rotation in three planes.
- up someone's alley — suited to someone's tastes or abilities
- up to the eyeballs — You use up to the eyeballs to emphasize that someone is in an undesirable state to a very great degree.
- upper palaeolithic — the latest of the three periods of the Palaeolithic, beginning about 40 000 bc and ending, in Europe, about 12 000 bc: characterized by the emergence of modern man, Homo sapiens
- upper partial tone — overtone (def 1).
- wattless component — Electricity. reactive component.
- white-spotted hyla — a type of tree frog (H. leucophyllata) of tropical America
- wild passionflower — the maypop, Passiflora incarnata.
- wildlife programme — (esp on television) a documentary whose subject is wild animals in their natural habitat or undomesticated fauna and flora generally
- wilson's phalarope — a phalarope, Phalaropus tricolor, that breeds in the prairie regions of North America and winters in Argentina and Chile.
- withdrawal symptom — effects of stopping a drug
- world championship — an international competition in a particular sport or activity for people all around the world
- zion national park — a park in SW Utah. 148 sq. mi. (383 sq. km).