18-letter words containing m, r, s, a
- state of emergency — If a government or other authority declares a state of emergency in an area, it introduces special measures such as increased powers for the police or army, usually because of civil disorder or because of a natural disaster such as an earthquake.
- stem-cell research — research that is carried out on stem cells for use in medicine
- stirling's formula — a relation that approximates the value of n factorial (n!), expressed as .
- stoichiometrically — of or relating to stoichiometry.
- stokely carmichael — Hoagland Howard [hohg-luh nd] /ˈhoʊg lənd/ (Show IPA), ("Hoagy") 1899–1981, U.S. songwriter and musician.
- stomach sweetbread — sweetbread (def 1).
- strait of magellan — a strait between the mainland of S South America and Tierra del Fuego, linking the S Pacific with the S Atlantic. Length: 600 km (370 miles). Width: up to 32 km (20 miles)
- strangeness number — a quantum number, designating the strangeness of an elementary particle, equivalent to the hypercharge minus the baryon number
- structural formula — a chemical formula showing the linkage of the atoms in a molecule diagrammatically, as H–O–H.
- subatomic particle — physics:
- submarine sandwich — a sandwich made with a long cylindrical bread roll
- submaxillary gland — submandibular gland.
- subsidiary company — a company whose controlling interest is owned by another company.
- subsistence farmer — a farmer who consumes most of the produce he grows, leaving little or nothing to be marketed
- sugarloaf mountain — a mountain in SE Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, at the entrance to Guanabara Bay. 1280 feet (390 meters).
- summary proceeding — a mode of trial authorized by statute to be held before a judge without the usual full hearing.
- sun-dried tomatoes — tomatoes that have been dried or preserved by exposure to the sun
- super giant slalom — a slalom race in which the course is longer and has more widely spaced gates than in a giant slalom.
- surveyor's compass — an instrument used by surveyors for measuring azimuths.
- surveyor's measure — a system of units of length used in surveying land, based on the surveyor's chain of 66 feet (20.12 meters) and its 100 links of 7.92 inches (20.12 cm).
- survival mechanism — something you or your body does automatically, in order to survive in a dangerous or unpleasant situation
- sustaining program — a radio or television program without a commercial sponsor.
- swarm intelligence — the collective behaviour of a group of animals, esp social insects such as ants, bees, and termites, that are each following very basic rules
- swartkrans ape-man — the fossil remains of the extinct hominid Australopithecus robustus, found at Swartkrans, Republic of South Africa: formerly classified in the genus Paranthropus.
- sympathetic strike — sympathy strike.
- sympathetic string — a thin wire string, as in various obsolete musical instruments, designed to vibrate sympathetically with the bowed or plucked strings to reinforce the sound.
- symphony orchestra — a large orchestra composed of wind, string, and percussion instruments and organized to perform symphonic compositions.
- system-programming — a program, as an operating system, compiler, or utility program, that controls some aspect of the operation of a computer (opposed to application program).
- systems programmer — a person whose job is to program systems software
- temporal summation — the act or process of summing.
- temporary hardness — hardness of water due to the presence of magnesium and calcium hydrogencarbonates, which can be precipitated as carbonates by boiling
- testamentary trust — a trust set up under the terms of a will.
- the hunger marches — a number of processions by unemployed workers in the 1930s to protest against unemployment and deprivation
- the lords temporal — (in Britain) peers other than bishops in their capacity as members of the House of Lords
- the masurian lakes — a group of lakes in Masuria in NE Poland: scene of Russian defeats by the Germans (1914, 1915) during World War I
- the mosque of omar — the mosque in Jerusalem, Israel, built in 691 ad by caliph 'Abd al-Malik: the third most holy place of Islam; stands on the Temple Mount alongside the al-Aqsa mosque
- the same old story — the familiar or regular course of events
- the-master-builder — a play (1892) by Ibsen.
- timber rattlesnake — a rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus horridus, of the eastern U.S., usually having the body marked with dark crossbands.
- to cut the mustard — If someone does not cut the mustard, their work or their performance is not as good as it should be or as good as it is expected to be.
- to raise the alarm — If you raise the alarm or sound the alarm, you warn people of danger.
- to speak your mind — If you speak your mind, you say firmly and honestly what you think about a situation, even if this may offend or upset people.
- transfinite number — an infinite cardinal or ordinal number.
- transit instrument — Astronomy. meridian circle.
- transition element — any element in any of the series of elements with atomic numbers 21–29, 39–47, 57–79, and 89–107, that in a given inner orbital has less than a full quota of electrons.
- transmission brake — A transmission brake is a brake that operates on the transmission system of a vehicle rather than directly on the wheels.
- transmission shaft — a shaft that rotates transmitting motion from the engine to the differential gear
- transmogrification — to change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely; transform.
- traveling salesman — a male representative of a business firm who travels in an assigned territory soliciting orders for a company's products or services.
- treasury of merits — the superabundant store of merits and satisfactions, comprising those of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints.