20-letter words containing o, a, n, s
- spatial technologies — (company) Distributors of the ACIS solid modelling engine.
- special relationship — the exceptionally close political, diplomatic, cultural and historical relations between the United States and the United Kingdom
- specific conductance — conductivity (def 2).
- specific performance — (especially in the sale of land) literal compliance with one's contractual promises pursuant to a judicial mandate.
- specific-conductance — conductivity (def 2).
- spectroscopic binary — a binary star having components that are not sufficiently separated to be resolved by a telescope, known to be a binary only bythe variations in wavelength of emitted light that are detected by a spectroscope.
- spherical aberration — variation in focal length of a lens or mirror from center to edge, due to its spherical shape.
- spherical coordinate — Usually, spherical coordinates. any of three coordinates used to locate a point in space by the length of its radius vector and the angles this vector makes with two perpendicular polar planes.
- spirits of hartshorn — a colorless, pungent, suffocating, aqueous solution of about 28.5 percent ammonia gas: used chiefly as a detergent, for removing stains and extracting certain vegetable coloring agents, and in the manufacture of ammonium salts.
- spontaneous abortion — miscarriage (def 1).
- spontaneous recovery — the reappearance of a response after its extinction has been followed by a period of rest
- spontaneous-abortion — Also called voluntary abortion. the removal of an embryo or fetus from the uterus in order to end a pregnancy.
- spotted crane's-bill — the American wild geranium, Geranium maculatum.
- square cross-section — If a kelly has a square cross-section, it has a surface area with four equal sides, when looked at as if has been sliced through.
- square of opposition — a diagrammatic representation of the opposition of categorical propositions.
- squatter sovereignty — (used contemptuously by its opponents) popular sovereignty (def 2).
- st. george's channel — a channel between Wales and Ireland, connecting the Irish Sea and the Atlantic. 100 miles (160 km) long; 50–90 miles (81–145 km) wide.
- st. james-assiniboia — a city in SE Manitoba, in S central Canada: suburb of Winnipeg.
- staff sergeant major — a noncommissioned officer equivalent in rank to a command sergeant major but having no command responsibility.
- stained glass window — a window made of coloured glass, often showing religious pictures and usually seen in churches
- standard book number — International Standard Book Number. Abbreviation: SBN.
- state enrolled nurse — a nurse with training and examinations enabling him or her to perform many nursing services
- stefan-boltzmann law — the law stating that the total energy radiated from a blackbody is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature.
- step into the breach — If you step into the breach, you do a job or task which someone else was supposed to do or has done in the past, because they are suddenly unable to do it.
- storage area network — (storage) (SAN) A high-speed subnetwork of shared storage devices. A storage device is a machine that contains nothing but a disk or disks for storing data. A SAN's architecture works in a way that makes all storage devices available to all servers on a LAN or WAN. As more storage devices are added to a SAN, they too will be accessible from any server in the larger network. The server merely acts as a pathway between the end user and the stored data. Because stored data does not reside directly on any of a network's servers, server power is used for business applications, and network capacity is released to the end user.
- straight as an arrow — direct, unwavering
- stress concentration — A stress concentration in a solid is a place where there is a lot of stress, either because a force is applied in a particular area or there is a change in the cross-sectional area.
- strong nuclear force — an interaction between elementary particles responsible for the forces between nucleons in the nucleus. It operates at distances less than about 10–15 metres, and is about a hundred times more powerful than the electromagnetic interaction
- subpoena duces tecum — a writ directing a person to appear in court and to bring some document described in the writ.
- subscription library — a commercial lending library
- summary jurisdiction — the right a court has to adjudicate immediately upon some matter arising during its proceedings
- sunday-go-to-meeting — most presentable; best: Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes.
- supersonic transport — a commercial jet airplane that can fly faster than the speed of sound. Abbreviation: SST.
- surveillance society — a society where surveillance technology is widely used to monitor people's everyday activities
- sweat one's guts out — to work very hard
- 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
- synchronous rotation — rotation of a satellite in which the period of rotation is equal to the period of orbit around its primary, leaving the same face always pointing toward the primary: The moon is in synchronous rotation about the earth.
- system international — Système International d'Unités
- systemic circulation — the circulatory system in general.
- take into one's head — the upper part of the body in humans, joined to the trunk by the neck, containing the brain, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
- take pity on someone — If you take pity on someone, you feel sorry for them and help them.
- take something amiss — to be annoyed or offended by something
- take to the cleaners — a person who cleans, especially one whose regular occupation is cleaning offices, buildings, equipment, etc.
- television broadcast — sth shown on tv
- television programme — a programme broadcast on television
- tenants' association — an organization of tenants, usually with a written constitution and charitable status, whose aim is to improve the housing conditions, amenities, community life, and contractual positions of its members
- terms and conditions — commerce: rules, restrictions
- tetrahydrogestrinone — a synthetic anabolic steroid. Formula: C21H28O2
- the course of nature — the ordinary course of events
- the founding fathers — any of the men who were members of the U.S. Constituional Convention of 1787