20-letter words containing p, a, s, o

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.
spiral of archimedes — a curve that is the locus of a point that moves outward with uniform speed along a vector, beginning at the origin, while the vector rotates about the origin with uniform angular velocity. Equation (in polar coordinates): r = aθ.
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 of opposition — a diagrammatic representation of the opposition of categorical propositions.
staff of aesculapius — a representation of a forked staff with an entwining serpent, used as a symbol of the medical profession and as the insignia of the American Medical Association and other medical organizations. Compare caduceus (def 2).
state highway patrol — a state's road traffic police
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.
step up to the plate — to move into batting position
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
supersonic transport — a commercial jet airplane that can fly faster than the speed of sound. Abbreviation: SST.
switchboard operator — a person who operates an installation in a telephone exchange, office, hotel, etc, at which the interconnection of telephone lines is manually controlled
take pity on someone — If you take pity on someone, you feel sorry for them and help them.
television programme — a programme broadcast on television
the legal profession — the profession of law
theosophical society — a society founded by Madame Blavatsky and others, in New York in 1875, advocating a worldwide eclectic religion based largely on Brahmanic and Buddhistic teachings.
third-party software — software created by programmers or publishers independent of the manufacturer of the hardware for which it is intended.
throw up one's hands — the terminal, prehensile part of the upper limb in humans and other primates, consisting of the wrist, metacarpal area, fingers, and thumb.
to disturb the peace — If someone is accused of disturbing the peace, they are accused of behaving in a noisy and offensive way in public.
to overstep the mark — If someone oversteps the mark, they behave in a way that is considered unacceptable.
to push the boat out — If you push the boat out, you spend a lot of money on something, especially in order to celebrate.
to put an end to sth — To put an end to something means to cause it to stop.
to put it to sb that — If you put it to someone that something is true, you suggest that it is true, especially when you think that they will be unwilling to admit this.
to scrape the barrel — If you say that someone is scraping the barrel, or scraping the bottom of the barrel, you disapprove of the fact that they are using or doing something of extremely poor quality.
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.
transformation point — a temperature at which the transformation of one microconstituent to another begins or ends during heating or cooling.
transposed conjugate — adjoint (def 2).
transposition cipher — a cipher that rearranges the letters of the plain text in a different sequence.
tropical disturbance — a very weak, or incipient, tropical cyclone.
tropospheric scatter — transmission of radio frequency signals that have been scattered from irregularities in the troposphere to locations hundreds of kilometers distant.
trumpet call for sth — a signal for something
turn an honest penny — to earn money fairly and honestly
upper yosemite falls — a section of Yosemite Falls in central California, in the Yosemite National Park that is 436 m (1430 ft) high
video graphics array — (hardware) (VGA) A display standard for IBM PCs, with 640 x 480 pixels in 16 colours and a 4:3 aspect ratio. There is also a text mode with 720 x 400 pixels. IBM technical references define the *product name* of their original VGA display board as "Video Graphics Array", in contrast to the preceding boards, the "Color Graphics Adapter" (CGA) and "Enhanced Graphics Adapter" (EGA). See also Super Video Graphics Adapter.
western roman empire — the westernmost of the two empires created by the division of the later Roman Empire, esp after its final severance from the Eastern Roman Empire (395 ad)
white bush (scallop) — a variety of summer squash having a saucer-shaped white fruit, scalloped around the edges
winter olympic games — an international contest of winter sports, esp skiing, held every four years
with a pinch of salt — without wholly believing; sceptically
working relationship — a relationship with a colleague, boss or employee

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