22-letter words containing p, e, r, i
- slip something over on — to move, flow, pass, or go smoothly or easily; glide; slide: Water slips off a smooth surface.
- someone's number is up — someone's time to die or suffer punishment has arrived
- south african republic — former name of Transvaal.
- special delivery stamp — a stamp of special design, having a value indicating an extra fee in addition to the regular postage, and affixed to an item of mail to ensure its special delivery.
- special drawing rights — the reserve assets of the International Monetary Fund on which member nations may draw in proportion to their contribution to the Fund
- special interest group — (SIG) One of several technical areas, sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery. Well-known SIGs include SIGPLAN (the Special Interest Group on Programming Languages), SIGARCH (the Special Interest Group for Computer Architecture) and SIGGRAPH (the Special Interest Group for Computer Graphics).
- special marine warning — a National Weather Service warning of high-wind conditions at sea that are expected to last for up to two hours, and generally result from convective storm systems, as thunderstorms or squall lines. Compare warning (def 3).
- special school teacher — a teacher who works in a school for children who are unable to benefit from ordinary schooling because they have learning difficulties, physical or mental handicaps, etc
- special-interest group — Also called special interest. a body of persons, corporation, or industry that seeks or receives benefits or privileged treatment, especially through legislation.
- speckle interferometry — a photographic technique for clarifying the telescopic images of a star by taking short exposures of the electronic images of the star's speckle pattern and extrapolating properties of the starlight to create a more accurate composite image.
- spectrophotometrically — an instrument for making photometric comparisons between parts of spectra.
- spectroscopic analysis — the use of spectroscopy in determining the chemical or physical constitution of substances
- spelling pronunciation — a pronunciation based on spelling, usually a variant of the traditional pronunciation. The spelling pronunciation of waistcoat is [weyst-koht] /ˈweɪstˌkoʊt/ (Show IPA) rather than [wes-kuh t] /ˈwɛs kət/ (Show IPA).
- spherical trigonometry — the branch of trigonometry that deals with spherical triangles.
- spinal accessory nerve — accessory nerve.
- split-dollar insurance — life insurance in which someone helps pay the premiums for another, as when an employer contributes to the premiums of an employee's policy.
- split-screen technique — a cinematic device by which two or more complete images are projected simultaneously onto separate parts of the screen
- spontaneous generation — abiogenesis.
- sports injuries clinic — a medical clinic that specializes in treating sports injuries
- st-pierre and miquelon — group of islands in the Atlantic, south of Newfoundland, constituting a political unit of France: includes the islands of St-Pierre (c. 10 sq mi, 26 sq km) & Miquelon & several islets: 93 sq mi (241 sq km); pop. 6,000
- stereospecific polymer — an organic polymer in which the steric arrangements of groups on asymmetric carbon atoms occur in a regular sequence
- structured programming — the design and coding of programs by a methodology (top-down) that successively breaks problems into smaller, nested subunits.
- subjective probability — a measure or estimate of the degree of confidence one may have in the occurrence of an event, defined by subjective criteria
- subornation of perjury — the offense of bribing or otherwise persuading another to commit perjury.
- supplementary question — a question asked in Parliament by an MP during Questions to the Prime Minister
- supreme judicial court — (often initial capital letters) the highest court in some states, as Massachusetts and Maine.
- tapered roller bearing — a rolling bearing that uses tapered rollers running in coned races and is able to accept axial thrust as well as providing shaft location
- temporal lobe epilepsy — a type of seizure disorder produced by abnormal electric discharges in the temporal lobe of the brain, characterized by the occurrence of any of a variety of auras followed by a brief loss of consciousness with accompanying repetitive, automatic movements.
- temporal-lobe epilepsy — a type of seizure disorder produced by abnormal electric discharges in the temporal lobe of the brain, characterized by the occurrence of any of a variety of auras followed by a brief loss of consciousness with accompanying repetitive, automatic movements.
- temporary life annuity — an annuity that ceases upon the death of the annuitant or upon the expiration of a period of time, whichever occurs first.
- the (great) depression — the period of economic depression which began in 1929 and lasted through most of the 1930s
- the atlantic provinces — certain of the Canadian provinces with coasts facing the Gulf of St Lawrence or the Atlantic: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador
- the caring professions — professions such as nursing and social work that are involved with looking after people who are ill or who need help in coping with their lives
- the maritime provinces — another name for the Atlantic Provinces of Canada, but often excluding Newfoundland and Labrador
- the medical profession — the occupation of working as a doctor of medicine
- the point of no return — If you say that you have reached the point of no return, you mean that you now have to continue with what you are doing and it is too late to stop.
- the tip of the iceberg — If you say that a problem is the tip of the iceberg, you mean that it is one small part of a much larger problem.
- the top of the morning — a morning greeting regarded as characteristic of Irishmen
- the-leaning-tower-pisa — a round, marble campanile in Pisa, Italy, begun in 1174 and now 17 feet (5.2 meters) out of the perpendicular in its height of 179 feet (54 meters).
- there is no comparison — If you say there is no comparison between one thing and another, you mean that you think the first thing is much better than the second, or very different from it.
- threespine stickleback — a widely distributed stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, occurring in marine, brackish, or fresh waters throughout the northern hemisphere.
- time complex simulator — (simulation) (Tcsim) Complex arithmetic version of Tsim. Contact: ZOLA Technologies.
- time-lapse photography — the photographing on motion-picture film of a slow and continuous process, as the growth of a plant, at regular intervals, especially by exposing a single frame at a time, for projection at a higher speed.
- to drop someone a line — If you drop someone a line, you write to them.
- to make a pig's ear of — If you make a pig's ear of something you are doing, you do it very badly.
- to preach to the choir — If you say that someone is preaching to the choir, you mean that they are presenting an argument or opinion to people who already agree with it.
- to swallow one's pride — If you swallow your pride, you decide to do something even though you think it will cause you to lose some respect.
- trade descriptions act — In Britain, the Trade Descriptions Act or the Trades Descriptions Act is a law designed to prevent companies from presenting their goods or services in a dishonest or misleading way.
- transient program area — (operating system) (TPA) The region of memory CP/M set aside for user programs.
- transition temperature — Physics. a temperature at which a substance undergoes some abrupt change in its properties, as when it passes from the normal to the superconducting state.