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

spotted crane's-bill — the American wild geranium, Geranium maculatum.
spotted joe-pye weed — joe-pye weed (def 2).
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
string correspondent — stringer (def 6).
subpoena duces tecum — a writ directing a person to appear in court and to bring some document described in the writ.
subscription edition — an edition of one or more volumes for which a number of prospective purchasers place orders, usually in advance of publication.
subscription library — a commercial lending library
superior conjunction — the alignment of an inferior planet and the sun in which the planet is at the far side of the sun from the earth.
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
synoptic meteorology — a branch of meteorology analyzing data collected simultaneously over a wide region, for the purpose of weather forecasting.
synthetic philosophy — the philosophy of Herbert Spencer, intended as a synthesis of all the sciences.
take pity on someone — If you take pity on someone, you feel sorry for them and help them.
telephone subscriber — a person who subscribes to a telephone service
television programme — a programme broadcast on television
the legal profession — the profession of law
the price of someone — what someone deserves, esp a fitting punishment
the thinking process — thought; the activity of thinking
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 give up the ghost — If someone gives up the ghost, they stop trying to do something because they no longer believe they can do it successfully. If a machine gives up the ghost, it stops working.
to hope for the best — If you are in a difficult situation and do something and hope for the best, you hope that everything will happen in the way you want, although you know that it may not.
to line your pockets — If you say that someone is lining their own or someone else's pockets, you disapprove of them because they are making money dishonestly or unfairly.
to overstep the mark — If someone oversteps the mark, they behave in a way that is considered unacceptable.
to pull your punches — If you say that someone does not pull their punches when they are criticizing a person or thing, you mean that they say exactly what they think, even though this might upset or offend people.
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 put sth to rights — to make something consistent with justice, correctness, or orderly arrangement
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 show sb the ropes — to show someone how to do a particular job or task
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
under the impression — If you are under the impression that something is the case, you believe that it is the case, usually when it is not actually the case.
under the microscope — If you say that something is under the microscope, you mean that it is being studied very closely, usually because it is believed that something is wrong with it.
unemployment figures — statistics relating to the number of people who are out of work
unique selling point — a feature of a product that is emphasized in advertising material and sales presentations
university professor — a professor entitled to teach courses in more than one field or discipline at a university.

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