20-letter words containing s, a, l, t
- prepositional phrase — a phrase consisting of a preposition, its object, which is usually a noun or a pronoun, and any modifiers of the object, as in the gray desk I use.
- prescription glasses — corrective spectacles
- presidential primary — a direct primary for the selection of state delegates to a national party convention and the expression of preference for a U.S. presidential nominee.
- property speculation — the buying or selling of property in the hope of deriving capital gains
- proportional spacing — a feature of some typewriters and other output devices whereby the space allotted to each character is determined by the width of the character
- psychiatric hospital — institution treating mental disorders
- psychological moment — the proper or critical time for achieving a desired result: She found the right psychological moment to make her request.
- public administrator — an official of a city, county, or state government.
- pyrenees-atlantiques — a department in SW France. 2978 sq. mi. (7710 sq. km). Capital: Pau.
- qualitative analysis — the analysis of a substance in order to ascertain the nature of its chemical constituents.
- quasi-constitutional — of or relating to the constitution of a state, organization, etc.
- quasi-stellar object — quasar. Abbreviation: QSO.
- queensland arrowroot — a South American and West Indian herb, Canna edulis, having large sheathing leaves, red flowers, and edible rhizomes.
- queensland cane toad — a toad, Bufo marinus, introduced into Queensland from Hawaii to control insect pests, becoming a pest itself
- raise one's glass to — to drink the health of; drink a toast to
- rattlesnake plantain — any of several low, terrestrial orchids, as Goodyera repens, of northern temperate regions, having a basal rosette of leaves with white veins and a one-sided spike of white flowers.
- real-estate register — (in the United States) an annual directory that lists available properties and provides contact details for real estate companies
- real-time processing — data-processing by a computer which receives constantly changing data, such as information relating to air-traffic control, travel booking systems, etc, and processes it sufficiently rapidly to be able to control the source of the data
- receivables turnover — A receivables turnover is a measure of cash flow that is calculated by dividing net credit sales by average accounts receivable.
- refracting telescope — an optical instrument for making distant objects appear larger and therefore nearer. One of the two principal forms (refracting telescope) consists essentially of an objective lens set into one end of a tube and an adjustable eyepiece or combination of lenses set into the other end of a tube that slides into the first and through which the enlarged object is viewed directly; the other form (reflecting telescope) has a concave mirror that gathers light from the object and focuses it into an adjustable eyepiece or combination of lenses through which the reflection of the object is enlarged and viewed. Compare radio telescope.
- refuse disposal unit — a unit or part of a sink that disposes of waste food, etc, by grinding
- relative atomic mass — the ratio of the average mass per atom of the naturally occurring form of an element to one-twelfth the mass of an atom of carbon-12
- request for proposal — (programming) (RFP) The publication by a prospective software purchaser of details of the required system in order to attract offers by software developers to supply it. Software development under contract starts with the selection of the software developer by the customer. A request for proposal (also called in Britain an "invitation to tender") is the beginning of the selection process.
- royal air force list — an official list of all serving commissioned officers of the RAF and reserve officers liable for recall
- royal british legion — an organization founded in 1921 to provide services and assistance for former members of the armed forces
- royal leamington spa — a city in Warwickshire, central England: health resort.
- sailor's breastplate — a knot consisting of three overlapping loops formed by a single rope passed alternately over and under itself at crossings.
- saint james's palace — a palace in London, England: the royal residence from the time of Henry VIII until the accession of Victoria.
- saint john ambulance — an organization that provides first aid and first-aid training
- saint mary magdalene — a woman of Magdala (ˈmæɡdələ ) in Galilee whom Jesus cured of evil spirits (Luke 8:2) and who is often identified with the sinful woman of Luke 7:36–50. In Christian tradition she is usually taken to have been a prostitute. Feast day: July 22
- sales representative — a person or organization designated by a company to solicit business on its behalf in a specified territory or foreign country: I suggest you contact our Chicago sales representative.
- satellite chromosome — a type of densely staining chromosome of uncertain biological function, found in many plant and animal species.
- satellite navigation — navigation using data received from satellites
- satellite photograph — a photograph taken by an artificial satellite from space
- satellite television — television transmitted from an artificial satellite at a power suitable for direct reception in the home
- schizoid personality — sb with identity disorder
- school without walls — a nontraditional educational program that uses community facilities as learning resources.
- scientific socialism — Marxist socialism
- scottish nationalism — a political ideology advocating the independence of Scotland
- season ticket holder — a person who has a season ticket
- second international — an international association formed in 1889 in Paris, uniting socialistic groups or parties of various countries and holding international congresses from time to time: in 1923 it joined with the Vienna International to form the Labor and Socialist International. Compare international (def 6).
- second law of motion — any of three laws of classical mechanics, either the law that a body remains at rest or in motion with a constant velocity unless an external force acts on the body (first law of motion) the law that the sum of the forces acting on a body is equal to the product of the mass of the body and the acceleration produced by the forces, with motion in the direction of the resultant of the forces (second law of motion) or the law that for every force acting on a body, the body exerts a force having equal magnitude and the opposite direction along the same line of action as the original force (third law of motion or law of action and reaction)
- second-class citizen — a citizen, especially a member of a minority group, who is denied the social, political, and economic benefits of citizenship.
- secure sockets layer — (networking, security) (SSL) A protocol designed by Netscape Communications Corporation to provide secure communications over the Internet using asymmetric key encryption. SSL is layered beneath application protocols such as HTTP, SMTP, Telnet, FTP, Gopher and NNTP and is layered above the connection protocol TCP/IP. It is used by the HTTPS access method.
- see the light of day — come into being
- see with half an eye — the organ of sight, in vertebrates typically one of a pair of spherical bodies contained in an orbit of the skull and in humans appearing externally as a dense, white, curved membrane, or sclera, surrounding a circular, colored portion, or iris, that is covered by a clear, curved membrane, or cornea, and in the center of which is an opening, or pupil, through which light passes to the retina.
- self-belaying system — (in climbing) equipment used to pay out rope as required and thus enable a climber to self-belay
- self-differentiating — to form or mark differently from other such things; distinguish.
- sellers screw thread — a thread form in a system of standard sizes proposed by Sellers in 1884 and later accepted as standard in the USA, having a 60° flank angle with a flat top and foot
- semiautobiographical — pertaining to or being a fictionalized account of an author's own life.