15-letter words containing s, a, t, u
- beat the bounds — (formerly) to define the boundaries of a parish by making a procession around them and hitting the ground with rods
- beat the bushes — a low plant with many branches that arise from or near the ground.
- bioastronautics — the study of the effects of space flight on living organisms
- bituminous coal — a soft black coal, rich in volatile hydrocarbons, that burns with a smoky yellow flame. Fixed carbon content: 46–86 per cent; calorific value: 1.93 × 107 – 3.63 × 107 J/kg
- black mountains — a mountain range running from N Monmouthshire and SE Powys (Wales) to SW Herefordshire (England). Highest peak: Waun Fach, 811 m (2660 ft)
- blue wood aster — a composite plant, Aster cordifolius, of North America, having heart-shaped leaves and pale-blue flowers.
- bluegrass state — Kentucky (used as a nickname).
- brachystomatous — having a short proboscis, as certain insects.
- branchiostegous — branchiostegal.
- breach of trust — a violation of duty by a trustee or any other person in a fiduciary position
- bronchial tubes — the bronchi or their smaller divisions
- brushback pitch — a fast ball deliberately thrown at or too near a batter's head
- brussels carpet — a worsted carpet with a heavy pile formed by uncut loops of wool on a linen warp
- building trades — the trades and professions concerned with the creation and finishing of buildings, such as carpenters, plasterers, masons, electricians, etc.
- bullock's heart — the large, edible fruit of a tropical American tree, Annona reticulata.
- bullock's-heart — the large, edible fruit of a tropical American tree, Annona reticulata.
- buried treasure — A surprising piece of code found in some program. While usually not wrong, it tends to vary from crufty to bletcherous, and has lain undiscovered only because it was functionally correct, however horrible it is. Used sarcastically, because what is found is anything *but* treasure. Buried treasure almost always needs to be dug up and removed. "I just found that the scheduler sorts its queue using bubble sort! Buried treasure!"
- burt l standish — Burt L. pseudonym of Gilbert Patten.
- butler's pantry — a pantry in a large house where crockery, glassware, cutlery, etc is kept
- butter spreader — a small knife with a wide, flat blade, as for spreading butter on bread or rolls.
- butter-and-eggs — any of various plants, such as toadflax, the flowers of which are of two shades of yellow
- buttress thread — a screw thread having one flank that is vertical while the other is inclined, and a flat top and bottom: used in machine tools and designed to withstand heavy thrust in one direction
- buys-ballot law — the law stating that if one stands with one's back to the wind, in the Northern Hemisphere the atmospheric pressure will be lower on one's left and in the Southern Hemisphere it will be lower on one's right: descriptive of the relationship of horizontal winds to atmospheric pressure.
- by all accounts — according to everyone
- cactus geranium — a plant, Pelargonium echinatum, of the geranium family, native to southern Africa, having prickly stipules and white or reddish flowers.
- cadmium sulfate — a water-soluble compound, CdSO 4 , of colorless crystals, used as an antiseptic.
- calabash nutmeg — a tropical African shrub, Monodora myristica, whose oily aromatic seeds can be used as nutmegs: family Annonaceae
- calcareous tufa — tufa
- calcium sulfate — Calcium sulfate is a white crystalline salt, used as a tablet diluent.
- calculated risk — a chance of failure, the probability of which is estimated before some action is undertaken.
- camelback truss — a roof truss having upper and lower chords curving upward from a common point at each side.
- capital surplus — any surplus of a business firm not derived from direct earnings or profits
- capitulationism — advocacy or approval of capitulation.
- capitulationist — advocacy or approval of capitulation.
- carl xvi gustaf — born 1946, king of Sweden from 1973
- carpometacarpus — a bone in the wing of a bird that consists of the metacarpal bones and some of the carpal bones fused together
- cartesian doubt — willful suspension of all interpretations of experience that are not absolutely certain: used as a method of deriving, by elimination of such uncertainties, axioms upon which to base theories.
- cast around for — If you cast around for something or cast about for it, you try to find it or think of it.
- castellated nut — a nut that has indentations similar to battlements
- casters-up mode — [IBM, probably from slang belly up] Yet another synonym for "broken" or "down". Usually connotes a major failure. A system (hardware or software) which is "down" may be already being restarted before the failure is noticed, whereas one which is "casters up" is usually a good excuse to take the rest of the day off (as long as you're not responsible for fixing it).
- cause of action — the facts alleged in a complaint, upon which is based the plaintiff's right to a legal remedy in a court of law
- caustic alcohol — sodium ethylate.
- caustic surface — a surface that envelopes the light rays reflected or refracted by a curved surface
- central sudanic — a group of languages belonging to the Nilo-Saharan family, spoken in the northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Uganda, southern Sudan, Chad, and the Central African Republic, and including Mangbetu.
- ceteris paribus — other things being equal
- chantilly-sauce — a town in N France, N of Paris: lace manufacture.
- character study — a work of fiction in which the delineation of the central character's personality is more important than the plot.
- charles doughty — Charles Montagu [mon-tuh-gyoo] /ˈmɒn təˌgyu/ (Show IPA), 1843–1926, English traveler and writer.
- charlotte russe — a cold dessert made in a mould with sponge fingers enclosing a mixture of whipped cream, custard, etc
- chemoautotrophs — Plural form of chemoautotroph.