20-letter words containing s, e, l, f, n, r
- islets of langerhans — biology: pancreatic cells
- joint life insurance — life insurance covering two or more persons, the benefits of which are paid after the first person dies.
- law of large numbers — the theorem in probability theory that the number of successes increases as the number of experiments increases and approximates the probability times the number of experiments for a large number of experiments.
- law of superposition — Geology. a basic law of geochronology, stating that in any undisturbed sequence of rocks deposited in layers, the youngest layer is on top and the oldest on bottom, each layer being younger than the one beneath it and older than the one above it.
- life-support machine — A life-support machine is the equipment that is used to keep a person alive when they are very ill and cannot breathe without help.
- like a house on fire — If two people get on like a house on fire, they quickly become close friends, for example because they have many interests in common.
- like a ton of bricks — (used esp of the manner of punishing or reprimanding someone) with great force; severely
- margaret of scotland — Saint. 1045–93, queen consort of Malcolm III of Scotland. Her piety and benefactions to the church led to her canonization (1250). Feast days: June 10, Nov 16
- mitral insufficiency — abnormal closure of the mitral valve resulting in regurgitation of blood into the atrium and leading to reduced heart function or heart failure.
- most general unifier — (logic) If U is the most general unifier of a set of expressions then any other unifier, V, can be expressed as V = UW, where W is another substitution. See also unification.
- new zealand fur seal — an Australasian seal, Arctocephalus forsteri
- olfactory anesthesia — absence or loss of the sense of smell.
- paper qualifications — qualifications gained through official examinations, etc, rather than through experience
- pappus of alexandria — 3rd century bc, Greek mathematician, whose eight-volume Synagoge is a valuable source of information about Greek mathematics
- permonosulfuric acid — persulfuric acid (def 1).
- pest control officer — a person who gets rid of pests such as rats and mice
- reflecting 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.
- 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
- second earl of essex — 2nd Earl of, Devereux, Robert.
- self-differentiating — to form or mark differently from other such things; distinguish.
- sergeant first class — a noncommissioned officer ranking next above a staff sergeant and below a first or master sergeant.
- snowflake generation — the generation of people who became adults in the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more prone to taking offence than previous generations
- solitary confinement — the confinement of a prisoner in a cell or other place in which he or she is completely isolated from others.
- split the difference — the state or relation of being different; dissimilarity: There is a great difference between the two.
- squirrel's-foot fern — ball fern.
- strong nuclear force — an interaction between elementary particles responsible for the forces between nucleons in the nucleus. It operates at distances less than about 10–15 metres, and is about a hundred times more powerful than the electromagnetic interaction
- the legal profession — the profession of law
- there is no call for — If you say that there is no call for someone to behave in a particular way, you are criticizing their behaviour, usually because you think it is rude.
- thomas of erceldoune — Thomas of, Thomas of Erceldoune.
- thorn in one's flesh — a sharp excrescence on a plant, especially a sharp-pointed aborted branch; spine; prickle.
- to burst into flames — If something bursts into flames or bursts into flame, it suddenly starts burning strongly.
- to fall on deaf ears — If a request falls on deaf ears or if the person to whom the request is made turns a deaf ear to it, they take no notice of it.
- unemployment figures — statistics relating to the number of people who are out of work
- universal quantifier — a quantifier indicating that the sentential function within its scope is true for all values of any variable included in the quantifier.
- van der waals forces — weak electrostatic forces between atoms and molecules caused by transient distortions in the distribution of electrons in the interacting atoms or molecules
- viscount northcliffe — Viscount, Alfred Charles William Harmsworth.
- whole-life insurance — a type of insurance with a savings element that is guaranteed to pay out on death provided premiums have been paid as required by the policy