20-letter words containing s, e, w, d
- saint andrew's cross — a low evergreen shrub, Ascyrum hypericoides, native to temperate and subtropical America, having flowers in clusters of three: often cultivated.
- schwarzschild sphere — the sphere which surrounds a non-rotating uncharged black hole, from within which no information can escape because of gravitational forces
- 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)
- 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
- sharp-tailed sparrow — a sparrow, Ammospiza caudacuta, inhabiting salt marshes in North America, having narrow, sharply pointed tail feathers.
- software methodology — (programming) The study of how to navigate through each phase of the software process model (determining data, control, or uses hierarchies, partitioning functions, and allocating requirements) and how to represent phase products (structure charts, stimulus-response threads, and state transition diagrams).
- spotted joe-pye weed — joe-pye weed (def 2).
- spread like wildfire — If something, especially news or a rumour, spreads like wildfire, it spreads extremely quickly.
- stained glass window — a window made of coloured glass, often showing religious pictures and usually seen in churches
- swan's neck pediment — a broken pediment, the outline of which consists of a pair of S -curves tangent to the cornice level at the ends of the pediment, rising to a pair of scrolls on either side of the center, where a finial often rises between the scrolls.
- 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
- the (great) unwashed — The unwashed or the great unwashed is a way of referring to poor or ordinary people.
- the last word in sth — If you say that something is the last word in luxury, comfort, or some other quality, you are emphasizing that it has a great deal of this quality.
- the whole nine yards — everything that is required; the whole thing
- 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 let the side down — If you say that someone has let the side down, you mean that they have embarrassed their family or friends by behaving badly or not doing well at something.
- 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.
- townsend's solitaire — a brownish, slender-billed songbird, Myadestes townsendi, of western North America.
- twiddle one's thumbs — to turn about or play with lightly or idly, especially with the fingers; twirl.
- twilight of the gods — Götterdämmerung.
- twisted stomach worm — stomach worm.
- under/below strength — If an army or team is under strength or below strength, it does not have all the members that it needs or usually has.
- unified screw thread — a screw thread system introduced for defence equipment (1939–44), in which the thread form and pitch were a compromise between British Standard Whitworth and American Standard Sellers: adopted by the International Standards Organization
- 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
- wait-and-see tactics — methods of achieving what you want in a particular political situation that involve biding your time for events to run their course
- webster's dictionary — Informal. a dictionary of the English language, especially American English, such as Dictionary.com.
- weights and measures — units or standards of measurement
- western india states — a former association of states in W India, largely on Kathiawar Peninsula.
- weston standard cell — a primary cell used as a standard of emf, producing 1.018636 volts: consists of a mercury anode and a cadmium amalgam cathode in an electrolyte of saturated cadmium sulphate
- william westmoreland — William Childs [chahyldz] /tʃaɪldz/ (Show IPA), 1914–2005, U.S. army officer: commander of U.S. forces in Vietnam and Thailand 1964–68.
- wilson cloud chamber — cloud chamber.
- winter of discontent — the winter of 1978–1979, during which numerous strikes, esp by local authority workers, took place against a background of a government pay freeze
- with all due respect — despite my regard for you
- woolly spider monkey — a rare related monkey, Brachyteles arachnoides, of SE Brazil
- woolsorters' disease — pulmonary anthrax in humans, caused by inhaling the spores of Bacillus anthracis, which may contaminate wool fleece.
- yellow-breasted chat — an American warbler, Icteria virens, having a yellow throat and breast and greenish-brown upper parts and noted for imitating the songs of other species.