19-letter words containing s, f, e
- pistol-handle knife — a table knife, especially of the 18th century, having a slightly curved handle resembling the grip of a flintlock pistol.
- plastic deformation — In plastic deformation a material changes shape when a stress is applied to it and does not go back to its original state when the stress is removed.
- play fast and loose — a dramatic composition or piece; drama.
- play footsie (with) — to touch feet or rub knees (with) in a caressing way, as under the table
- post office problem — (algorithm) Given a set of points (in N dimensions), find another point which minimises the sum of the distances from that point to each of the others.
- post-and-rail fence — a fence constructed of upright wooden posts with horizontal timber slotted through it
- potassium bisulfate — a colorless, crystalline, water-soluble solid, KHSO 4 , used chiefly in the conversion of tartrates to bitartrates.
- presumption of fact — a presumption based on experience or knowledge of the relationship between a known fact and a fact inferred from it.
- private first class — a soldier ranking above a private and below a corporal or specialist fourth class in the U.S. Army, and above a private and below a lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps.
- process performance — Process performance is a measure of how efficient or effective a process is.
- professional advice — advice given by someone trained in a particular and relevant profession or job
- professional school — a postgraduate school or college which trains students for a particular profession
- professionalization — to give a professional character or status to; make into or establish as a profession.
- pseudo-professional — following an occupation as a means of livelihood or for gain: a professional builder.
- pugwash conferences — international peace conferences of scientists held regularly to discuss world problems: Nobel peace prize 1995 awarded to Joseph Rotblat (1908–2005) , one of the founders of the conferences, secretary-general (1957–73), and president (1988–97)
- put a figure on sth — When you put a figure on an amount, you say exactly how much it is.
- put one's finger on — any of the terminal members of the hand, especially one other than the thumb.
- put one's foot down — (in vertebrates) the terminal part of the leg, below the ankle joint, on which the body stands and moves.
- queen street farmer — a businessman who runs a farm, often for a tax loss
- queensland lungfish — a lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, reaching a length of six feet: occurs in Queensland rivers but introduced elsewhere
- radius of curvature — the absolute value of the reciprocal of the curvature at a point on a curve.
- reef whitetip shark — whitetip shark (def 1).
- reflux oesophagitis — inflammation of the gullet caused by regurgitation of stomach acids, producing heartburn: may be associated with a hiatus hernia
- refreshable display — braille display
- republic of letters — the collective body of literary people.
- research fellowship — the position or office of someone who conducts academic research into a subject at a university, etc
- resign oneself (to) — to submit or become reconciled (to); accept (something) passively
- respiratory failure — a condition in which the respiratory system is unable to provide an adequate supply of oxygen or to remove carbon dioxide efficiently
- ring-spinning frame — a machine containing the ring, traveler, and bobbin used in spinning yarn.
- risk excess of loss — Risk excess of loss is a type of reinsurance that is given to an insurer to protect against a single loss or risk incurred at a specified amount.
- ruffini's corpuscle — an end organ of certain sensory neurons that branches out parallel to the skin and responds to steady pressure.
- saccharofarinaceous — pertaining to or consisting of sugar and meal.
- sacrifice operative — a euphemistic term for a suicide bomber
- safety-squeeze-play — Baseball. Also called suicide squeeze, suicide squeeze play. a play executed when there is a runner on third base and usually not more than one out, in which the runner starts for home as soon as the pitcher makes a motion to pitch, and the batter bunts. Also called safety squeeze, safety squeeze play. a similar play in which the runner on third base waits until the batter has successfully bunted before trying to score.
- san fernando valley — valley in SW Calif., partly in NW Los Angeles: c. 260 sq mi (673 sq km)
- san francisco peaks — a mountain mass in N Arizona: highest point in the state, Humphrey's Peak, 12,611 feet (3845 meters).
- savings certificate — a certificate of deposit for a specific sum of money in a savings account, especially a deposit for a fixed term at a specified interest rate.
- scare the pants off — to scare extremely
- school of the squad — an institution where instruction is given, especially to persons under college age: The children are at school.
- scientific notation — a method for expressing a given quantity as a number having significant digits necessary for a specified degree of accuracy, multiplied by 10 to the appropriate power, as 1385.62 written as 1.386 × 10 3 .
- scratch the surface — examine superficially
- sea floor spreading — a process in which new ocean floor is created as molten material from the earth's mantle rises in margins between plates or ridges and spreads out.
- sea of tranquillity — Astronomy. Mare Tranquillitatis.
- sea-floor spreading — a process in which new ocean floor is created as molten material from the earth's mantle rises in margins between plates or ridges and spreads out.
- secondary infection — an infection resulting from another infection
- self identification — identification of oneself with some other person or thing.
- self-administration — the management of any office, business, or organization; direction.
- self-aggrandizement — increase of one's own power, wealth, etc., usually aggressively.
- self-congratulating — the expression or feeling of uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's own accomplishment, good fortune, etc.; complacency.
- self-congratulation — the expression or feeling of uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one's own accomplishment, good fortune, etc.; complacency.