14-letter words containing s, h, e, t
- scratch monkey — (humour) As in "Before testing or reconfiguring, always mount a scratch monkey", a proverb used to advise caution when dealing with irreplaceable data or devices. Used to refer to any scratch volume hooked to a computer during any risky operation as a replacement for some precious resource or data that might otherwise get trashed. This term preserves the memory of Mabel, the Swimming Wonder Monkey, star of a biological research program at the University of Toronto. Mabel was not (so the legend goes) your ordinary monkey; the university had spent years teaching her how to swim, breathing through a regulator, in order to study the effects of different gas mixtures on her physiology. Mabel suffered an untimely demise one day when a DEC engineer troubleshooting a crash on the program's VAX inadvertently interfered with some custom hardware that was wired to Mabel. It is reported that, after calming down an understandably irate customer sufficiently to ascertain the facts of the matter, a DEC troubleshooter called up the field circus manager responsible and asked him sweetly, "Can you swim?" Not all the consequences to humans were so amusing; the sysop of the machine in question was nearly thrown in jail at the behest of certain clueless droids at the local "humane" society. The moral is clear: When in doubt, always mount a scratch monkey. A corespondent adds: The details you give are somewhat consistent with the version I recall from the Digital "War Stories" notesfile, but the name "Mabel" and the swimming bit were not mentioned, IIRC. Also, there's a very detailed account that claims that three monkies died in the incident, not just one. I believe Eric Postpischil wrote the original story at DEC, so his coming back with a different version leads me to wonder whether there ever was a real Scratch Monkey incident.
- scratchbuilder — a person who scratchbuilds
- sea of okhotsk — part of the NW Pacific, surrounded by the Kamchatka Peninsula, the Kurile Islands, Sakhalin Island, and the E coast of Siberia. Area: 1 589 840 sq km (613 838 sq miles)
- search warrant — a court order authorizing the examination of a dwelling or other private premises by police officials, as for stolen goods.
- second thought — Often, second thoughts. reservation about a previous action, position, decision, judgment, or the like: He had second thoughts about his decision.
- secret history — a version of historical events which differs from the official or commonly accepted record and purports to be the true version
- security check — the process of checking that a person is not armed, or carrying something dangerous
- seeing as/that — You can use seeing that or seeing as to introduce a reason for what you are saying.
- segmental arch — a shallow arch not including a complete semicircle
- self-righteous — confident of one's own righteousness, especially when smugly moralistic and intolerant of the opinions and behavior of others.
- self-slaughter — suicide.
- semito-hamitic — a former name for the Afro-Asiatic family of languages
- servant church — the attitude or practices of a church whose avowed purpose is to serve the world.
- serve sb right — If you say it serves someone right when something unpleasant happens to them, you mean that it is their own fault and you have no sympathy for them.
- seventh avenue — an avenue in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City.
- seventh heaven — (especially in Islam and the cabala) the highest heaven, where God and the most exalted angels dwell.
- seventh-grader — a student in the seventh year of school, usually 11 to 13 years old
- seventy-eighth — next after the seventy-seventh; being the ordinal number for 78.
- seventy-fourth — next after the seventy-third; being the ordinal number for 74.
- shabby-genteel — trying to maintain dignity and self-respect despite shabbiness.
- shadow cabinet — (in the British Parliament) a group of prominent members of the opposition who are expected to hold positions in the cabinet when their party assumes power.
- shaker heights — a city in NE Ohio, near Cleveland.
- shark-infested — (of a body of water) known to contain large numbers of sharks, and therefore considered to be dangerous
- sharp practice — You can use sharp practice to refer to an action or a way of behaving, especially in business or professional matters, that you think is clever but dishonest.
- sharp-featured — having very clearly defined facial features
- sharp-tempered — with a tendency to become suddenly angry
- shear strength — the degree to which a material or bond is able to resist shear
- sheepdog trial — a competition in which sheepdogs are tested in their tasks
- sheva brachoth — the seven blessings said during the marriage service and repeated at the celebration thereafter
- shield cricket — the interstate cricket competition held for the Sheffield Shield
- shift register — (in digital circuits) a register in which all bits can be shifted one or more positions to the left or to the right
- shipping agent — a person or company whose business is to prepare shipping documents, arrange shipping space and insurance, and deal with customs requirements
- shirley temple — Shirley (Shirley Temple Black) 1928–2014, U.S. film actress, famous for child roles during the 1930s, and diplomat.
- shit disturber — a person who enjoys causing controversy or upsetting people
- shoot the bull — exaggerations; lies; nonsense.
- shooting brake — station wagon.
- shooting lodge — a country house providing accommodation for a shooting party during the shooting season
- shooting range — place for practising with guns
- shooting spree — a series of shootings by a mad person
- short covering — purchases that close out short sales on stocks or commodities.
- short interest — the total amount by which a single seller or all sellers are short in a particular stock or commodity or in the market as a whole.
- short trousers — knee-length trousers formerly worn by small boys
- short-tempered — having a quick, hasty temper; irascible.
- shortened form — an abbreviated form of a multisyllable word; clipped form.
- shortleaf pine — a pine, Pinus echinata, of the southern U.S., having short, flexible leaves.
- shoulder joint — the joint at the junction of the forelimb with the pectoral girdle
- shoulder patch — a cloth emblem worn on the upper part of a sleeve of a uniform typically as identification of the organization to which the wearer is assigned.
- shoulder strap — a strap worn over the shoulder, as to support a garment.
- shower curtain — waterproof sheet around a shower
- shredded wheat — a breakfast cereal made by shredding cooked, dried whole wheat and baking or toasting it in biscuit- or spoon-size pieces.