20-letter words containing s, p, e, d
- possessive adjective — See at possessive (def 4a).
- post-order traversal — traversal
- postal delivery zone — zone (def 10).
- postcode prescribing — the practice of prescribing more or less expensive and effective medical treatments to patients depending on where they live in a country, and which treatments their health board is willing and able to provide
- posted write-through — A cache with a posted write-through policy (e.g. Intel 80386) delays the write-back to main memory until the bus is not in use.
- postgraduate student — a student who has obtained a degree from a university, etc, and is pursuing studies for a more advanced qualification
- postnatal depression — a form of clinical depression that occurs in mothers after the birth of a baby
- potassium dichromate — an orange-red crystalline soluble solid substance that is a good oxidizing agent and is used in making chrome pigments and as a bleaching agent. Formula: K2Cr2O7
- pound cost averaging — a method of accumulating capital by investing a fixed sum in a particular security at regular intervals, in order to achieve an average purchase price below the arithmetic average of the market prices on the purchase dates
- presidential primary — a direct primary for the selection of state delegates to a national party convention and the expression of preference for a U.S. presidential nominee.
- prestressed concrete — concrete reinforced with wire strands, pretensioned or post-tensioned within their elastic limit to give an active resistance to loads.
- price discrimination — the practice of offering identical goods to different buyers at different prices, when the goods cost the same.
- prince edward island — an island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, forming a province of Canada: 2184 sq. mi. (5655 sq. km). Capital: Charlottetown.
- prince rupert's drop — a glass bead in the shape of a teardrop, a by-product of the glass-making process, formed by molten glass falling into water. The body of the drop can withstand great force, for example a hammer blow, but the whole will explode if the tail is nipped or the surface scored
- prince william sound — a sound in the Gulf of Alaska, on the S coast of Alaska: S end of Trans-Alaska oil pipeline at port of Valdez.
- prohibited substance — a substance, such as a drug, etc, that is banned or forbidden by law or other authority
- prosthetic dentistry — prosthodontics.
- pseudo-psychological — of or relating to psychology.
- pseudoparenchymatous — (in certain fungi and red algae) a compact mass of tissue, made up of interwoven hyphae or filaments, that superficially resembles plant tissue.
- pure lambda-calculus — Lambda-calculus with no constants, only functions expressed as lambda abstractions.
- rapid transit system — a rail or other system providing rapid public transport
- raynaud's phenomenon — a secondary circulatory disorder, often associated with a primary vascular disease, characterized by changes of blood flow resulting in white, bluish, or red hands and feet
- refuse disposal unit — a unit or part of a sink that disposes of waste food, etc, by grinding
- republic of maldives — a republic occupying an archipelago of 1087 coral islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka: came under British protection in 1887; became independent in 1965 and a republic in 1968; member of the Commonwealth (1982–2016). The economy and infrastructure were severely damaged in the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004. Official language: Divehi. Official religion: (Sunni) Muslim. Currency: rufiyaa. Capital: Malé. Pop: 393 988 (2013 est). Area: 298 sq km (115 sq miles)
- revolving presidency — a form of presidency in which the president and vice-president, or countries or bodies acting as such, switch roles after a set period and then back again and so on
- ring-necked pheasant — a gallinaceous Asian bird, Phasianus colchicus, having a white band around its neck, introduced into Great Britain, North America, and the Hawaiian Islands.
- schizoid personality — sb with identity disorder
- schwarzschild sphere — the sphere which surrounds a non-rotating uncharged black hole, from within which no information can escape because of gravitational forces
- second-hand bookshop — a shop selling second-hand books
- send someone packing — to dismiss or get rid of (someone) peremptorily
- sharp-tailed sparrow — a sparrow, Ammospiza caudacuta, inhabiting salt marshes in North America, having narrow, sharply pointed tail feathers.
- societal development — the formation and transformation of social life, customs, institutions, etc.
- sound motion picture — a motion picture with a soundtrack.
- specific conductance — conductivity (def 2).
- specific-conductance — conductivity (def 2).
- spherical coordinate — Usually, spherical coordinates. any of three coordinates used to locate a point in space by the length of its radius vector and the angles this vector makes with two perpendicular polar planes.
- spiral of archimedes — a curve that is the locus of a point that moves outward with uniform speed along a vector, beginning at the origin, while the vector rotates about the origin with uniform angular velocity. Equation (in polar coordinates): r = aθ.
- split the difference — the state or relation of being different; dissimilarity: There is a great difference between the two.
- spotted crane's-bill — the American wild geranium, Geranium maculatum.
- 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.
- spuyten duyvil creek — a channel in New York City at the north end of Manhattan Island, connecting the Hudson and Harlem rivers.
- st.-germain-des-pres — an area in Paris, on the Left Bank.
- star spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
- star-spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
- ste. anne de beaupre — a village in S Quebec, in SE Canada, on the St. Lawrence, NE of Quebec: Roman Catholic shrine.
- steak and kidney pie — meat pastry
- string correspondent — stringer (def 6).
- subpoena duces tecum — a writ directing a person to appear in court and to bring some document described in the writ.
- subscription edition — an edition of one or more volumes for which a number of prospective purchasers place orders, usually in advance of publication.