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19-letter words containing s, u, p

  • public-interest law — a branch of law that often utilizes class-action suits to protect the interest of a large group or of the public at large, as in matters relating to racial discrimination, air pollution, etc.
  • puerperal psychosis — a mental disorder sometimes occurring in women after childbirth, characterized by deep depression, delusions of the child's death, and homicidal feelings towards the child
  • 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)
  • pull in one's horns — one of the bony, permanent, hollow paired growths, often curved and pointed, that project from the upper part of the head of certain ungulate mammals, as cattle, sheep, goats, or antelopes.
  • pull one's socks up — to make a determined effort, esp in order to regain control of a situation
  • punch and judy show — A Punch and Judy show is a puppet show for children, often performed at fairs or at the seaside. Punch and Judy, the two main characters, are always fighting.
  • punch-and-judy show — a puppet show having a conventional plot consisting chiefly of slapstick humor and the tragicomic misadventures of the grotesque, hook-nosed, humpback buffoon Punch and his wife Judy.
  • purse-string suture — a suture for a circular opening, stitched around the edge, that closes it when pulled.
  • push comes to shove — matters become serious or reach a critical point where some action or decision is required
  • put a figure on sth — When you put a figure on an amount, you say exactly how much it is.
  • put one's back into — to devote all one's strength to (a task)
  • 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.
  • put one's skates on — ice skate (def 1).
  • put sth into action — If you put an idea or policy into action, you begin to use it or cause it to operate.
  • put sth to the test — If you put something to the test, you find out how useful or effective it is by using it.
  • put the skids under — a plank, bar, log, or the like, especially one of a pair, on which something heavy may be slid or rolled along.
  • put up the shutters — to close business at the end of the day or permanently
  • quartermaster corps — the branch of the U.S. Army responsible for supplying food, clothing, fuel, and equipment and for the operation of commissaries, laundries, etc.
  • rap on the knuckles — a mild reprimand or light sentence
  • reflux oesophagitis — inflammation of the gullet caused by regurgitation of stomach acids, producing heartburn: may be associated with a hiatus hernia
  • republic of letters — the collective body of literary people.
  • reserved occupation — in time of war, an occupation from which one will not be called up for military service
  • respiratory failure — a condition in which the respiratory system is unable to provide an adequate supply of oxygen or to remove carbon dioxide efficiently
  • resplendent quetzal — See under quetzal (def 1).
  • ruffini's corpuscle — an end organ of certain sensory neurons that branches out parallel to the skin and responds to steady pressure.
  • saddharma-pundarika — a Mahayana sutra, forming with its references to Amida and the Bodhisattvas the basis for the doctrine that there is something of Buddha in everyone, so that salvation is universally available: a central text of Mahayana Buddhism.
  • 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.
  • samuel de champlain — Samuel de [sam-yoo-uh l duh;; French sa-my-el duh] /ˈsæm yu əl də;; French sa müˈɛl də/ (Show IPA), 1567–1635, French explorer in the Americas: founder of Quebec; first colonial governor 1633–35.
  • san juan capistrano — a city in SW California: site of old Spanish mission; known for annual return of swallows, said to occur on March 19.
  • sao paulo de luanda — Luanda.
  • sb's spiritual home — your spiritual home is the place where you feel that you belong, usually because your ideas or attitudes are the same as those of the people who live there
  • scale down (or up) — to reduce (or increase), often according to a fixed ratio or proportion
  • set/put the seal on — If something sets or puts the seal on something, it makes it definite or confirms how it is going to be.
  • setting-up exercise — any of a set of exercises, as deep knee bends and push-ups, for improving one's posture, muscle tone, or limberness, or for reducing one's weight.
  • sexual reproduction — reproduction involving the union of gametes.
  • sexual stereotyping — the formation or promotion of a fixed general idea or image of how men and women will behave
  • sharp-focus realism — photorealism.
  • sharp-tailed grouse — a grouse, Pedioecetes phasianellus, of prairies and open forests of western North America, similar in size to the prairie chicken but with a more pointed tail.
  • simple closed curve — a curve that is closed and that has no loops or points missing; a curve for which there exists a homeomorphism mapping it to a circle.
  • slugging percentage — a number expressing a player's average effectiveness in making extra-base hits, calculated by dividing the total number of bases (from all singles, doubles, triples, and home runs) by the number of official at bats
  • sodium hypochlorite — a pale-green, crystalline compound, NaOCl, unstable in air, soluble in cold water, decomposes in hot water: used as a bleaching agent for paper and textiles, in water purification, in household use, and as a fungicide.
  • sodium thiosulphate — a white soluble substance used, in the pentahydrate form, in photography as a fixer to dissolve unchanged silver halides and also to remove excess chlorine from chlorinated water. Formula: Na2S2O3
  • south pacific ocean — the part of the Pacific Ocean extending S from the Equator to the Antarctic continent.
  • southern crab apple — a tree, Malus angustifolia, of the eastern U.S., having oblong leaves, fragrant, pink or rose-colored flowers, and small, round, yellow-green fruit.
  • southern hemisphere — the half of the earth between the South Pole and the equator.
  • spanish inquisition — the Inquisition in Spain, under state control from 1480 to 1834, marked by the extreme severity and cruelty of its proceedings in the 16th century.
  • spare a thought for — If you spare a thought for an unfortunate person, you make an effort to think sympathetically about them and their bad luck.
  • speaking in tongues — a form of glossolalia in which a person experiencing religious ecstasy utters incomprehensible sounds that the speaker believes are a language spoken through him or her by a deity.
  • specialized subject — a school or university subject that concentrates on a particular field of knowledge
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