21-letter words containing y, e, s, t, r
- ring-around-the-rosey — a children's game in which the players sing while going around in a circle and squat when the lyrics “all fall down” are sung.
- rocky mountain oyster — mountain oyster.
- saint lawrence seaway — a series of channels, locks, and canals between Montreal and the mouth of Lake Ontario, a distance of 182 miles (293 km), enabling most deep-draft vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean, up the St. Lawrence River, to all the Great Lakes ports: developed jointly by the U.S. and Canada.
- salam-weinberg theory — the electroweak theory.
- santa cruz water lily — a South American aquatic plant, Victoria cruziana, of the water lily family, having floating leaves from 2–5 feet (0.6–1.5 meters) and deep pink or red flowers.
- scarlet monkey flower — any of various plants belonging to the genus Mimulus, of the figwort family, as M. cardinalis (scarlet monkey flower) having spotted flowers that resemble a face.
- schlieren photography — a type of photography which records schlieren
- scorched earth policy — a military practice of devastating the property and agriculture of an area before abandoning it to an advancing enemy.
- scorched-earth policy — a military practice of devastating the property and agriculture of an area before abandoning it to an advancing enemy.
- secondary containment — Secondary containment is a system for dealing with hazardous spills.
- sedimentary sequences — Sedimentary sequences are layers of rock which are derived from weathered rocks, biogenic (= of living organisms) activity, or precipitation from solution.
- seventeen-year locust — a cicada, Magicicada septendecim, of the eastern U.S., having nymphs that live in the soil, usually emerging in great numbers after 17 years in the North or 13 years in the South.
- skew symmetric matrix — a matrix that is equal to the negation of its transpose
- social inquiry report — (in Britain) a report on a person and his or her circumstances, which may be required by a court before sentencing and is made by a probation officer or a social worker from a local authority social services department
- split-screen facility — a facility allowing different scenes to be shown on screen at the same time
- sport utility vehicle — a rugged vehicle with a trucklike chassis and four-wheel drive, designed for occasional off-road use. Abbreviation: SUV.
- sport-utility vehicle — a rugged vehicle with a trucklike chassis and four-wheel drive, designed for occasional off-road use. Abbreviation: SUV.
- statutory declaration — a declaration made under statutory authority before a justice of the peace or commissioner for oaths which may in certain cases be substituted for a statement on oath
- steady state universe — a universe described by the steady state theory.
- steady-state response — A steady-state response is the behavior of a circuit after a long time when steady conditions have been reached after an external excitation.
- stokes-adams syndrome — unconsciousness accompanying atrioventricular heart block, sometimes characterized by weakness, irregular pulse, and intermittent convulsive or nonconvulsive seizures.
- strachey, christopher — Christopher Strachey
- sunday school teacher — someone who teaches at a Sunday school
- supplementary benefit — (formerly) an extra amount of money that is paid to someone by the government, in addition to their normal income. Replaced by income support in 1988
- sympathetic vibration — a vibration induced by resonance.
- synchronized shifting — gear shifting in which the gears to be meshed are made to rotate at the same speed.
- synchronous converter — a synchronous machine for converting alternating current to direct current, or vice versa, in which the armature winding is connected to collector rings and to a commutator.
- systeme international — Système International d'Unités
- take sb/sth seriously — If you take someone or something seriously, you believe that they are important and deserve attention.
- tape operating system — (operating system) (TOS) An IBM operating system for System 360, used in the early days around 1965 to support the IBM 360 model 30 et al. TOS was a predecessor to IBM's Disk Operating System. TOS died out really early as disks such as the 2311 and 2314 became common with the IBM 360 whereas thet had been a real luxury on the IBM 7090.
- tartarian honeysuckle — an Asian honeysuckle, Lonicera tatarica, having fragrant, white to pink flowers.
- the early renaissance — the period from about 1400 to 1500 in European, esp Italian, painting, sculpture, and architecture, when naturalistic styles and humanist theories were evolved from the study of classical sources, notably by Donatello, Masaccio, and Alberti
- the household cavalry — a group of British soldiers on horseback who have the job of protecting the king or queen and their family
- the jury is still out — it has not yet been decided or agreed on
- the maastricht treaty — a treaty on European economic and monetary union agreed by government leaders of the 12 EC states at a meeting in Maastricht in December 1991
- the royal scots greys — (formerly) a British cavalry regiment, the Second Dragoons
- the stationery office — (in the UK) the company that supplies the civil service with all its office supplies, machinery, printing and binding, etc
- the throwaway society — a society full of excessive consumption and waste of food, products, etc
- the women's land army — a unit of women recruited to do agricultural work in the United Kingdom during World War I and World War II
- theoretical physicist — a scientist who studies theoretical physics
- third-party insurance — insurance that compensates for a loss to a party other than the insured for which the insured is liable.
- threshold wage policy — a policy whereby wages are increased in accordance with inflation
- to be arrayed against — to be opposed to
- to cross your fingers — If you cross your fingers, you put one finger on top of another and hope for good luck. If you say that someone is keeping their fingers crossed, you mean they are hoping for good luck.
- to get your rocks off — to reach orgasm; gain sexual satisfaction
- to lay something bare — If you lay something bare, you uncover it completely so that it can then be seen.
- to mix your metaphors — If you mix your metaphors, you use two conflicting metaphors. People do this accidentally, or sometimes deliberately as a joke.
- to rear its ugly head — If something unpleasant rears its head or rears its ugly head, it becomes visible or noticeable.
- trustee in bankruptcy — a person appointed by a court to administer the property of a bankrupt.
- uk overseas territory — any of the territories that are governed by the UK but lie outside the British Isles; many were formerly British crown colonies: includes Bermuda, Falkland Islands, and Montserrat