12-letter words starting with t
- tongue-blade — a broad, thin piece of wood used by doctors to hold down the patient's tongue during an examination of the mouth and throat.
- tonic accent — prominence given to a syllable in speaking, usually due to a change, especially a rise, in pitch.
- tonic sol-fa — a system of singing characterized by emphasis upon tonality or key relationship, in which tones are indicated by the initial letters of the syllables of the sol-fa system rather than by conventional staff notation.
- tonnage deck — the upper deck in a vessel with only two decks.
- tonsillotomy — incision or excision of a portion of a tonsil.
- tool subject — a subject that, when mastered, equips students with a skill useful in studying other subjects: Grammar is a tool subject for English composition.
- tooth chisel — a stonecutter's chisel having a toothed edge.
- tooth fungus — any of various mushrooms of the family Hydnaceae (and, in some classifications, allied families), having on the underside of the cap numerous conical spines rather than gills or pores.
- tooth powder — a dentifrice in the form of a powder.
- tooth socket — a bony hollow into which a tooth fits
- top and tail — method of washing a baby
- top dressing — tennis court
- top grafting — grafting in the top, as of a tree, in order to replace existing branches with those of a more desired variety or form.
- top security — ultra secure
- top sergeant — a first sergeant.
- topaz quartz — citrine (def 2).
- topping lift — a line for raising and supporting a spar, as a yard or boom.
- topstitching — decorative stitching, usually near and parallel to a seam, sewn so as to be visible on the right side of a garment, shoe, belt, etc.
- torch singer — a singer, especially a woman, who specializes in singing torch songs.
- torchon lace — a bobbin-made linen or cotton lace with loosely twisted threads in simple, open patterns.
- tornado belt — the part of the U.S. in which tornadoes occur most frequently, roughly the area within a 500-mile (805-km) radius of southern Missouri.
- torpedo boat — a small, fast, highly maneuverable boat used for torpedoing enemy shipping.
- torpedo tube — a tube through which a self-propelled torpedo is launched, usually by the explosion of a charge of powder.
- torque meter — a device designed to determine the torque or torsion in a shaft, usually by measuring the twist in a calibrated length of shafting
- torrefaction — to subject to fire or intense heat; parch, roast, or scorch.
- torremolinos — a seaport in S Spain, on the Mediterranean, SW of Málaga: resort.
- torres bodet — Jaime [hahy-me] /ˈhaɪ mɛ/ (Show IPA), 1902–74, Mexican poet, statesman, and diplomat.
- torreys peak — a mountain in central Colorado, in the Front Range, in the E Rocky Mountains. 14,267 feet (4349 meters).
- torso murder — a murder in which the body of the victim is dismembered at the torso.
- torts lawyer — a lawyer who specializes in tort cases
- torture porn — a genre of horror films in which sadistic violence or torture is a central aspect of the plot
- tossed salad — a salad consisting of one or more greens, tomatoes, etc., tossed with a dressing.
- total recall — the ability to remember with complete, detailed accuracy.
- totalitarian — of or relating to a centralized government that does not tolerate parties of differing opinion and that exercises dictatorial control over many aspects of life.
- totalization — to make total; combine into a total.
- totten trust — a trust created by opening a savings account in which the depositor is trustee for another, such trust being revocable at any time during the depositor's lifetime.
- touch and go — precarious situation
- touch bottom — to run aground
- touch ground — (of a ship) to strike the sea bed
- touch screen — a touch-sensitive display screen on a computer or other electronic device: touching different portions of the screen with a finger or stylus will cause the device to take actions determined by a computer program.
- touch system — a system of typing in which each finger is assigned to one or more keys, thereby enabling a person to type without looking at the keyboard.
- touch-and-go — risky; precarious: a touch-and-go descent down the mountain.
- touch-me-not — any of several plants belonging to the genus Impatiens, of the balsam family, especially I. noli-tangere, bearing pods that, when ripe, burst on being touched, scattering the seeds.
- touch-screen — using touch-sensitive screen
- touch-tackle — touch football.
- touch-typing — the act of typing without having to look at the keys of the typewriter or computer keyboard
- touchability — to put the hand, finger, etc., on or into contact with (something) to feel it: He touched the iron cautiously.
- touchy-feely — Informal. emphasizing or marked by emotional openness and enthusiastic physicality: a touchy-feely encounter group.
- tough cookie — If you say that someone is a tough cookie, you mean that they have a strong and determined character.
- tough it out — strong and durable; not easily broken or cut.