24-letter words containing a, b, o

passive balance of trade — a negative balance of trade
people's liberation army — See under Huk (def 1).
permeability coefficient — the volume of an incompressible fluid that will flow in unit time through a unit cube of a porous substance across which a unit pressure difference is maintained
polychlorinated biphenyl — PCB.
portable document format — (file format) (PDF) The native file format for Adobe Systems' Acrobat. PDF is the file format for representing documents in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware, and operating system used to create those documents. A PDF file can describe documents containing any combination of text, graphics, and images in a device-independent and resolution independent format. These documents can be one page or thousands of pages, very simple or extremely complex with a rich use of fonts, graphics, colour, and images.
portable scheme debugger — (PSD) A package for source code debugging of R4RS-compliant Scheme under GNU Emacs by Kellom ?ki Pertti <[email protected]>. Version 1.1. Distributed under GNU GPL. It works with scm, Elk and Scheme->C.
potassium cobaltinitrite — a yellow, crystalline, slightly water-soluble powder, K 3 Co(NO 2) 6 , used as a pigment in oil and watercolor paints, and for coloring surfaces of glass, porcelain, etc.
prairie button snakeroot — a stout composite plant, Liatris pycnostachya, of prairies in the central U.S., having showy, rose-purple flower heads in dense spikes.
probability distribution — a distribution of all possible values of a random variable together with an indication of their probabilities.
programmable array logic — (hardware) (PAL) A family of fuse-programmable logic integrated circuits originally developed by MMI. Registered or combinatorial output functions are modelled in a sum of products form. Each output is a sum (logical or) of a fixed number of products (logical and) of the input signals. This structure is well suited for automatic generation of programming patterns by logic compilers. PAL devices are programmed by blowing the fuses permanently using overvoltage. Today, more complex devices based on the same original architecture are available (CPLD's for Complex PLD's) that incorporate the equivalent of several original PAL chips. PAL chips are, however, still popular due to their high speed.
public access television — television in which local producers or individuals can participate
public international law — Also called public law. the law governing the legal relations between independent states or nations and, increasingly, between these and individuals.
public relations officer — a person who is responsible for communications with the public
public-access television — a noncommercial system of broadcasting on television channels made available to independent or community groups for programs of general interest to the community.
punch above one's weight — to do something that is considered to be beyond one's ability
read someone like a book — to understand a person, or his motives, character, etc, thoroughly and clearly
recharge one's batteries — If you recharge a battery, you put an electrical charge back into the battery by connecting it to a machine that draws power from another source of electricity.
republic of south africa — Republic of, a country in S Africa; member of the Commonwealth of Nations until 1961. 472,000 sq. mi. (1,222,480 sq. km). Capitals: Pretoria and Cape Town.
responsibility allowance — payment made to somebody who has special responsibilities
robot exclusion standard — standard for robot exclusion
rock back on one's heels — to astonish or be astonished
rubaiyat of omar khayyam — a free translation (first published in 1859) by Edward FitzGerald of a group of quatrains by the Persian poet Omar Khayyám.
san bernardino mountains — mountain range in S Calif., south of the Mojave Desert: highest peak, 11,502 ft (3,506 m)
say goodbye/wave goodbye — When you say goodbye to someone, you say something such as 'Goodbye', 'Bye', or 'See you', when you or they are leaving. You can also wave goodbye to someone.
scalable vector graphics — (graphics, web) A W3C standard for vector graphics, based on XML.
second earl of shelburne — William Petty Fitzmaurice, 2nd Earl of, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, William Petty Fizmaurice Lansdowne.
senegambia confederation — an economic and political union (1982–89) between Senegal and The Gambia
single transferable vote — of or relating to a system of voting in which voters list the candidates in order of preference. Any candidate achieving a predetermined proportion of the votes in a constituency is elected. Votes exceeding this amount and those cast for the bottom candidate are redistributed according to the stated preferences. Redistribution continues until all the seats are filled
skeleton in the cupboard — a scandalous fact or event in the past that is kept secret
solution based modelling — (SBM) A software development process described in the book "Developing Object-Oriented Software for the Macintosh" written by Neal Goldstein and Jeff Alger, published by Addison Wesley in 1992.
southern cornstalk borer — the larva of a grass moth, Diatraea crambidoides, occurring in the southeastern U.S. from Maryland to Georgia, that is sometimes a serious pest, especially of corn.
st.-bruno-de-montarville — a town in S Quebec, in E Canada, near Montreal.
stab someone in the back — If you say that someone has stabbed you in the back, you mean that they have done something very harmful to you when you thought that you could trust them. You can refer to an action of this kind as a stab in the back.
standard housing benefit — a rebate of a proportion of a person's eligible housing costs paid by a local authority and calculated on the basis of level of income and family size
sth bodes ill/augurs ill — If something bodes ill or augurs ill, it gives you a reason to fear that something harmful might happen soon.
subordinate con-junction — a conjunction introducing a subordinate clause, as when in They were glad when I finished.
take sb under one's wing — If you take someone under your wing, you look after them, help them, and protect them.
take/draw sb to one side — If you take someone to one side or draw them to one side, you speak to them privately, usually in order to give them advice or a warning.
the realm of possibility — If you say that something is not beyond the realms of possibility, you mean that it is possible.
the red badge of courage — a novel (1895) by Stephen Crane.
thompson sub-machine-gun — a .45 calibre sub-machine-gun
throw one's weight about — to act in an authoritarian or aggressive manner
to be in black and white — of an image, only using shades of black, white, and grey
to blow away the cobwebs — If something blows or clears away the cobwebs, it makes you feel more mentally alert and lively when you had previously been feeling tired.
to break someone's heart — If someone breaks your heart, they make you very sad and unhappy, usually because they end a love affair or close relationship with you.
to break the back of sth — If you break the back of a task or problem, you do the most difficult part of what is necessary to complete the task or solve the problem.
to change for the better — If something changes for the better, it improves.
to fight a losing battle — If you are fighting a losing battle, you are trying to achieve something but are not going to be successful.
to go for the brass ring — to try to succeed in an area where there is a lot of competition
to have seen better days — If you say that something has seen better days, you mean that it is old and in poor condition.

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