24-letter words containing a, b, s, t, r
- 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.
- public relations officer — a person who is responsible for communications with the public
- quick-assembly furniture — furniture such as shelves and cupboards which you buy as a number of separate pieces and assemble yourself
- 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.
- renewable term insurance — Renewable term insurance is term life insurance that may be renewed for another period without the policyholder needing to provide further evidence of their insurability.
- 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
- san bernardino mountains — mountain range in S Calif., south of the Mojave Desert: highest peak, 11,502 ft (3,506 m)
- scalable vector graphics — (graphics, web) A W3C standard for vector graphics, based on XML.
- 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
- 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.
- 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 birds and (the) bees — Some people refer to the birds and the bees when they are talking about sex, especially to children.
- the realm of possibility — If you say that something is not beyond the realms of possibility, you mean that it is possible.
- the star-spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
- three-spined stickleback — a small teleost fish, Gasterosteus aculeatus, of the family Gasterosteidae, of rivers and coastal regions, having three spines along the back and occurring in cold and temperate northern regions
- throw one's weight about — to act in an authoritarian or aggressive manner
- 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 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.
- to make boundary changes — to change the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies, because of population shifts
- to pick someone's brains — If you pick someone's brains, you ask them to help you with a problem because they know more about the subject than you.
- to strike a blow for sth — If you strike a blow for a particular cause or principle, you do something that supports it or makes it more likely to succeed.
- tuva autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation in Asia: formerly an independent republic in Mongolia. 65,810 sq. mi. (170,500 sq. km). Capital: Kyzyl.
- under the sway of sb/sth — If you are under the sway of someone or something, they have great influence over you.
- usb adapter card support — (communications, software) A set of software extensions that provide support for USB adapter cards installed in the PCI bus or Cardbus slots in Macintosh computers that do not have built-in USB ports.
- variable (interest) rate — an interest rate that varies in relation to fluctuations in the market rates of interest, as over the time period of a loan or mortgage
- visual component library — (programming) VCL A application framework library for Microsoft Windows and Borland Software Corp.'s Delphi and C++Builder rapid application development software. VCL was originally designed for Delphi but is now also used for C++Builder. This replaces OWL Object Windows Library as Borland's Windows C++ framework of choice. VCL encapsulates the C-based Win32 API into a much easier to use, object-oriented form. Like its direct rival, Microsoft Foundation Class Library (MFC), VCL includes classes to create Windows programs. The VCL component class can be inherited to create new VCL components, which are the building blocks of Delphi and C++Builder applications. VCL components are somewhat in competition with ActiveX controls, though a VCL wrapper can be created to make an ActiveX control seem like a VCL component.
- webster-ashburton treaty — U.S. History. an agreement between the U.S. and England (1842) defining the boundary between British and American territory from Maine to present-day Minnesota.
- work breakdown structure — (project) (WBS) A division of a project into tasks and subtasks. The tasks are numbered to indicate their relationship to each other. WBSs are indespensible for project planning, particularly when estimating time and resource requirements. Some industries use established work breakdown structure systems for billing and reporting purposes.
- world boxing association — the international organization which regulates the sport of boxing