21-letter words containing a, b, y, e
- open graphics library — (graphics, library) (OpenGL) A multi-platform software interface to graphics hardware, supporting rendering and imaging operations. The OpenGL interface was developed by Silicon Graphics, who license it to other vendors. The OpenGL graphics interface consists of several hundred functions operating on 2D and 3D objects, supporting basic techniques, such as modelling and smooth shading, and advanced techniques, such as texture mapping and motion blur. Many operations require a frame buffer. OpenGL is network-transparent, and a common extension to the X Window System allows an OpenGL client to communicate across a network with a different vendor's OpenGL server. OpenGL is based on Silicon Graphics' proprietary IRIS GL.
- past its sell-by date — the last date on which perishable food should be sold, usually established with some allowance for home storage under refrigeration. Compare shelf life.
- pdp assembly language — (language) (PAL) The assembly language for the PDP-8 and PDP-11.
- posterior probability — the probability assigned to some parameter or to an event on the basis of its observed frequency in a sample, and calculated from a prior probability by Bayes' theorem
- public address system — loudspeaker
- public-address system — a combination of electronic devices that makes sound audible via loudspeakers to many people, as in an auditorium or out of doors.
- pure imaginary number — a complex number of the form iy where y is a real number and i = .
- rayleigh distribution — (mathematics) A curve that yields a good approximation to the actual labour curves on software projects.
- real estate liability — Real estate liability is liability for risks that come from owning real estate.
- rectangular hyperbola — a hyperbola with perpendicular asymptotes
- relative permeability — the ratio of the permeability of a medium to that of free space
- reverberatory furnace — See at reverberatory (def 2).
- rob peter to pay paul — to take something from (someone) by unlawful force or threat of violence; steal from.
- salam-weinberg theory — the electroweak theory.
- sense and sensibility — a novel (1811) by Jane Austen.
- 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.
- system management bus — (hardware, protocol) (SMBus, SMB) A simple two-wire bus used for communication with low-bandwidth devices on a motherboard, especially power related chips such as a laptop's rechargeable battery subsystem (see Smart Battery Data). Other devices might include temperature sensors and lid switches. A device can provide manufacturer information, indicate its model/part number, save its state for a suspend event, report different types of errors, accept control parameters, and return status. The SMB is generally not user configurable or accessible. The bus carries clock, data, and instructions and is based on Philip's I2C serial bus protocol. Support for SMBus devices is provided on Windows 2000. Windows 98 does not support such devices. The PIIX4 chipset provides SMBus functionality. Vendors using SMBus would be required to pay royalties.
- take sb/sth seriously — If you take someone or something seriously, you believe that they are important and deserve attention.
- the break of day/dawn — The break of day or the break of dawn is the time when it begins to grow light after the night.
- the yellow brick road — the road to success or happiness (in the film the Wizard of Oz the yellow brick road leads to Oz)
- to be arrayed against — to be opposed to
- to have money to burn — If you say that someone has money to burn, you mean that they have more money than they need or that they spend their money on things that you think are unnecessary.
- to lay something bare — If you lay something bare, you uncover it completely so that it can then be seen.
- trustee in bankruptcy — a person appointed by a court to administer the property of a bankrupt.
- weinberg-salam theory — electroweak theory.
- william of malmesbury — William of, William of Malmesbury.
- yellow-rumped warbler — a common North American wood warbler, Dendroica coronata, having yellow spots on the rump, crown, and sides, including a white-throated eastern subspecies (myrtle warbler) and a yellow-throated western subspecies (Audubon's warbler)