25-letter words containing a, c, h, l, o, r
- polymerase chain reaction — a technique in which a known DNA sequence is synthesized at high temperatures by means of a polymerase, producing millions of copies for statistical analysis: used in DNA fingerprinting, in detecting minute quantities of cancer cells, etc.
- portable network graphics — (file format) /ping/ (PNG) An extensible file format for the lossless, portable, well-compressed storage of raster images. PNG provides a patent-free replacement for GIF and can also replace many common uses of TIFF. Indexed-colour, greyscale and truecolour images are supported, plus an optional alpha channel. Sample depths range from 1 to 16 bits. PNG is designed for on-line viewing applications, such as the World Wide Web, so it is fully streamable with a progressive display option. PNG is robust, providing both full file integrity checking and simple detection of common transmission errors. Also, PNG can store gamma correction and chromaticity data for improved colour matching on heterogeneous platforms.
- psychiatric social worker — (in Britain) a qualified person who works with mentally-ill people and their families, based in a psychiatric hospital, child guidance clinic, or social services department area team, and who may also be an approved social worker
- rate monotonic scheduling — (algorithm) A means of scheduling the time allocated to periodic hard-deadline real-time users of a resource. The users are assigned priorities such that a shorter fixed period between deadlines is associated with a higher priority. Rate monotonic scheduling provides a low-overhead, reasonably resource-efficient means of guaranteeing that all users will meet their deadlines provided that certain analytical equations are satisfied during the system design. It avoids the design complexity of time-line scheduling and the overhead of dynamic approaches such as earliest-deadline scheduling.
- selective synchronization — a sound-recording process that facilitates overdubs by feeding the recorded track to the performer straight from the recording head
- sequential parlog machine — (SPM) The virtual machine (and its machine code) for the Parlog logic programming language.
- take up the cudgels (for) — to come to the defense (of)
- tetragonal trisoctahedron — Geometry. a trisoctahedron the faces of which are quadrilaterals; trapezohedron.
- thank one's (lucky) stars — to be thankful for what appears to be good luck
- the ball is in sb's court — If you say that the ball is in someone's court, you mean that it is his or her responsibility to take the next action or decision in a situation.
- the ball is in your court — you are obliged to make the next move
- the calm before the storm — You can use the calm before the storm to refer to a quiet period in which there is little or no activity, before a period in which there is a lot of trouble or intense activity.
- the meteorological office — a British Government department supplying weather forecasts
- the politically incorrect — politically incorrect people considered collectively
- the scholastic profession — the profession of teaching
- thermodynamic equilibrium — the condition of an isolated system in which the quantities that specify its properties, such as pressure, temperature, etc, all remain unchanged
- thermoluminescence dating — a method of dating archaeological specimens, chiefly pottery, by measuring the radiation given off by ceramic materials as they are heated.
- thin-layer chromatography — chromatography in which glass plates coated with thin layers of alumina, silica gel, or cellulose are used as an adsorbent.
- to cut a long story short — In British English, you use to cut a long story short to indicate that you are going to state the final result of an event and not give any more details. In American English, you say to make a long story short.
- to thank your lucky stars — If you say that someone should thank their lucky stars that something is the case, you mean that they should be very grateful that it is the case, because otherwise their situation would be a lot worse.
- touch/cover all the bases — If someone touches all the bases or covers the bases, they deal with everyone or everything involved in a situation.
- transcendental-philosophy — transcendental character, thought, or language.
- under the watchful eye of — If you do something under the watchful eye of someone who has authority over you, they watch you carefully to make sure there are no problems.
- undisputed world champion — a boxer who holds the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, the World Boxing Organization, and the International Boxing Federation world championship titles simultaneously
- war of the grand alliance — the war (1689–97) in which England, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the Holy Roman Empire in league with Bavaria, Brandenburg, Savoy, and the Palatinate opposed France.