22-letter words containing a, c, o, s
- last call optimisation — (programming) (Or "tail call optimisation") Discarding the immediate calling context (call stack frame) when the last action of a function or procedure, A, is to call another function or procedure, B. B will then return directly to A's caller, or possibly further up the call stack if the optimisation has been applied to several consecutive calls. Last call optimisation allows arbitrarily deep nesting of procedure calls without consuming memory to store useless environments. This is particularly useful in the special case of tail recursion optimisation, where a procedure's last action is to call itself (possibly indirectly).
- leather-stocking tales — a series of historical novels by James Fenimore Cooper, comprising The Pioneers, The Last of the Mohicans, The Prairie, The Pathfinder, and The Deerslayer.
- lesser cornstalk borer — the larva of a widely distributed pyralid moth, Elasmopalpus lignosellus, that damages corn and some other crops by boring into the part of the stalk close to the soil.
- local shared resources — (operating system) (LSR) A way of controlling VSAM buffers in OS/390.
- local standard of rest — a frame of reference for a portion of the universe in which the mean motion of nearby stars is zero.
- lord justice of appeal — an ordinary judge of the Court of Appeal
- lunar excursion module — lunar module. Abbreviation: LEM.
- magnetic pole strength — Electricity. a measure of the force exerted by one face of a magnet on a face of another magnet when both magnets are represented by equal and opposite poles. Symbol: m.
- make a clean breast of — Anatomy, Zoology. (in bipeds) the outer, front part of the thorax, or the front part of the body from the neck to the abdomen; chest.
- make a federal case of — a matter that falls within the jurisdiction of a federal court or a federal law-enforcement agency.
- make allowances for sb — If you make allowances for someone, you accept behaviour which you would not normally accept or deal with them less severely than you would normally, because of a problem that they have.
- make common cause with — join forces
- make contact (with sb) — If you make contact with someone, you find out where they are and talk or write to them.
- make one's flesh creep — to move slowly with the body close to the ground, as a reptile or an insect, or a person on hands and knees.
- management consultancy — a company of professionals who are employed to help an organization improve efficiency and performance
- master warrant officer — a noncommissioned officer in the Canadian forces junior to a chief warrant officer
- maxwell air force base — U.S. Air Force installation in SE central Alabama, NW of Montgomery: site of U.S. Air Force Advanced School.
- microwave spectroscopy — the determination of those frequencies of the microwave spectrum that are selectively absorbed by certain materials, providing information about atomic, molecular, and crystalline structure.
- miscarriage of justice — law: wrongful judgement
- miscellaneous expenses — small expenses of various kinds
- molecular distillation — a vacuum distillation in which the molecules of the distillate reach the condenser before colliding with one another.
- most significant digit — the digit farthest to the left in a number. Abbreviation: MSD.
- mother carey's chicken — any of various small petrels, especially the stormy petrel, Oceanites oceanicus.
- mozilla public license — Open source license
- nassella tussock board — one of many local statutory organizations set up in different regions of New Zealand to eradicate the invasive nassella tussock weed
- national semiconductor — (company) A semiconductor manufacturer, responsible for the SC/MP, National Semiconductor 16000 and National Semiconductor 32000 series of microprocessors.
- natural classification — classification of organisms according to relationships based on descent from a common ancestor
- nkosi sikelel' iafrica — the unofficial anthem of the Black people of South Africa, officially recognized as a national anthem (along with parts of 'Die Stem' and an English verse) in 1991
- no room to swing a cat — If you say 'There's no room to swing a cat' or 'You can't swing a cat', you mean that the place you are talking about is very small or crowded.
- nodal switching system — (NSS) Main routing nodes in the NSFnet backbone.
- nominal semidestructor — (abuse) Slang for "National Semiconductor", found among other places in the 4.3BSD networking sources. During the late 1970s to mid-1980s this company marketed a series of microprocessors including the National Semiconductor 16000 and National Semiconductor 32000. At one point early in the great microprocessor race, the specs on these chips made them look like serious competition for the rising Intel 80x86 and Motorola 680x0 series. Unfortunately, the actual parts were notoriously flaky and never implemented the full instruction set promised in their literature, apparently because the company couldn't get any of the mask steppings to work as designed. They eventually sank without trace, joining the Zilog Z8000 and a few even more obscure also-rans in the graveyard of forgotten microprocessors.
- non-restrictive clause — a relative clause that describes or supplements but is not essential in establishing the identity of the antecedent and is usually set off by commas in English. In This year, which has been dry, is bad for crops the clause which has been dry is a nonrestrictive clause.
- nonspecular reflection — the diffuse reflection of sound or light waves
- oak processionary moth — a moth, (Thaumetopoea processionea), of the family Thaumetopoeidae, the larvae of which leave the communal shelter nightly for food in a V-shaped procession
- object-oriented pascal — Object Pascal
- occupational therapist — professional who assists with rehabilitation
- ocean marine insurance — insurance covering risks involving the transporting of persons or goods on the high seas.
- oceanic whitetip shark — whitetip shark (def 2).
- on someone's coattails — the back of the skirt on a man's coat or jacket.
- on the crest of a wave — If you say that you are on the crest of a wave, you mean that you are feeling very happy and confident because things are going well for you.
- open source initiative — (body) (OSI) An organisation dedicated to managing and promoting the Open Source Definition for the good of the community.
- operating instructions — instructions on how to use something (such an electrical appliance, etc)
- oracle parallel server — (database) (OPS) An Oracle configuration that allows for multiple Oracle servers running on seperate computers to access the same database files simultaneously. Normally used for high availability, running parallel servers can improve performance by spreading out CPU load, however, it requires data to be partitioned correctly. This feature is enabled with the Parallel Server Option (or "PSO").
- outline specifications — preliminary specifications or plans on which later plans are based
- overstay one's welcome — to stay (at a party, on a visit, etc), longer than pleases the host or hostess
- paddle one's own canoe — any of various slender, open boats, tapering to a point at both ends, propelled by paddles or sometimes sails and traditionally formed of light framework covered with bark, skins, or canvas, or formed from a dug-out or burned-out log or logs, and now usually made of aluminum, fiberglass, etc.
- paracoccidioidomycosis — a chronic infection caused by the fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, occurring in Mexico and in Central and South America, characterized by mouth and throat ulcers, weight loss, and lesions on the skin, intestines, and genitals.
- paranoid schizophrenia — severe psychiatric disorder
- paroxysmal tachycardia — tachycardia that begins and subsides suddenly.
- partnerships for peace — a subsidiary organization of NATO, comprising former Warsaw Pact countries that wish to be allied with NATO but have not been granted full NATO membership: established in 1994