23-letter words containing a, d, r, s

social education centre — a daycentre, run by a local authority, for people with learning disabilities and sometimes also for people who have physical disabilities or are mentally ill
sodium tripolyphosphate — a white powder, Na 5 P 3 O 1 0 , used as a water softener, sequestering agent, and food additive.
software developers kit — (jargon, product) (SDK, or "Software Development Kit") Software provided by a software vendor to allow their products to be used with those of other software vendors.
somaliland protectorate — official name of the former British Somaliland.
split-fingered fastball — a pitch, similar to the forkball but thrown with the same arm speed as a fastball, that drops suddenly as it nears the batter.
st. pierre and miquelon — two small groups of islands off the S coast of Newfoundland: an overseas territory of France; important base for fishing. 3 sq. mi. (240 sq. km). Capital: St. Pierre.
staggered directorships — a defence against unwelcome takeover bids in which a company resolves that its directors should serve staggered terms of office and that no director can be removed from office without just cause, thus preventing a bidder from controlling the board for some years
standard widget toolkit — (graphics, programming, standard) (SWT) The Eclipse Foundation's framework for developing graphical user interfaces in Java. SWT is written in explicitly standard Java but uses the Java Native Interface to talk to a platform-native GUI library. SWT is the third major attempt to give Java a decent GUI framework, following AWT and Swing. Of the three, SWT is the most consistent with the native GUIs but its programming model is hard to port to non-Windows platforms.
state coordinate system — a system of right-angled planar coordinates established by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey for each state in the United States.
state-certified midwife — a midwife with a recognized qualification
state-trading countries — countries whose export and import trading is government controlled
steal someone's thunder — to strike, drive, inflict, give forth, etc., with loud noise or violent action.
straight bill of lading — a bill of lading that is issued to a specified consignee for the delivery of the goods and that cannot be endorsed to another party.
swine vesicular disease — a viral disease of swine characterized by vesicular lesions on the feet, legs, snout, and tongue
take into consideration — take account of, allow for
take sth in your stride — In British English, if you take a problem or difficulty in your stride, you deal with it calmly and easily. The American expression is take something in stride.
the chamber of deputies — the lower legislative assembly in some parliaments
the department of state — the United States federal department concerned with foreign policy
the whys and wherefores — The whys and wherefores of something are the reasons for it.
to add insult to injury — You say to add insult to injury when mentioning an action or fact that makes an unfair or unacceptable situation even worse.
to be at your wit's end — If you say that you are at your wits' end, you are emphasizing that you are so worried and exhausted by problems or difficulties that you do not know what to do next.
to draw the short straw — If you draw the short straw, you are chosen from a number of people to perform a job or duty that you will not enjoy.
to force someone's hand — If you force someone's hand, you force them to act sooner than they want to, or to act in public when they would prefer to keep their actions secret.
to go from bad to worse — If a situation goes from bad to worse, it becomes even more unpleasant or unsatisfactory.
to have your hands full — If you have your hands full with something, you are very busy because of it.
trans-siberian railroad — a railroad traversing Siberia, from Chelyabinsk in the Ural Mountains to Vladivostok: constructed by the Russian government 1891–1916. over 4000 miles (6440 km) long.
transcendental analytic — (in transcendental logic) the study of the means by which the mind categorizes data from the sensory manifold.
transcendental argument — an argument designed to make explicit the conditions under which a certain kind of knowledge is possible, esp those of Kant
transcendental equation — an equation that involves transcendental functions.
transcendental function — a function that is not an algebraic function.
transcendental idealism — the Kantian doctrine that reality consists not of appearances, but of some other order of being whose existence can be inferred from the nature of human reason
tread on someone's toes — the action of treading, stepping, or walking.
treat someone like dirt — If you say that someone treats you like dirt, you are angry with them because you think that they treat you unfairly and with no respect.
trellis code modulation — (TCM) A modulation technique with hardware error detection and correction.
trials and tribulations — difficult experiences
trigonal trisoctahedron — a trisoctahedron whose faces are triangles.
turn a cold shoulder to — to treat with disdain; snub
turn-and-slip indicator — bank-and-turn indicator.
unconditional discharge — the release of a defendant without having to spend time on parole or probation
under a gooseberry bush — used humorously in answering children's questions regarding their birth
under the circumstances — a condition, detail, part, or attribute, with respect to time, place, manner,agent, etc., that accompanies, determines, or modifies a fact or event; a modifying or influencing factor: Do not judge his behavior without considering every circumstance.
unincorporated business — a privately owned business, often owned by one person who has unlimited liability as the business is not legally registered as a company
united states air force — the permanent or regular military air force of the United States, established in 1947 as a separate service under the authority of the Department of Defense: a branch of the U.S. Army before 1947. Abbreviation: USAF.
united states of brazil — former official name of Brazil.
urea-formaldehyde resin — any of a group of resins formed by the interaction of urea and formaldehyde under conditions that include heat and pH control: used chiefly in the manufacture of buttons, baking enamels, and for making fabrics wrinkle-resistant.
van der waals' equation — an equation of state relating the pressure, volume, and absolute temperature of a gas, taking into account the finite size of the molecules and the attractive force between them.
veterans administration — the federal agency charged with administering benefits provided by law for veterans of the armed forces. Abbreviation: VA, V.A.
video cassette recorder — See VCR.
villiers de l'isle adam — August, Comte de (oɡyst, kɔ̃t də). 1838–89, French poet and dramatist; pioneer of the symbolist movement. His works include Contes cruels (1883) and the play Axel (1885)
visual display terminal — video display terminal. Abbreviation: VDT.

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