27-letter words containing a, f, s, t

network information service — (networking, protocol) (NIS) Sun Microsystems' Yellow Pages (yp) client-server protocol for distributing system configuration data such as user and host names between computers on a network. Sun licenses the technology to virtually all other Unix vendors. The name "Yellow Pages" is a registered trademark in the United Kingdom of British Telecommunications plc for their (paper) commercial telephone directory. Sun changed the name of their system to NIS, though all the commands and functions still start with "yp", e.g. ypcat, ypmatch, ypwhich.
newton's law of gravitation — the principle that two particles attract each other with forces directly proportional to the product of their masses divided by the square of the distance between them
not within an ass's roar of — not close to obtaining, winning, etc
office workstations limited — (company) (OWL) A UK software company, now a subsidiary of Matsushita (Panasonic, etc.). They previously supported the Guide hypertext system but that support is now provided by US company InfoAccess. E-mail: <[email protected]>
on the coat-tails of sb/sth — If you do something on the coat-tails of someone else, you are able to do it because of the other person's success, and not because of your own efforts.
pelvic inflammatory disease — an inflammation of the female pelvic organs, most commonly the fallopian tubes, usually as a result of bacterial infection. Abbreviation: PID.
perfect programmer syndrome — Arrogance; the egotistical conviction that one is above normal human error. Most frequently found among programmers of some native ability but relatively little experience (especially new graduates; their perceptions may be distorted by a history of excellent performance at solving toy problems). "Of course my program is correct, there is no need to test it." "Yes, I can see there may be a problem here, but *I'll* never type "rm -r /" while in root mode."
post-viral fatigue syndrome — Post-viral fatigue syndrome is a long-lasting illness that is thought to be caused by a virus. Its symptoms include feeling tired all the time and muscle pain.
proclaim from the housetops — to announce (something) publicly
put one's best foot forward — (in vertebrates) the terminal part of the leg, below the ankle joint, on which the body stands and moves.
rise/raise sb from the dead — When Christians say that Jesus Christ rose from the dead or raised someone from the dead, they mean that Jesus came back to life after he had died, or brought a dead person back to life.
scalable coherent interface — (hardware, protocol) (SCI) The ANSI/IEEE 1596-1992 standard that defines a point-to-point interface and a set of packet protocols. The SCI protocols use packets with a 16-byte header and 16, 64, or 256 data bytes. Each packet is protected by a 16-bit CRC code. The standard defines 1 Gbit/second serial fiber-optic links and 1 Gbyte/second parallel copper links. SCI has two unidirectional links that operate concurrently. The SCI protocols support shared memory by encapsulating bus requests and responses into SCI request and response packets. Packet-based handshake protocols guarantee reliable data delivery. A set of cache coherence protocols are defined to maintain cache coherence in a shared memory system. SCI uses 64-bit addressing and the most significant 16 bits are used for addressing up to 64K nodes.
scientific content analysis — the close analysis of the content of statements made to the police by suspects in an attempt to identify innocence or guilt
seasonal affective disorder — recurrent winter depression characterized by oversleeping, overeating, and irritability, and relieved by the arrival of spring or by light therapy. Abbreviation: SAD.
see the error of one's ways — If someone sees the error of their ways, they realize or admit that they have made a mistake or behaved badly.
serial peripheral interface — (communications, hardware) (SPI) A serial interface in which a master device supplies clock pulses to exchanges data serially with a slave over two data wires (Master-Slave and Slave-Master). This term probably originated with Motorola in about 1979 with their first all-in-one microcontroller.
soft-coated wheaten terrier — one of an Irish breed of medium-sized sporting terriers having an abundant, soft, medium-length coat, any shade of wheat in color, with its head and face profusely covered with coat.
soviet of the nationalities — (in the former Soviet Union) part of the bicameral legislature of the Supreme Soviet, together with the Soviet of the Union
spa and wellness facilities — In a hotel, the spa and wellness facilities are where people go to exercise and have special treatments in order to improve their health.
stanford research institute — Former name of SRI International.
supreme court of judicature — an English court formed in 1873 from several superior courts and consisting of a court of original jurisdiction (High Court of Justice) and an appellate court (Court of Appeal)
systems analysis definition — (programming) (SAD) The analysis of the role of a proposed system and the identification of the requirements that it should meet. SAD is the starting point for system design. The term is most commonly used in the context of commercial programming, where software developers are often classed as either systems analysts or programmers. The systems analysts are responsible for identifying requirements (i.e. systems analysis) and producing a design. The programmers are then responsible for implementing it.
take advantage of something — If you take advantage of something, you make good use of it while you can.
take someone out of himself — to make someone forget his anxieties, problems, etc
take someone's fingerprints — If the police take someone's fingerprints, they make that person press their fingers onto a pad covered with ink, and then onto paper, so that they know what that person's fingerprints look like.
take something upon oneself — to assume the right to do or responsibility for (something)
the forest of fontainebleau — a forest in N France, where the town of Fontainebleau is located
the long and (the) short of — the whole story of in a few words; gist or point of
the odds are in sb's favour — If you say that the odds are in someone's favour, you mean that they are likely to succeed in what they are doing.
the shape of things to come — If you say that something is the shape of things to come, you mean that it is the start of a new trend or development, and in future things will be like this.
third law of thermodynamics — any of three principles variously stated in equivalent forms, being the principle that the change of energy of a thermodynamic system is equal to the heat transferred minus the work done (first law of thermodynamics) the principle that no cyclic process is possible in which heat is absorbed from a reservoir at a single temperature and converted completely into mechanical work (second law of thermodynamics) and the principle that it is impossible to reduce the temperature of a system to absolute zero in a finite number of operations (third law of thermodynamics)
to be suspended on full pay — if someone is suspended on full pay they are temporarily barred from work (due to misconduct, etc) while receiving full salary
to breathe a sigh of relief — If people breathe or heave a sigh of relief, they feel happy that something unpleasant has not happened or is no longer happening.
to build up a head of steam — to develop power
to cast pearls before swine — If you say that someone is casting pearls before swine, you mean that they are wasting their time by offering something that is helpful or valuable to someone who does not appreciate or understand it.
to fall over yourself to do — If you say that people are falling over themselves to do something, you mean that they are very enthusiastic about doing it, and often that you disapprove of this.
to give someone a free hand — If someone gives you a free hand, they give you the freedom to use your own judgment and to do exactly as you wish.
to take you out of yourself — If something takes you out of yourself, it makes you feel better and so you forget all your worries and unhappiness.
to the accompaniment of sth — If one thing happens to the accompaniment of another, they happen at the same time.
to the best of your ability — as well as you can
two shakes of a lamb's tail — to move or sway with short, quick, irregular vibratory movements.
weapons of mass destruction — nuclear, biological and chemical arms
working families tax credit — (in Britain) a means-tested allowance paid to single parents or families who have at least one dependent child, who work at least 16 hours per week, and whose earnings are low. It replaced family credit
xml user-interface language — (language) (XUL) An XML-based language created for the Mozilla browser for development of cross-platform user interfaces. XUL supports input controls such as textboxes and checkboxes, toolbars, menus, dialogs, trees, keyboard shortcuts, and more.

Was this page helpful?

Yes No

Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page

Tell us why?