23-letter words containing a, h, e, m
- grant-maintained school — a school funded directly by central government
- graphical kernel system — (graphics, standard) (GKS) The widely recognised standard ANSI X3.124 for graphical input/output. GKS is worked on by the ISO/IEC group JTC1/SC24. It provides applications programmers with standard methods of creating, manipulating, and displaying or printing computer graphics on different types of computer graphics output devices. It provides an abstraction to save programmers from dealing with the detailed capabilities and interfaces of specific hardware. GKS defines a basic two-dimensional graphics system with: uniform input and output primitives; a uniform interface to and from a GKS metafile for storing and transferring graphics information. It supports a wide range of graphics output devices including such as printers, plotters, vector graphics devices, storage tubes, refresh displays, raster displays, and microfilm recorders.
- guanosine monophosphate — GMP.
- hang on someone's words — to listen to someone eagerly
- harvard mark ii machine — (computer, history) A relay-based computer designed and built by Howard Aiken, with support from IBM, for the United States Navy's Naval Proving Ground, between 1942 - 1947. The Harvard Mark II was the second in a series of four electro-mechanical computers that were forerunners of the ENIAC.
- hate-driven development — (programming, humour) A play on test-driven development for use when a piece of code is not necessarily broken but you hate the way it is written so much that you feel compelled to rewrite it.
- have the makings of sth — If you say that a person or thing has the makings of something, you mean it seems possible or likely that they will become that thing, as they have the necessary qualities.
- health maintenance plan — A health maintenance plan is a health insurance policy that provides preventive care like vaccinations, doctor checkups, and screenings, for a prepaid fee.
- hermit of st. augustine — a member of an order of mendicant friars, founded in 1256.
- higher national diploma — a work-related higher education qualification, taking two years full-time.
- hire purchase agreement — an agreement between a seller and a buyer for the buyer to purchase something on hire purchase
- hold on like grim death — to hold very firmly or resolutely
- hook-and-ladder company — a company of firefighters equipped with a hook-and-ladder truck.
- human leukocyte antigen — HLA.
- human rights campaigner — a person who campaigns for human rights
- hunchback of notre dame — French Notre Dame de Paris. a novel (1831) by Victor Hugo.
- hunter-killer submarine — a submarine designed and equipped to pursue and destroy enemy craft
- hypergeometric equation — a differential equation of the form, (x 2 − x) d 2 y / d 2 x + [(a+b +1) x−c ] dy/dx + abx =0, where a, b, and c are arbitrary constants.
- hypobetalipoproteinemia — (pathology) A low level of betalipoprotein (low-density lipoprotein) in the bloodstream.
- hypothetical imperative — (esp in the moral philosophy of Kant) any conditional rule of action, concerned with means and ends rather than with duty for its own sake
- immigration authorities — the authorities or official government bodies who regulate laws regarding immigration and immigrants
- in the arms of morpheus — sleeping
- interchange file format — (file format) (IFF, full name "EA IFF 1985") A generic file format published by Electronic Arts as an open standard. IFF is chunk-based and hierarchical so files can include other files. It is easily extensible and an all round Good Idea. An IFF file starts with one of the following "group IDs": 'FORM', 'LIST' or 'CAT '. This is followed by an unsigned 32-bit number of bytes in the remainder of the file. Then comes an ID that indicates which type of IFF file this is. The main image type is ILBM, audio is either AIFF or 8SVX, animations are ANIM etc. An IFF file will probably have a filename extension related to this file type stored in the file. The rest of the file is divided into chunks each of which also has a four-byte header and byte count.
- intermediate technology — technology which combines sophisticated ideas with cheap and readily available materials, esp for use in developing countries
- keep sb at arm's length — If you keep someone at arm's length, you avoid becoming too friendly or involved with them.
- largemouth (black) bass — a black bass (Micropterus salmoides) found in warm, sluggish waters
- like anything/crazy/mad — You can use the expressions like anything, like crazy, or like mad to emphasize that someone is doing something or something is happening in a very energetic or noticeable way.
- lymphoblastic leukaemia — a severe blood disorder in which abnormal leukocytes are identified as immature forms of lymphocytes
- made out of whole cloth — completely fictitious or false; made up
- magnetic field strength — that part of the magnetic induction that is determined at any point in space by the current density and displacement current at that point independently of the magnetic or other physical properties of the surrounding medium. Symbol: H.
- magneto-encephalography — a record of the magnetic field of the brain. Abbreviation: MEG.
- magnetohydrodynamically — In a magnetohydrodynamic way.
- magnetomechanical ratio — the ratio of the angular momentum of a rotating charged particle to its magnetic moment; the reciprocal of the gyromagnetic ratio.
- make allowances for sth — If you make allowances for something, you take it into account in your decisions, plans, or actions.
- make an honest woman of — to marry (a woman, esp one who is pregnant) to prevent scandal
- martha washington table — a sewing table of the 18th century having an oval top that can be lifted and a central compartment of drawers with semicircular bins at each end.
- masters of the universe — extremely powerful and wealthy members of the financial professions
- meaningful relationship — a romantic relationship based upon mutual respect and supportiveness and marked by a sense of commitment and fulfillment.
- message handling system — (messaging, standard) (MHS) The standard defined by ITU-T as X.400 and by ISO as Message-Oriented Text Interchange Standard (MOTIS). MHS is the X.400 family of services and protocols that provides the functions for global electronic mail transfer among local mail systems and MTAs. It is used by CompuServe, among others.
- micropachycephalosaurus — A very small pachycephalosaurid, ornithischian dinosaur of the genus Micropachycephalosaurus.
- midsummer night's dream — a comedy (1595?) by Shakespeare.
- more than meets the eye — hidden motives, meaning, or facts
- murder in the cathedral — a verse drama (1935) by T. S. Eliot.
- on someone's wavelength — having similar views, feelings, or thoughts (as someone else)
- on the same wave length — Physics. the distance, measured in the direction of propagation of a wave, between two successive points in the wave that are characterized by the same phase of oscillation.
- over-the-counter market — a security market that deals in securities that are not listed or quoted on a stock exchange
- overnight accommodation — accommodation provided by an establishment (such as a hotel) where guests can sleep or spend the night
- parametric polymorphism — Polymorphism was first identified by Christopher Strachey in 1967 and developed by Hindley and Milner. For example we could specify that the argument of the "head" function was a list without specifying a type for the elements of the list. In Haskell we would write: head :: [a] -> a meaning head has type function from "list of a" to "a" where "a" is a type variable). This is known as parametric polymorphism. Polymorphic typing allows strong type checking as well as generic functions. ML in 1976 was the first language with polymorphic typing. See also generic type variable.
- pat someone on the back — to congratulate or encourage someone
- pharmaceuticals company — a company specialising in developing and marketing pharmaceuticals