26-letter words containing a, m, i, l, s, t
- multi-color graphics array — (hardware, graphics) (MCGA) One of IBM's less popular hardware video display standards for use in the IBM PS/2. MCGA can display 80*25 text in monochrome, 40*25 text in 256 colours or 320*200 pixel graphics in 256 colors. It is now obsolete.
- mushroom slab construction — beamless reinforced-concrete floor and roof construction employing columns with widely flaring heads having horizontal rings of reinforcement to support the floor or roof slab.
- mutual assured destruction — a U.S. doctrine of reciprocal deterrence resting on the U.S. and Soviet Union each being able to inflict unacceptable damage on the other in retaliation for a nuclear attack.
- national merit scholarship — one of some 6000 college scholarships awarded annually since 1956, by the nonprofit, grant-supported National Merit Scholarship Corporation, to high-school students (National Merit Scholars) on the basis of scholastic record, personal character, and score on a test administered nationally.
- neither more nor less than — simply
- newfoundland standard time — one of the standard times used in Canada, three and a half hours behind Greenwich Mean Time
- nickel-in-the-slot machine — a machine that operates if you put a nickel in its slot
- nuclear magnetic resonance — the selective absorption of electromagnetic radiation by an atomic nucleus in the presence of a strong, static, magnetic field: used in research and in medicine to monitor tissue metabolism and to distinguish between normal and abnormal cells. Abbreviation: NMR.
- official production system — (language) (OPS) The first production system (i.e. rule based) programming language, developed at CMU in 1970 and used for building expert systems. OPS was originally written in Franz Lisp and later ported to other LISP dialects.
- period-luminosity relation — the relationship between the period of light variation and of the absolute magnitude of Cepheid variable stars.
- permanent health insurance — a form of insurance that provides up to 75 per cent of a person's salary, until retirement, in case of prolonged illness or disability
- plain old telephone system — Public Switched Telephone Network
- postprandial thermogenesis — the rate at which food is broken down after a meal and used by your body
- professional office system — (messaging) (PROFS) An office messaging system from IBM, used worldwide, mainly on IBM mainframes.
- pulse-amplitude modulation — modulation of the amplitude of a train of electric pulses used to carry signals (pulse carrier) Abbreviation: PAM.
- real-time operating system — (operating system) (RTOS) Any operating system where interrupts are guaranteed to be handled within a certain specified maximum time, thereby making it suitable for control of hardware in embedded systems and other time-critical applications. RTOS is not a specific product but a class of operating systems.
- replacement cost insurance — Replacement cost insurance is insurance in which the cost of replacing property is calculated without a reduction for depreciation.
- reticuloendothelial system — the aggregate of the phagocytic cells, including certain cells of the bone marrow, lymphatic system, liver, and spleen, that have reticular and endothelial characteristics and function in the immune system's defense against foreign bodies. Abbreviation: RES.
- riemann-stieltjes integral — the limit, as the norm of partitions of a given interval approaches zero, of the sum of the product of the first of two functions evaluated at some point in each subinterval multiplied by the difference in functional values of the second function at the endpoints of the subinterval.
- scintillation spectrometer — a scintillation counter adapted for measuring the energy distribution of particles emitted in radioactive processes.
- shielded metal arc welding — Shielded metal arc welding is a process in which a coated wire is melted to fill spaces between parts. The molten coating floats to the surface of the molten metal to protect it from the atmosphere.
- simple algebraic extension — a simple extension in which the specified element is a root of an algebraic equation in the given field.
- simulating digital systems — Fortran-like language for describing computer logic design. Sammet 1969, p.622.
- statistical-thermodynamics — the science that deals with average properties of the molecules, atoms, or elementary particles in random motion in a system of many such particles and relates these properties to the thermodynamic and other macroscopic properties of the system.
- sth will take some beating — If you say that something will take some beating, you mean that it is very good and it is unlikely that anything better will be done or made.
- straight from the shoulder — direct, honest, and forceful in expression; outspoken.
- straight-from-the-shoulder — direct, honest, and forceful in expression; outspoken.
- symbionese liberation army — a group of urban guerrillas, active in the early 1970s in the U.S.
- terminal access controller — (hardware, networking) (TAC) A device which connects terminals to the Internet, usually using dial-up modem connections and the TACACS protocol.
- the single european market — the free trade policy that operates between members of the European Union
- three-dimensional printing — the creation of solid objects by building up multiple layers, each layer corresponding to a plan held in a digital file
- to call something your own — If you have something you can call your own, it belongs only to you, rather than being controlled by or shared with someone else.
- to catch hold of something — Hold is used in expressions such as grab hold of, catch hold of, and get hold of, to indicate that you close your hand tightly around something, for example to stop something moving or falling.
- to laugh in someone's face — If someone laughs in your face, they are openly disrespectful towards you.
- to lay a finger on someone — If you say that someone did not lay a finger on a particular person or thing, you are emphasizing that they did not touch or harm them at all.
- to set alarm bells ringing — to make someone feel worried or concerned about something
- to 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.
- topological transformation — homeomorphism (def 2).
- transformational component — a set of transformational rules that convert the deep structure of sentences into their surface structures
- traveling salesman problem — any mathematical problem that involves determination of the shortest path through several points.
- udmurt autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation in Europe. 16,250 sq. mi. (42,088 sq. km). Capital: Izhevsk.
- universal communications x — (communications) (UCX) A software implementation of the ubiquitous TCP/IP suite of communications protocols for Digital Equipment Corporation's OpenVMS operating system. Users of the UCX product can connect to heterogeneous networks to access and download files, send electronic mail, run and develop applications, and monitor activity.
- universal time coordinated — incorrect term for coordinated universal time.
- unlisted securities market — a market on the London Stock Exchange, established in 1980 and discontinued in 1996, for trading in shares of smaller companies, who did not wish to comply with the requirements for a full listing
- upper side-band modulation — (communications) (USB) A kind of modulation applied to a sinusoidal carrier.
- victoria and albert museum — a museum of the fine and applied arts in London, originating from 1856 and given its present name and site in 1899
- wilcoxon mann-whitney test — a statistical test of the difference between the distributions of data collected in two experimental conditions applied to unmatched groups of subjects but comparing the distributions of the ranks of the scores