25-letter words containing a, n, d
- time domain reflectometer — (hardware, networking) (TDR) An electronic device for detecting and locating short- or open-circuits in an Ethernet cable. TDRs can also measure how the characteristic impedance of a line varies along its length.
- to be in the catbird seat — to be in a very good situation
- to be in the driving seat — If you say that someone is in the driving seat, you mean that they are in control in a situation.
- to call something to mind — If something brings another thing to mind or calls another thing to mind, it makes you think of that other thing, usually because it is similar in some way.
- to drink someone's health — When you drink to someone's health or drink their health, you have a drink as a sign of wishing them health and happiness.
- to hold someone to ransom — If a kidnapper is holding someone to ransom or holding them ransom in British English, or is holding a person for ransom in American English, they keep that person prisoner until they are given what they want.
- to live beyond your means — If someone is living beyond their means, they are spending more money than they can afford. If someone is living within their means, they are not spending more money than they can afford.
- to read between the lines — If you read between the lines, you understand what someone really means, or what is really happening in a situation, even though it is not said openly.
- to sail close to the wind — If you sail close to the wind, you take a risk by doing or saying something that may get you into trouble.
- to sound the death knelll — If you say that something sounds the death knell for a particular person or thing, you mean it will cause that person or thing to fail, end, or cease to exist.
- to take something as read — If you take something as read, you accept it as true or right and therefore feel that it does not need to be discussed or proved.
- to tear someone to shreds — If you tear someone to shreds or rip them to shreds, you criticize them very thoroughly and severely.
- town-and-country planning — a system of government planning used to plan how land should be used, balancing economic development and environmental quality
- track and field athletics — a collection of sporting events that involve running, sprinting, throwing, jumping and walking
- trading standards officer — a person who works for a trading standards office
- transcendental meditation — a technique, based on ancient Hindu writings, by which one seeks to achieve a relaxed state through regular periods of meditation during which a mantra is repeated. Abbreviation: TM.
- transcendental-philosophy — transcendental character, thought, or language.
- tweedledum and tweedledee — any two persons or things that differ only slightly from each other; two of a kind
- unconditional convergence — the property of a convergent infinite series that remains convergent when the terms are arranged in any order.
- under the aegis of sb/sth — Something that is done under the aegis of a person or organization is done with their official support and backing.
- under the watchful eye of — If you do something under the watchful eye of someone who has authority over you, they watch you carefully to make sure there are no problems.
- undisputed world champion — a boxer who holds the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, the World Boxing Organization, and the International Boxing Federation world championship titles simultaneously
- unified modeling language — (language) (UML) A non-proprietary, third generation modelling language. The Unified Modeling Language is an open method used to specify, visualise, construct and document the artifacts of an object-oriented software-intensive system under development. The UML represents a compilation of "best engineering practices" which have proven successful in modelling large, complex systems. UML succeeds the concepts of Booch, OMT and OOSE by fusing them into a single, common and widely usable modelling language. UML aims to be a standard modelling language which can model concurrent and distributed systems. UML is not an industry standard, but is taking shape under the auspices of the Object Management Group (OMG). OMG has called for information on object-oriented methodologies, that might create a rigorous software modelling language. Many industry leaders have responded in earnest to help create the standard. See also: STP, IDE.
- university of east london — (body, education) (UEL) A UK University with six academic Faculties: Design and The Built Environment, East London Business School, Institute Of Health and Rehabilitation, Faculty Of Science, Social Sciences and Technology.
- vertical redundancy check — (storage, communications) (VRC) An error checking method performed on one 8-bit ASCII character, where the 8th bit is used as the parity bit. The resulting parity bit is constructed by XORing the word. The result is a "1" if there is an odd number of 1s, and a "0" if there is an even number of 1s in the word. This method is unreliable because if an odd number of bits are distorted, the check will not detect the error. The Longitudinal Redundancy Check is an improvement.
- vienna development method — (programming, specification) (VDM) A program development method based on formal specification using the Vienna Development Method Specification Language (VDM-SL).
- wallis and futuna islands — a group of islands in the SW Pacific Ocean: overseas territory of France. 106 sq. mi. (274 sq. km).
- war of the grand alliance — the war (1689–97) in which England, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the Holy Roman Empire in league with Bavaria, Brandenburg, Savoy, and the Palatinate opposed France.
- what is sb/sth doing here — If you ask what someone or something is doing in a particular place, you are asking why they are there.
- white sands missile range — a U.S. Army military testing ground for rockets and guided missiles in SW New Mexico, W of Alamogordo.
- word sense disambiguation — the process of identifying which sense of a word is being used in a particular context
- world health organization — an agency of the United Nations, established in 1948, concerned with improving the health of the world's people and preventing or controlling communicable diseases on a worldwide basis through various technical projects and programs. Abbreviation: WHO.