23-letter words containing a, n, t
- queen elizabeth islands — a group of islands off the N coast of Canada: the northernmost islands of the Canadian Arctic archipelago, lying N of latitude 74°N; part of Nunavut. Area: about 390 000 sq km (150 000 sq miles)
- quod erat demonstrandum — (at the conclusion of a proof, esp of a theorem in Euclidean geometry) which was to be proved
- quota share reinsurance — Quota share reinsurance is a form of reinsurance in which the reinsurer accepts a certain percentage of all or certain parts of the business of the reinsured person or company.
- quote chapter and verse — [by analogy with the mainstream phrase] To cite a relevant excerpt from an appropriate bible. "I don't care if "rn" gets it wrong; "Followup-To: poster" is explicitly permitted by RFC 1036. I'll quote chapter and verse if you don't believe me." See also legalese, language lawyer, RTFS (sense 2).
- radio direction finding — the act or process of finding the direction to a radio source by comparing the signal strength of antennae pointing in different directions
- random number generator — a piece of computer software used to create a sequence of random numbers
- rank outsider/outsiders — If one of the people in a competition is described as a rank outsider, they are considered to have very little chance of winning.
- rate-of-climb indicator — a flight instrument that indicates the rate of climb or descent of an aircraft.
- real simple syndication — (spelling) Illiterate form of Really Simple Syndication.
- rectangular coordinates — Usually, rectangular coordinates. either of two Cartesian coordinates in which the axes meet at right angles.
- refinery waste disposal — Refinery waste disposal is the system for dealing with waste materials, especially hazardous ones, in a refinery.
- regressive assimilation — assimilation in which a following sound has an effect on a preceding one, as in pronouncing have in have to as [haf] /hæf/ (Show IPA) influenced by the voiceless (t) in to.
- reincarnation, cycle of — cycle of reincarnation
- relative sunspot number — a number indicating the degree of sunspot activity on the sun as a factor of observer idiosyncrasies, the number of sunspot groups, and the number of individual sunspots.
- relativity of knowledge — the theory that all knowledge is relative to the mind, or that things can be known only through their effects on the mind, and that consequently there can be no knowledge of reality as it is in itself
- residual current device — a circuit-breaking device installed in electrical equipment to protect the operator from electrocution
- residual debt insurance — Residual debt insurance is a type of risk insurance that banks often require when granting a loan, which is used to guarantee that the loan is repaid in the event of death or disability.
- response generalization — generalization (def 4b).
- response-generalization — the act or process of generalizing.
- retrolental fibroplasia — an unusual eye disease occurring in premature infants, usually from being given high concentrations of oxygen, which causes abnormal formation of fibrous tissue behind the lens and often results in blindness.
- reverse polish notation — postfix notation
- right circular cylinder — a cylinder generated by the revolution of a rectangle about one of its sides.
- right, left, and centre — on all sides; from every direction
- rite of intensification — a ritual or ceremony performed by a community in a time of crisis that affects all members, as a rain dance during a drought.
- rocky mountain beeplant — a rank-smelling plant, Cleome serrulata, of the caper family, native to the western U.S., having showy, dense clusters of pink or white flowers, frequented by bees.
- roentgen equivalent man — the dose of ionizing radiation that produces the same effect in man as one roentgen of x- or gamma-radiation
- rolling-element bearing — a roller bearing or ball bearing.
- rotation-inversion axis — an axis of a crystal such that rotating about the axis and then inverting the crystal brings the crystal back to its original position.
- route of administration — A route of administration is the means by which a drug or agent enters the body, such as by mouth or by injection.
- rsa data security, inc. — (cryptography, company) (After Rivest, Shamir, Adleman - see RSA) A recognised world leader in cryptography, with millions of copies of its software encryption and authentication installed and in use worldwide. RSA's technologies are the global de facto standard for public key cryptography and digital signatures, and are part of existing and proposed standards for the Internet, ITU-T, ISO, ANSI, PKCS, IEEE and business and financial networks around the world.
- rub sb up the wrong way — If you rub someone up the wrong way in British English, or rub someone the wrong way in American English, you offend or annoy them without intending to.
- russian orthodox church — the national Church of Russia, constituting a branch of the Eastern Church, presided over by the Patriarch of Moscow
- saddle block anesthesia — a form of spinal anesthesia that produces loss of sensation in the buttocks, perineum, and inner thighs.
- saint christopher-nevis — St. Kitts-Nevis.
- saint george's mushroom — an edible whitish basidiomycetous fungus, Tricholoma gambosum, with a floury smell
- sb doesn't miss a trick — If you say that someone does not miss a trick, you mean that they always know what is happening and take advantage of every situation.
- schizotypal personality — a personality disorder characterized by a group of symptoms similar to but less severe than schizophrenia, as odd behavior, peculiar thinking, and social isolation.
- scientific data systems — (company) (SDS) The company that produced the SDS 940 (later renamed XDS 940). Around 1968 Xerox bought out SDS and renamed the SDS machines to XDS.
- scottish national party — a political party advocating the independence of Scotland, founded in 1934
- secondary seventh chord — a chord formed by superposition of three thirds upon any degree of the scale except the dominant.
- secondary sex character — any of a number of manifestations, as development of breasts or beard, muscularity, distribution of fat tissue, and change of pitch in voice, specific to each sex and incipient at puberty but not essential to reproduction.
- securities exchange act — a law passed in 1934 establishing the SEC.
- security association id — (networking) (SAID) A 32-bit field added to packet headers for encryption and authentication in the proposed Internet Protocol Version 6.
- self extracting archive — (file format) (SEA) An archive format used on the Apple Macintosh. Double-clicking a file of this type should extract its contents.
- seneca falls convention — a women's rights convention held at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott.
- separation of variables — a grouping of the terms of an ordinary differential equation so that associated with each differential is a factor consisting entirely of functions of the independent variable appearing in the differential.
- set one's heart at rest — Anatomy. a hollow, pumplike organ of blood circulation, composed mainly of rhythmically contractile smooth muscle, located in the chest between the lungs and slightly to the left and consisting of four chambers: a right atrium that receives blood returning from the body via the superior and inferior vena cavae, a right ventricle that pumps the blood through the pulmonary artery to the lungs for oxygenation, a left atrium that receives the oxygenated blood via the pulmonary veins and passes it through the mitral valve, and a left ventricle that pumps the oxygenated blood, via the aorta, throughout the body.
- settle (one's) accounts — To settle accounts with an enemy or opponent means to bring your fight or quarrel to an end by defeating them.
- sheltered accommodation — housing specially designed to provide a safe environment for the elderly, handicapped, or disabled, often with some shared facilities and a caretaker
- short-billed marsh wren — sedge wren.