24-letter words containing a, r, o, y, s
- irritable bowel syndrome — any combination of common disturbances of the bowel, as diarrhea or constipation, occurring with abdominal pain, sometimes accompanied by psychological stress. Abbreviation: IBS.
- iterated function system — (graphics) (IFS) A class of fractals that yield natural-looking forms like ferns or snowflakes. Iterated Function Systems use a very easy transformation that is done recursively.
- lady washington geranium — show geranium.
- laryngotracheobronchitis — A respiratory disease, a form of croup.
- minister plenipotentiary — plenipotentiary.
- motorway service station — an establishment off a motorway where drivers can refuel their vehicles, buy food, drink, etc
- mutual insurance company — an insurance company owned by the policyholders and not by shareholders
- narcissistic personality — a personality disorder characterized by extreme self-centeredness and self-absorption, fantasies involving unrealistic goals, an excessive need for attention and admiration, and disturbed interpersonal relationships.
- network operating system — (operating system) (NOS) The operating system on Control Data Corporation's Cyber Computer.
- neutrosophic probability — (logic) An extended form of probability based on Neutrosophy, in which a statement is held to be t true, i indeterminate, and f false, where t, i, f are real values from the ranges T, I, F, with no restriction on T, I, F or the sum n=t+i+f.
- object-oriented analysis — (programming) (OOA) The first phase of object-oriented design.
- open system architecture — (operating system) (OSA) A competitor to IBM's SNA.
- people's liberation army — See under Huk (def 1).
- physiological atmosphere — ecosphere.
- polymer matrix composite — A polymer matrix composite is a material consisting of a composite made stronger by adding fibers or particles to it.
- preparatory to doing sth — If one action is done preparatory to another, it is done before the other action, usually as preparation for it.
- present company excepted — If you are making a general, unfavourable comment about a particular type of person, and you are with people of that type, you can say 'present company excepted' as a way of making your comment sound more polite.
- probability distribution — a distribution of all possible values of a random variable together with an indication of their probabilities.
- psychopathic personality — an antisocial personality characterized by the failure to develop any sense of moral responsibility and the capability of performing violent or antisocial acts
- pyrotraumatic dermatitis — hot spot.
- rapid eye movement sleep — REM sleep.
- representative democracy — a person or thing that represents another or others.
- responsibility allowance — payment made to somebody who has special responsibilities
- reverse annuity mortgage — a type of home mortgage under which an elderly homeowner is allowed a long-term loan in the form of monthly payments against his or her paid-off equity as collateral, repayable when the home is eventually sold. Abbreviation: RAM.
- rocky mountain whitefish — mountain whitefish.
- san joaquin valley fever — coccidioidomycosis.
- scottish country dancing — a type of Scottish folk dancing, including reels, jigs, and strathspeys, in which couples are arranged in sets and perform a series of movements, esp facing one another in a line
- secondary school teacher — a person who teaches at a secondary school
- shadow foreign secretary — the member of the main opposition party in Parliament who would hold the office of Foreign Secretary if their party were in power
- single european currency — the official currency, also known as the Euro, of some of the members of the European Union
- socialist workers' party — one of the biggest extreme left wing parties in Britain
- supportive psychotherapy — a type of psychotherapy that seeks to reduce psychological conflict and strengthen a patient's defenses through the use of various techniques, as reassurance, suggestion, counseling, and reeducation.
- synchronous graphics ram — Synchronous Graphics Random Access Memory
- telephony user interface — (communications) (TUI) Either a software interface to telephony (e.g. a phone-capable PC) or a DTMF-based interface to software (e.g. voicemail).
- tetraethyl pyrophosphate — a colorless to amber, hygroscopic, poisonous liquid, (C 2 H 5) 4 P 2 O 7 , used as an insecticide and as a rodenticide.
- the realm of possibility — If you say that something is not beyond the realms of possibility, you mean that it is possible.
- the way things are going — You can use the way things are going to indicate that you expect something to happen because of the way the present situation is developing.
- to carry sth to extremes — to overdo something
- to cramp someone's style — If someone or something cramps your style, their presence or existence restricts your behaviour in some way.
- to have seen better days — If you say that something has seen better days, you mean that it is old and in poor condition.
- to lay something to rest — If you lay something such as fears or rumours to rest or if you put them to rest, you succeed in proving that they are not true.
- to make boundary changes — to change the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies, because of population shifts
- to play your cards right — If you say that someone will achieve success if they play their cards right, you mean that they will achieve success if they act skilfully and use the advantages that they have.
- transpersonal psychology — a branch of psychology or psychotherapy that recognizes altered states of consciousness and transcendent experiences as a means to understand the human mind and treat psychological disordrs.
- trotskyist international — Fourth International.
- under the sway of sb/sth — If you are under the sway of someone or something, they have great influence over you.
- under-secretary of state — any of various high officials subordinate only to the minister in charge of a department
- virtual software factory — (programming, tool) (VSF) A product from Systematica which allows users to develop CASE tools appropriate to any software engineering methodology.
- visual component library — (programming) VCL A application framework library for Microsoft Windows and Borland Software Corp.'s Delphi and C++Builder rapid application development software. VCL was originally designed for Delphi but is now also used for C++Builder. This replaces OWL Object Windows Library as Borland's Windows C++ framework of choice. VCL encapsulates the C-based Win32 API into a much easier to use, object-oriented form. Like its direct rival, Microsoft Foundation Class Library (MFC), VCL includes classes to create Windows programs. The VCL component class can be inherited to create new VCL components, which are the building blocks of Delphi and C++Builder applications. VCL components are somewhat in competition with ActiveX controls, though a VCL wrapper can be created to make an ActiveX control seem like a VCL component.
- water of crystallization — water of hydration, formerly thought necessary to crystallization: now usually regarded as affecting crystallization only as it forms new molecular combinations.