24-letter words containing a, u, t, r, c
- open system architecture — (operating system) (OSA) A competitor to IBM's SNA.
- parallel virtual machine — (parallel, networking, tool) (PVM) 1. A software system designed to allow a network of heterogeneous machines to be used as a single distributed parallel processor. PVM was developed by the University of Tennessee, The Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Emory University. 2. The intermediate language used by the Gambit compiler for Scheme.
- particulate fluidization — Particulate fluidization is a condition when particles in a fluidized bed are individually suspended.
- phrase-structure grammar — a grammar that consists of phrase-structure rules.
- pluck sth out of the air — If you say that someone plucks a figure, name, or date out of the air, you mean that they say it without thinking much about it before they speak.
- portable document format — (file format) (PDF) The native file format for Adobe Systems' Acrobat. PDF is the file format for representing documents in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware, and operating system used to create those documents. A PDF file can describe documents containing any combination of text, graphics, and images in a device-independent and resolution independent format. These documents can be one page or thousands of pages, very simple or extremely complex with a rich use of fonts, graphics, colour, and images.
- portable scheme debugger — (PSD) A package for source code debugging of R4RS-compliant Scheme under GNU Emacs by Kellom ?ki Pertti <[email protected]>. Version 1.1. Distributed under GNU GPL. It works with scm, Elk and Scheme->C.
- potassium cobaltinitrite — a yellow, crystalline, slightly water-soluble powder, K 3 Co(NO 2) 6 , used as a pigment in oil and watercolor paints, and for coloring surfaces of glass, porcelain, etc.
- principal quantum number — the nonnegative, integral quantum number that defines the stationary orbits in the Bohr model of the atom.
- private health insurance — insurance against the need for medical treatment as a private patient
- privileged communication — a communication that one cannot legally be compelled to divulge, as that to a lawyer from a client
- public international law — Also called public law. the law governing the legal relations between independent states or nations and, increasingly, between these and individuals.
- public relations officer — a person who is responsible for communications with the public
- pure functional language — purely functional language
- pyrotraumatic dermatitis — hot spot.
- quadrature of the circle — the insoluble problem of constructing, by the methods of Euclidean geometry, a square equal in area to a given circle.
- quantitative inheritance — the process in which the additive action of numerous genes results in a trait, as height, showing continuous variability.
- quick-assembly furniture — furniture such as shelves and cupboards which you buy as a number of separate pieces and assemble yourself
- recursive descent parser — (grammar) A "top-down" parser built from a set of mutually-recursive procedures or a non-recursive equivalent where each such procedure usually implements one of the productions of the grammar. Thus the structure of the resulting program closely mirrors that of the grammar it recognises.
- regular checking account — a checking account for which the monthly fee is usually based on the average balance maintained and the number of transactions recorded.
- renewable term insurance — Renewable term insurance is term life insurance that may be renewed for another period without the policyholder needing to provide further evidence of their insurability.
- reproductive imagination — the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.
- republic of south africa — Republic of, a country in S Africa; member of the Commonwealth of Nations until 1961. 472,000 sq. mi. (1,222,480 sq. km). Capitals: Pretoria and Cape Town.
- revolving charge account — a charge plan offerring revolving credit.
- ring down the curtain on — to give forth a clear resonant sound, as a bell when struck: The doorbell rang twice.
- robot exclusion standard — standard for robot exclusion
- rocky mountain whitefish — mountain whitefish.
- rose-coloured spectacles — If you look at a person or situation through rose-coloured glasses or rose-tinted glasses, you see only their good points and therefore your view of them is unrealistic. In British English, you can also say that someone is looking through rose-coloured spectacles.
- 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
- sic transit gloria mundi — thus passes the glory of the world
- skeleton in the cupboard — a scandalous fact or event in the past that is kept secret
- south equatorial current — an ocean current, flowing westward, found near the equator in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans.
- southern cornstalk borer — the larva of a grass moth, Diatraea crambidoides, occurring in the southeastern U.S. from Maryland to Georgia, that is sometimes a serious pest, especially of corn.
- structural functionalism — functionalism (def 3).
- subordinate con-junction — a conjunction introducing a subordinate clause, as when in They were glad when I finished.
- sulphur-crested cockatoo — a large Australian white parrot, Kakatoe galerita, with a yellow erectile crest
- 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.
- 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).
- telescope user interface — (hardware, interface) (TUI) A remote control interface for a telescope.
- the red badge of courage — a novel (1895) by Stephen Crane.
- to get your act together — If you get your act together, you organize your life or your affairs so that you are able to achieve what you want or to deal with something effectively.
- to have egg on your face — If someone has egg on their face or has egg all over their face, they have been made to look foolish.
- to light the touch paper — if someone lights the touch paper or lights the blue touch paper, they do something which causes anger or excitement
- 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.
- turks and caicos islands — a UK Overseas Territory in the Caribbean, southeast of the Bahamas: consists of the eight Turks Islands, separated by the Turks Island Passage from the Caicos group, which has six main islands. Capital: Grand Turk. Pop: 47 754 (2013 est). Area: 430 sq km (166 sq miles)
- tuva autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation in Asia: formerly an independent republic in Mongolia. 65,810 sq. mi. (170,500 sq. km). Capital: Kyzyl.
- twin vector quantization — (audio, compression) (VQF) Part of the MPEG-4 standard dealing with time domain weighted interleaved vector quantization.
- ultralarge crude carrier — Nautical. ULCC.
- under-secretary of state — any of various high officials subordinate only to the minister in charge of a department