24-letter words containing b, a, o, u
- public relations officer — a person who is responsible for communications with the public
- public-access television — a noncommercial system of broadcasting on television channels made available to independent or community groups for programs of general interest to the community.
- punch above one's weight — to do something that is considered to be beyond one's ability
- 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.
- robot exclusion standard — standard for robot exclusion
- rubaiyat of omar khayyam — a free translation (first published in 1859) by Edward FitzGerald of a group of quatrains by the Persian poet Omar Khayyám.
- san bernardino mountains — mountain range in S Calif., south of the Mojave Desert: highest peak, 11,502 ft (3,506 m)
- second earl of shelburne — William Petty Fitzmaurice, 2nd Earl of, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, William Petty Fizmaurice Lansdowne.
- skeleton in the cupboard — a scandalous fact or event in the past that is kept secret
- solution based modelling — (SBM) A software development process described in the book "Developing Object-Oriented Software for the Macintosh" written by Neal Goldstein and Jeff Alger, published by Addison Wesley in 1992.
- 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.
- st.-bruno-de-montarville — a town in S Quebec, in E Canada, near Montreal.
- standard housing benefit — a rebate of a proportion of a person's eligible housing costs paid by a local authority and calculated on the basis of level of income and family size
- sth bodes ill/augurs ill — If something bodes ill or augurs ill, it gives you a reason to fear that something harmful might happen soon.
- subordinate con-junction — a conjunction introducing a subordinate clause, as when in They were glad when I finished.
- take sb under one's wing — If you take someone under your wing, you look after them, help them, and protect them.
- the red badge of courage — a novel (1895) by Stephen Crane.
- thompson sub-machine-gun — a .45 calibre sub-machine-gun
- throw one's weight about — to act in an authoritarian or aggressive manner
- to jump on the bandwagon — If someone, especially a politician, jumps or climbs on the bandwagon, they become involved in an activity or movement because it is fashionable or likely to succeed and not because they are really interested in it.
- to make boundary changes — to change the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies, because of population shifts
- 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.
- under the sway of sb/sth — If you are under the sway of someone or something, they have great influence over you.
- usb adapter card support — (communications, software) A set of software extensions that provide support for USB adapter cards installed in the PCI bus or Cardbus slots in Macintosh computers that do not have built-in USB ports.
- ventricular fibrillation — Pathology. a cardiac arrhythmia characterized by rapid, chaotic electrical impulses to the ventricles, incomplete ventricular contractions, and resultant loss of pulse and blood pressure.
- 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.
- volume table of contents — (storage) (VTOC) /V-tock/ A special file on a disk, which contains a list of all the ordinary files on the disk and their addresses. Also called a directory. The term is used mostly with large mainframe disk drives. Storage administrators will often refer to the VTOC to obtain information on the number of files stored on a disk.
- webster-ashburton treaty — U.S. History. an agreement between the U.S. and England (1842) defining the boundary between British and American territory from Maine to present-day Minnesota.
- when the balloon goes up — when the trouble or action begins
- work breakdown structure — (project) (WBS) A division of a project into tasks and subtasks. The tasks are numbered to indicate their relationship to each other. WBSs are indespensible for project planning, particularly when estimating time and resource requirements. Some industries use established work breakdown structure systems for billing and reporting purposes.
- wouldn't be seen dead in — to refuse to wear or to go to
- yellow-bellied sapsucker — a woodpecker, Sphyrapicus varius, of eastern North America, having a red patch on the forehead and black and white plumage with a pale-yellow abdomen, and feeding on sap from trees.
- you can't be too careful — You can say 'You can't be too careful' as a way of advising someone to be careful, even when this seems unnecessary.