21-letter words containing c, o, i, n
- the acting profession — actors considered as a group
- the central provinces — the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec
- the executive mansion — the White House
- the icing on the cake — If you describe something as the icing on the cake, you mean that it makes a good thing even better, but it is not essential.
- the joker in the pack — If you describe someone or something as the joker in the pack, you mean that they are different from the other people or things in their group, and can be unpredictable.
- the microsoft network — (networking) (MSN) Microsoft's ISP and online content service, launched in October 1996. Not to be confused with Microsoft Networking. MSN was originally based on custom software and protocols, however Microsoft saw the error of their ways and adopted Internet standards. MSN now provides standard WWW and email facilities, albeit with Microsoft's Internet Explorer web-browser and the Outlook Express email software. The service also provides "Community Services" including newsgroups, forums, and chat.
- the origin of species — (On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life) a treatise (1859) by Charles Darwin setting forth his theory of evolution.
- the press association — the national news agency for the United Kingdom and Ireland
- the probation service — a criminal justice service that is mainly responsible for dealing with offenders by placing them under the supervision of a probation officer
- the scout association — a worldwide movement for boys or (in some countries) girls, founded as the Boy Scouts in England in 1908 by Lord Baden-Powell with the aim of developing character and responsibility
- the shipping forecast — a radio broadcast made by the BBC of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the British Isles
- the stationery office — (in the UK) the company that supplies the civil service with all its office supplies, machinery, printing and binding, etc
- the student community — the body of students in further and higher education, considered as a whole
- therapeutic community — a group-based form of therapy for mental disorders, sometimes residential
- thermal decomposition — Thermal decomposition is the process in which a chemical species breaks down when its temperature is increased.
- ticker-tape reception — (mainly in New York) the showering of the motorcade of a distinguished politician, visiting head of state, etc, with ticker tape as a sign of welcome
- tide-generating force — the difference between the force of gravity exerted by the moon or the sun on a particle of water in the ocean and that exerted on an equal mass of matter at the centre of the earth. The lunar tide-generating forces are about 2.2 times greater than are the solar ones
- to cross your fingers — If you cross your fingers, you put one finger on top of another and hope for good luck. If you say that someone is keeping their fingers crossed, you mean they are hoping for good luck.
- to fly in the face of — If an action or belief flies in the face of accepted ideas or rules, it seems to completely oppose or contradict them.
- to kick someone's ass — To kick ass or to kick someone's ass means to show them that you are angry with them, either by telling them or by using physical force.
- to kill a mockingbird — a novel (1960) by Harper Lee.
- to play second fiddle — If you play second fiddle to someone, your position is less important than theirs in something that you are doing together.
- to sink without trace — If you say that someone or something sinks without trace or sinks without a trace, you mean that they stop existing or stop being successful very suddenly and completely.
- to stick in your mind — If something sticks in your mind, it remains firmly in your memory.
- to stick to your guns — If you stick to your guns, you continue to have your own opinion about something even though other people are trying to tell you that you are wrong.
- topological invariant — a property of a topological space that is a property of every space related to the given space by a homeomorphism.
- trades union congress — The Trades Union Congress in Britain is the same as the TUC.
- traffic control tower — an elevated structure for the visual observation and control of the air and ground traffic at an airport
- trichloronitromethane — chloropicrin.
- tumor necrosis factor — a protein, produced in humans and other animals, that is destructive to cells showing abnormally rapid growth: identical with cachectin. Abbreviation: TNF.
- twelve-tone technique — a modern system of tone relationships in which the 12 tones of an octave are not centered around any one tone, but are unified by a selected order of tones for a given composition.
- two-point perspective — a mathematical system for representing three-dimensional objects and space on a two-dimensional surface by means of intersecting lines that are drawn vertically and horizontally and that radiate from one point (one-point perspective) two points (two-point perspective) or several points on a horizon line as perceived by a viewer imagined in an arbitrarily fixed position.
- uniform resource name — (web) (URN, previously Uniform/Universal Resource Number) 1. Any URI which is not a URL. 2. A particular scheme which is currently (1991-4) under development by the IETF, which should provide for the resolution using Internet protocols of names which have a greater persistence than that currently associated with Internet host names or organisations (as used in URLs). Uniform Resource Names will be URI schemes that improve on URLs in reliability over time, including authenticity, replication, and high availability. When defined, a URN in sense 1 will be an example of a URN in sense 2.
- union of south africa — former name for South Africa, Republic of.
- universe of discourse — the totality of known or supposed objects and phenomena throughout space; the cosmos; macrocosm.
- university of iceland — (body, education) The Home of Fjolnir.
- vacation bible school — a religious school conducted by some churches during the summer for students on vacation.
- voice-stress analyzer — a machine purported to detect stress in a human voice and to ascertain a person's truthfulness.
- volumetric efficiency — the ratio of fluid delivered by a piston or ram pump per stroke to the displacement volume of the piston or ram
- voluntary association — a group of individuals joined together on the basis of mutual interest or common objectives, especially a business group that is not organized or constituted as a legal entity.
- volunteers of america — a religious reform and relief organization, similar to the Salvation Army, founded in New York City in 1896 by Ballington Booth, son of William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army. Abbreviation: VOA.
- vote of no confidence — A vote of no confidence is a vote in which members of a group are asked to indicate that they do not support the person or group in power, usually the government.
- warm silence software — A small company run by(?) Robin Watts, producing software for the Acorn Archimedes.
- water of constitution — water present in a molecule that cannot be removed without disrupting the molecule.
- wet collodion process — a photographic process, in common use in the mid-19th century, employing a glass photographic plate coated with iodized collodion and dipped in a silver nitrate solution immediately before use.
- what price something? — what are the chances of something happening now?
- white-crowned sparrow — a North American sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, having black and white stripes on the head.
- wholesale price index — an indicator of price changes in the wholesale market
- william the conqueror — ("the Conqueror") 1027–87, duke of Normandy 1035–87; king of England 1066–87 (son of Robert I, duke of Normandy).
- with sb's compliments — If you say that you are giving someone something with your compliments, you are saying in a polite and fairly formal way that you are giving it to them, especially as a gift or a favour.