23-letter words containing e, t, r
- integrated fire control — an electronic system that locates and tracks a target, computes the data, and employs a weapon to destroy it.
- interchange file format — (file format) (IFF, full name "EA IFF 1985") A generic file format published by Electronic Arts as an open standard. IFF is chunk-based and hierarchical so files can include other files. It is easily extensible and an all round Good Idea. An IFF file starts with one of the following "group IDs": 'FORM', 'LIST' or 'CAT '. This is followed by an unsigned 32-bit number of bytes in the remainder of the file. Then comes an ID that indicates which type of IFF file this is. The main image type is ILBM, audio is either AIFF or 8SVX, animations are ANIM etc. An IFF file will probably have a filename extension related to this file type stored in the file. The rest of the file is divided into chunks each of which also has a four-byte header and byte count.
- interfascicular cambium — cambium that develops between the vascular bundles.
- interference microscope — a microscope that utilizes light interference phenomena to create two superimposed images of an object, making possible the observation of transparent objects without using the staining technique.
- intermediate technology — technology which combines sophisticated ideas with cheap and readily available materials, esp for use in developing countries
- internal rate of return — an interest rate giving a net present value of zero when applied to the expected cash flow of a project. Its value, compared to the cost of the capital involved, is used to determine the project's viability
- internal reconstruction — the hypothetical reconstruction of an earlier stage of a language or of some part of it, as its phonology, by deductions from irregularities in its present structure, as the reconstruction of a stage in English when certain instances of r were related to s in a systematic way by comparing the pair was:were to other pairs, as lose:forlorn.
- international date line — the line approximately following the 180° meridian from Greenwich on the east side of which the date is one day earlier than on the west
- international relations — a branch of political science dealing with the relations between nations.
- internet monthly report — (IMR) Publication designed to communicate to the Internet Research Group the accomplishments, milestones reached, or problems discovered by the participating organisations.
- internet public library — (IPL) A project at the University of Michigan School of Information and Library Studies to provide an on-line, 24 hour public library, chaired by an assemblage of librarians and information industry professionals. The library aims to provide library services to a target audience estimated to number 1/4 of the entire American population by the end of the century. The Internet Public Library is scheduled to go on-line in March 1995. Among the first services will be on-line reference; youth services; user education; and professional services for librarians. Mailing list: [email protected]
- interval of convergence — an interval associated with a given power series such that the series converges for all values of the variable inside the interval and diverges for all values outside it.
- intrinsic semiconductor — an almost pure semiconductor to which no impurities have been added and in which the electron and hole densities are equal at thermal equilibrium
- invertible counterpoint — counterpoint in which the voices, while retaining their original form, may be interchanged above or below one another in any order.
- irish christian brother — Brother of the Christian Schools (def 2).
- joint test action group —
- katmai new instructions — Streaming SIMD Extensions
- keep sb at arm's length — If you keep someone at arm's length, you avoid becoming too friendly or involved with them.
- keep sth under your hat — If you tell someone to keep a piece of information under their hat, you are asking them not to tell anyone else about it.
- kick against the pricks — to hurt oneself by struggling against something in vain
- kinetic theory of gases — a theory that the particles in a gas move freely and rapidly along straight lines but often collide, resulting in variations in their velocity and direction. Pressure is interpreted as arising from the impacts of these particles with the walls of a container.
- lady chatterley's lover — a novel (1928) by D. H. Lawrence.
- large-scale integration — LSI.
- largemouth (black) bass — a black bass (Micropterus salmoides) found in warm, sluggish waters
- law enforcement officer — an official employee who prevents and detects crime and who maintains and upholds the police, such as a police officer, sheriff, customs officer etc
- lead replacement petrol — a less toxic fuel introduced in 2000 for cars requiring leaded petrol
- lead up the garden path — a plot of ground, usually near a house, where flowers, shrubs, vegetables, fruits, or herbs are cultivated.
- leave no stone unturned — the hard substance, formed of mineral matter, of which rocks consist.
- lesser antillean iguana — a large tropical American arboreal herbivorous lizard (iguana delicatissima) native to the Lesser Antilles
- lesser peach tree borer — the larva of a clearwing moth, Synanthedon pictipes, distributed throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada but most prevalent in the South, that burrows into the injured trunks and branches of stone fruit trees.
- letter-quality printing — high-quality output in printed form from a printer linked to a word processor
- lie through one's teeth — a false statement made with deliberate intent to deceive; an intentional untruth; a falsehood. Synonyms: prevarication, falsification. Antonyms: truth.
- lieutenant junior grade — a commissioned officer ranking above an ensign and below a lieutenant.
- light and shade surface — (in architectural shades and shadows) a surface in a plane tangent to the parallel rays from the theoretical light source, treated as a shade surface.
- light-emitting resistor — (electronics, humour) (LER, from "light-emitting diode") A resistor in the final stages of burning up. (Though intended as purely humorous, the term could sensibly describe the filament of a common incandescent electric light bulb). See also SED.
- like anything/crazy/mad — You can use the expressions like anything, like crazy, or like mad to emphasize that someone is doing something or something is happening in a very energetic or noticeable way.
- liquefied petroleum gas — a mixture of various petroleum gases, esp propane and butane, stored as a liquid under pressure and used as an engine fuel
- living on borrowed time — living an unexpected extension of life
- lock, stock, and barrel — a device for securing a door, gate, lid, drawer, or the like in position when closed, consisting of a bolt or system of bolts propelled and withdrawn by a mechanism operated by a key, dial, etc.
- look on the bright side — consider positive aspects
- low-density lipoprotein — a plasma protein that is the major carrier of cholesterol in the blood: high levels are associated with atherosclerosis. Abbreviation: LDL.
- lower of cost or market — Lower of cost or market is a method of valuing assets where the asset is valued at either the historical cost or the fair market value, whichever is lower.
- magnetic field strength — that part of the magnetic induction that is determined at any point in space by the current density and displacement current at that point independently of the magnetic or other physical properties of the surrounding medium. Symbol: H.
- magnetic quantum number — the quantum number that designates the component of the orbital angular momentum in a fixed direction and that can assume all integral values between and including the orbital quantum number and the negative of the orbital quantum number.
- magnetic resonance scan — MR scan.
- magneto-encephalography — a record of the magnetic field of the brain. Abbreviation: MEG.
- magnetohydrodynamically — In a magnetohydrodynamic way.
- magnetomechanical ratio — the ratio of the angular momentum of a rotating charged particle to its magnetic moment; the reciprocal of the gyromagnetic ratio.
- main distribution frame — (networking) (MDF) The network closet containing the main hub.
- make allowances for sth — If you make allowances for something, you take it into account in your decisions, plans, or actions.