24-letter words containing e, y, a, m
- hyaline membrane disease — respiratory distress syndrome.
- hyperbetalipoproteinemia — An abnormally high level of betalipoprotein in the blood.
- immunofluorescence assay — a diagnostic blood test using the technique of immunofluorescence. Abbreviation: IFA.
- information superhighway — internet
- internal auditory meatus — the canal extending through the petrous portion of the temporal bone, through which the glossopharyngeal nerve, the facial nerve, and the auditory nerve and artery pass.
- involuntary manslaughter — the unlawful but unintentional killing of a human being
- 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.
- kinetic theory of matter — a theory that matter is composed of small particles, all in random motion.
- lady washington geranium — show geranium.
- law of supply and demand — the theory that prices are determined by the interaction of supply and demand: an increase in supply will lower prices if not accompanied by increased demand, and an increase in demand will raise prices unless accompanied by increased supply
- lay something on someone — to tell something to someone
- lead someone by the nose — to make someone do unquestioningly all one wishes; dominate someone
- lithium aluminum hydride — a white powder, LiAlH 4 , used chiefly as a chemical reducing agent, especially in pharmaceutical and perfume manufacturing.
- m technology association — (body) The MUMPS User's Group that disbanded some time between 1995 and 2003. Address: 1738 Elton Road, Suite 205, Silver Spring, MD 20903-1725, USA. Telephone: +1 301 431-4070. Fax: +1 301 431-0017.
- magnetothermoelectricity — thermoelectricity induced or affected by a magnetic field.
- mandy rice-davis applies — (chat) (MRDA) An acronym used to imply that someone is lying to protect their own interests. During the trial of Stephen Ward (who was charged with living off the immoral earnings of Christine Keeler and Rice-Davies), the prosecuting counsel pointed out that Lord Astor denied any involvement with her and Rice-Davies replied, "Well, he would, wouldn't he?"
- mass psychogenic illness — a condition in which a large group of people report similar physical symptoms that are traceable to psychological factors rather than environmental or physiological factors.
- mathematical probability — the probability of an event consisting of n out of m possible equally likely occurrences, defined to be n/m
- minister plenipotentiary — plenipotentiary.
- money-market certificate — a certificate of deposit held for a specified term earning a fixed interest rate keyed to the interest rate of U.S. Treasury bills.
- 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
- network operating system — (operating system) (NOS) The operating system on Control Data Corporation's Cyber Computer.
- not ready for prime time — Usable, but only just so; not very robust; for internal use only. Said of a program or device. Often connotes that the thing will be made more solid Real Soon Now. This term comes from the ensemble name of the original cast of "Saturday Night Live", the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players". It has extra flavour for hackers because of the special (though now semi-obsolescent) meaning of prime time. Compare beta.
- object management system — In an IPSE, the system which maintains information about the system under development.
- open system architecture — (operating system) (OSA) A competitor to IBM's SNA.
- parliamentary government — government by a body of cabinet ministers who are chosen from and responsible to the legislature and act as advisers to a nominal chief of state.
- people's liberation army — See under Huk (def 1).
- permeability coefficient — the volume of an incompressible fluid that will flow in unit time through a unit cube of a porous substance across which a unit pressure difference is maintained
- 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.
- 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.
- pretty amazing new stuff — (humour, communications) (PANS) What PSTN is evolving into.
- programmable array logic — (hardware) (PAL) A family of fuse-programmable logic integrated circuits originally developed by MMI. Registered or combinatorial output functions are modelled in a sum of products form. Each output is a sum (logical or) of a fixed number of products (logical and) of the input signals. This structure is well suited for automatic generation of programming patterns by logic compilers. PAL devices are programmed by blowing the fuses permanently using overvoltage. Today, more complex devices based on the same original architecture are available (CPLD's for Complex PLD's) that incorporate the equivalent of several original PAL chips. PAL chips are, however, still popular due to their high speed.
- pyrotraumatic dermatitis — hot spot.
- quick-assembly furniture — furniture such as shelves and cupboards which you buy as a number of separate pieces and assemble yourself
- rapid eye movement sleep — REM sleep.
- rational-emotive therapy — a form of therapy in which a patient is asked to reject irrational attitudes and assumptions in order to deal effectively with stressful situations.
- representative democracy — a person or thing that represents another or others.
- 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.
- sequentially compact set — a set in which every sequence has a subsequence that converges to a point of the set.
- system management server — (operating system) (SMS) Software used by Microsoft Windows NT system administrators to manage personal computers on any size network. SMS can distribute software to desktops from one central location, detect every machine on the network, track software and hardware configurations, send key information back to a central database, and perform other tasks.
- the realm of possibility — If you say that something is not beyond the realms of possibility, you mean that it is possible.
- thermal neutron analyzer — a baggage-screening device that detects explosives by using low-energy neutrons to sense gamma radiation.
- 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 keep something at bay — If you keep something or someone at bay, or hold them at bay, you prevent them from reaching, attacking, or affecting you.
- 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.