27-letter words containing f, e, i, s, a
- refreshable braille display — braille display
- rise/raise sb from the dead — When Christians say that Jesus Christ rose from the dead or raised someone from the dead, they mean that Jesus came back to life after he had died, or brought a dead person back to life.
- rufus daniel isaacs reading — Rufus Daniel Isaacs, 1st Marquis of, 1860–1935, Lord Chief Justice of England 1913–21; viceroy of India 1921–26.
- scalable coherent interface — (hardware, protocol) (SCI) The ANSI/IEEE 1596-1992 standard that defines a point-to-point interface and a set of packet protocols. The SCI protocols use packets with a 16-byte header and 16, 64, or 256 data bytes. Each packet is protected by a 16-bit CRC code. The standard defines 1 Gbit/second serial fiber-optic links and 1 Gbyte/second parallel copper links. SCI has two unidirectional links that operate concurrently. The SCI protocols support shared memory by encapsulating bus requests and responses into SCI request and response packets. Packet-based handshake protocols guarantee reliable data delivery. A set of cache coherence protocols are defined to maintain cache coherence in a shared memory system. SCI uses 64-bit addressing and the most significant 16 bits are used for addressing up to 64K nodes.
- scientific content analysis — the close analysis of the content of statements made to the police by suspects in an attempt to identify innocence or guilt
- seasonal affective disorder — recurrent winter depression characterized by oversleeping, overeating, and irritability, and relieved by the arrival of spring or by light therapy. Abbreviation: SAD.
- serial peripheral interface — (communications, hardware) (SPI) A serial interface in which a master device supplies clock pulses to exchanges data serially with a slave over two data wires (Master-Slave and Slave-Master). This term probably originated with Motorola in about 1979 with their first all-in-one microcontroller.
- soft-coated wheaten terrier — one of an Irish breed of medium-sized sporting terriers having an abundant, soft, medium-length coat, any shade of wheat in color, with its head and face profusely covered with coat.
- soviet of the nationalities — (in the former Soviet Union) part of the bicameral legislature of the Supreme Soviet, together with the Soviet of the Union
- spa and wellness facilities — In a hotel, the spa and wellness facilities are where people go to exercise and have special treatments in order to improve their health.
- stanford research institute — Former name of SRI International.
- supreme court of judicature — an English court formed in 1873 from several superior courts and consisting of a court of original jurisdiction (High Court of Justice) and an appellate court (Court of Appeal)
- systems analysis definition — (programming) (SAD) The analysis of the role of a proposed system and the identification of the requirements that it should meet. SAD is the starting point for system design. The term is most commonly used in the context of commercial programming, where software developers are often classed as either systems analysts or programmers. The systems analysts are responsible for identifying requirements (i.e. systems analysis) and producing a design. The programmers are then responsible for implementing it.
- take advantage of something — If you take advantage of something, you make good use of it while you can.
- take someone out of himself — to make someone forget his anxieties, problems, etc
- take someone's fingerprints — If the police take someone's fingerprints, they make that person press their fingers onto a pad covered with ink, and then onto paper, so that they know what that person's fingerprints look like.
- take something upon oneself — to assume the right to do or responsibility for (something)
- the forest of fontainebleau — a forest in N France, where the town of Fontainebleau is located
- the odds are in sb's favour — If you say that the odds are in someone's favour, you mean that they are likely to succeed in what they are doing.
- the shape of things to come — If you say that something is the shape of things to come, you mean that it is the start of a new trend or development, and in future things will be like this.
- third law of thermodynamics — any of three principles variously stated in equivalent forms, being the principle that the change of energy of a thermodynamic system is equal to the heat transferred minus the work done (first law of thermodynamics) the principle that no cyclic process is possible in which heat is absorbed from a reservoir at a single temperature and converted completely into mechanical work (second law of thermodynamics) and the principle that it is impossible to reduce the temperature of a system to absolute zero in a finite number of operations (third law of thermodynamics)
- to breathe a sigh of relief — If people breathe or heave a sigh of relief, they feel happy that something unpleasant has not happened or is no longer happening.
- to build up a head of steam — to develop power
- to cast pearls before swine — If you say that someone is casting pearls before swine, you mean that they are wasting their time by offering something that is helpful or valuable to someone who does not appreciate or understand it.
- to give someone a free hand — If someone gives you a free hand, they give you the freedom to use your own judgment and to do exactly as you wish.
- to the accompaniment of sth — If one thing happens to the accompaniment of another, they happen at the same time.
- to the best of your ability — as well as you can
- two shakes of a lamb's tail — to move or sway with short, quick, irregular vibratory movements.
- weapons of mass destruction — nuclear, biological and chemical arms
- wernicke-korsakoff syndrome — a disorder of the central nervous system characterized by abnormal eye movements, incoordination, confusion, and impaired memory and learning functions, caused by thiamine deficiency, and observed in chronic alcoholism.
- working families tax credit — (in Britain) a means-tested allowance paid to single parents or families who have at least one dependent child, who work at least 16 hours per week, and whose earnings are low. It replaced family credit
- xml user-interface language — (language) (XUL) An XML-based language created for the Mozilla browser for development of cross-platform user interfaces. XUL supports input controls such as textboxes and checkboxes, toolbars, menus, dialogs, trees, keyboard shortcuts, and more.