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22-letter words containing g, a, s, t, r, i

  • phase alternating line — (television)   (PAL) The video signal format used in the UK [where else?]. PAL uses Amplitude Modulation for the video information, and Frequency Modulation for the audio information. The phase of the colour subcarrier is reversed on alternate lines which (together with the use of a delay line) allows the receiver to cancel any phase errors introduced in the path between the studio and the end-user's receiver. Such phase errors are quite common and would cause the displayed colours to shift in hue. The US equivalent, NTSC, does not have this feature and thus requires a user control to correct for transmission phase errors, hence the mis-expansion "Never Twice the Same Colour".
  • plastic pin grid array — (hardware, processor)   (PPGA) The package used for certain Intel Celeron processors. PPGA processors fit into Socket 370 motherboard sockets. The Plastic Pin Grid Array packaging is similar to that used on Pentium processors. The silicon core is covered by a heat slug that faces down toward the motherboard. The Celeron 300A to the 533 use a PPGA package. The Celeron 566 onward use a FC-PGA package. Celeron processors are also available in Slot 1 SEPP packaging.
  • play one's cards right — a usually rectangular piece of stiff paper, thin pasteboard, or plastic for various uses, as to write information on or printed as a means of identifying the holder: a 3″ × 5″ file card; a membership card.
  • portuguese east africa — former name of Mozambique (def 1).
  • portuguese west africa — a republic in SW Africa: formerly an overseas province of Portugal; gained independence Nov. 11, 1975. 481,226 sq. mi. (1,246,375 sq. km). Capital: Luanda.
  • potassium permanganate — a very dark purple, crystalline, water-soluble solid, KMnO 4 , used chiefly as an oxidizing agent, disinfectant, laboratory reagent, and in medicine as an astringent and antiseptic.
  • potassium-argon dating — a method for estimating the age of a mineral or rock, based on measurement of the rate of decay of radioactive potassium into argon.
  • process cinematography — cinematography in which the main or foreground action or scene is superimposed on or combined with simulated or separately filmed background action or scenery to produce special visual effects.
  • program transformation — The systematic development of efficient programs from high-level specifications by meaning-preserving program manipulations. Also known as optimisation. See fusion, loop combination, peephole optimisation, register allocation, tupling, unfold/fold.
  • programmed instruction — a progressively monitored, step-by-step teaching method, employing small units of information or learning material and frequent testing, whereby the student must complete or pass one stage before moving on to the next.
  • progressive participle — present participle.
  • pronunciation spelling — a spelling intended to match a certain pronunciation more closely than the traditional spelling does, as gonna for going to , kinda for kind of (meaning “rather”), git for get , or lite for light.
  • psychological thriller — book, movie: suspense story
  • raster image processor — (application, printer)   (RIP) A device (usually hardware but can be software) that takes a Page Description Language description of a page and converts it into a bitmap for printing.
  • registered shareholder — someone who holds or owns a stock registered to their name
  • relationship marketing — a marketing strategy in which a company seeks to build long-term relationships with its customers by providing consistent satisfaction
  • safety integrity level — A safety integrity level is a relative level of risk reduction.
  • saint george's channel — a channel between Wales and Ireland, connecting the Irish Sea and the Atlantic. 100 miles (160 km) long; 50–90 miles (81–145 km) wide.
  • satellite broadcasting — the transmission of television or radio programmes from an artificial satellite at a power suitable for direct reception in the home
  • saturday night special — a cheap, small-caliber handgun that is easily obtainable and concealable.
  • saturday-night special — a cheap, small-caliber handgun that is easily obtainable and concealable.
  • scalable sampling rate — (compression, standard, algorithm)   (SSR) See, e.g., MPEG-4 AAC SSR.
  • school crossing patrol — the official name for lollipop man or lady
  • search the fucking web — (web, jargon)   (Always abbreviated STFW) A response implying that an inquirer could have easily found an answer to his question using Google or some other web search engine. It is now often quicker and more productive to search the World-Wide Web than to RTFM.
  • self-sustaining growth — economic growth that maintains itself without intervention
  • senior master sergeant — a noncommissioned officer ranking above a master sergeant and below a chief master sergeant. Abbreviation: SMSgt.
  • single virtual storage — OS/VS2
  • sixteen bit organisers — (communications)   (SIBO) Psion's family of PDAs running EPOC, including the MC200, MC400, Series 3 (1991-1998), Series 3a, Series 3c, Series 3mx, Siena, Workabout and Workabout mx.
  • social disorganization — disruption or breakdown of the structure of social relations and values resulting in the loss of social controls over individual and group behavior, the development of social isolation and conflict, and a sense of estrangement or alienation from the mainstream of one's culture; the condition or state of anomie.
  • social networking site — a website that allows subscribers to interact, typically by requesting that others add them to their visible list of contacts, by forming or joining sub-groups based around shared interests, or publishing content so that a specified group of subscribers can access it
  • softening of the brain — a softening of the cerebrum, caused by impairment of the blood supply; encephalomalacia.
  • special drawing rights — the reserve assets of the International Monetary Fund on which member nations may draw in proportion to their contribution to the Fund
  • special interest group — (SIG) One of several technical areas, sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery. Well-known SIGs include SIGPLAN (the Special Interest Group on Programming Languages), SIGARCH (the Special Interest Group for Computer Architecture) and SIGGRAPH (the Special Interest Group for Computer Graphics).
  • special-interest group — Also called special interest. a body of persons, corporation, or industry that seeks or receives benefits or privileged treatment, especially through legislation.
  • spelling pronunciation — a pronunciation based on spelling, usually a variant of the traditional pronunciation. The spelling pronunciation of waistcoat is [weyst-koht] /ˈweɪstˌkoʊt/ (Show IPA) rather than [wes-kuh t] /ˈwɛs kət/ (Show IPA).
  • spherical trigonometry — the branch of trigonometry that deals with spherical triangles.
  • spontaneous generation — abiogenesis.
  • start the ball rolling — to open or initiate (an action, discussion, movement, etc)
  • state registered nurse — (formerly in Britain) a nurse who had extensive training and passed examinations enabling him or her to perform all nursing services
  • straining at the leash — eagerly impatient to begin something
  • structural engineering — the branch of civil engineering dealing with the design and planning of large structures
  • structural linguistics — a usually synchronic approach to language study in which a language is analyzed as an independent network of formal systems, each of which is composed of elements that are defined in terms of their contrasts with other elements in the system.
  • structured programming — the design and coding of programs by a methodology (top-down) that successively breaks problems into smaller, nested subunits.
  • stuffing and stripping — (in marine transport) the packing and unpacking of containers
  • subliminal advertising — a form of advertising on film or television that employs subliminal images to influence the viewer unconsciously
  • substantive agreements — collective agreements that regulate jobs, pay, and conditions
  • swings and roundabouts — If you say that a situation is swings and roundabouts, you mean that there are as many gains as there are losses.
  • take something as read — to take something for granted as a fact; understand or presume
  • targa graphics adaptor — (graphics, file format)   (TGA) The Truevision Targa Graphics Adaptor file format. The TGA format is a common bitmap file format for storage of 24-bit images. It supports colourmaps, alpha channels, compression and comments. More information is available from Truevision and The Graphics File Format Page.
  • the (great) depression — the period of economic depression which began in 1929 and lasted through most of the 1930s
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