20-letter words containing g, s, a, p
- prescriptive grammar — an approach to grammar that is concerned with establishing norms of correct and incorrect usage and formulating rules based on these norms to be followed by users of the language.
- presentation manager — The elephantine graphical user interface to the OS/2 operating system.
- price-earnings ratio — the current price of a share of common stock divided by earnings per share over a 12-month period, often used in stock evaluation. Abbreviation: p/e.
- private investigator — private detective. Abbreviation: PI, p.i., P.I.
- proportional spacing — a feature of some typewriters and other output devices whereby the space allotted to each character is determined by the width of the character
- prosecuting attorney — the public officer in a county, district, or other jurisdiction charged with carrying on the prosecution in criminal proceedings.
- pseudo-psychological — of or relating to psychology.
- psychological moment — the proper or critical time for achieving a desired result: She found the right psychological moment to make her request.
- pyroligneous alcohol — methyl alcohol.
- pythagoras's theorem — (mathematics) The theorem of geometry, named after Pythagoras, of Samos, Ionia, stating that, for a right-angled triangle, the square of the length of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the lengths of the other two sides. I.e. if the longest side has length A and the other sides have lengths B and C (in any units), A^2 = B^2 + C^2 (2004-02-12)
- real-time processing — data-processing by a computer which receives constantly changing data, such as information relating to air-traffic control, travel booking systems, etc, and processes it sufficiently rapidly to be able to control the source of the data
- refracting telescope — an optical instrument for making distant objects appear larger and therefore nearer. One of the two principal forms (refracting telescope) consists essentially of an objective lens set into one end of a tube and an adjustable eyepiece or combination of lenses set into the other end of a tube that slides into the first and through which the enlarged object is viewed directly; the other form (reflecting telescope) has a concave mirror that gathers light from the object and focuses it into an adjustable eyepiece or combination of lenses through which the reflection of the object is enlarged and viewed. Compare radio telescope.
- repurchase agreement — a contract between a dealer, as a bank, and an investor, whereby the investor purchases securities with the promise that they will be bought back by the dealer on a designated date, for which the investor receives a fixed return.
- retinitis pigmentosa — degeneration of the retina manifested by night blindness and gradual loss of peripheral vision, eventually resulting in tunnel vision or total blindness.
- ring-necked pheasant — a gallinaceous Asian bird, Phasianus colchicus, having a white band around its neck, introduced into Great Britain, North America, and the Hawaiian Islands.
- royal leamington spa — a city in Warwickshire, central England: health resort.
- salmonella poisoning — an illness caused by ingestion of a salmonella bacterium
- satellite photograph — a photograph taken by an artificial satellite from space
- semiautobiographical — pertaining to or being a fictionalized account of an author's own life.
- send someone packing — to dismiss or get rid of (someone) peremptorily
- serve a person right — to pay a person back, esp for wrongful or foolish treatment or behaviour
- sex change operation — a surgical operation designed to change a person's physical sexual characteristics to those of the opposite sex
- skating championship — a competition for ice-skating
- soft gelatin capsule — A soft gelatin capsule is a type of capsule that is usually used to contain medicine in the form of liquid or powder, and which dissolves more quickly than a hard gelatin capsule.
- spatial technologies — (company) Distributors of the ACIS solid modelling engine.
- special patrol group — a former police unit tasked with counter terrorism in the Royal Ulster Constabulary
- specialist registrar — a hospital doctor senior to a house officer but junior to a consultant, specializing in medicine (medical specialist registrar), surgery (surgical specialist registrar), or some subspeciality of either
- st.-germain-des-pres — an area in Paris, on the Left Bank.
- star spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
- star-spangled banner — Stars and Stripes.
- state highway patrol — a state's road traffic police
- supplemental plumage — the third plumage assumed by certain birds having three different plumages in their annual cycle of molts.
- supplementary angles — either of two angles that added together produce an angle of 180°.
- television programme — a programme broadcast on television
- the (great) pyramids — the three large pyramids at Gîza, Egypt: the largest is the Pyramid of Khufu
- the legal profession — the profession of law
- to spread your wings — If you spread your wings, you do something new and rather difficult or move to a new place, because you feel more confident in your abilities than you used to and you want to gain wider experience.
- transposed conjugate — adjoint (def 2).
- tubing head pressure — The tubing head pressure is the pressure on the tubing, which is measured at the wellhead.
- video graphics array — (hardware) (VGA) A display standard for IBM PCs, with 640 x 480 pixels in 16 colours and a 4:3 aspect ratio. There is also a text mode with 720 x 400 pixels. IBM technical references define the *product name* of their original VGA display board as "Video Graphics Array", in contrast to the preceding boards, the "Color Graphics Adapter" (CGA) and "Enhanced Graphics Adapter" (EGA). See also Super Video Graphics Adapter.
- winter olympic games — an international contest of winter sports, esp skiing, held every four years
- working relationship — a relationship with a colleague, boss or employee