28-letter words containing l, a, s, e
- english as a second language — subject: English for non-native speakers
- english for special purposes — the practice and theory of learning and teaching English for specific uses in given fields, such as science, nursing, tourism, etc.
- enterprise resource planning — (application, business) (ERP) Any software system designed to support and automate the business processes of medium and large businesses. This may include manufacturing, distribution, personnel, project management, payroll, and financials. ERP systems are accounting-oriented information systems for identifying and planning the enterprise-wide resources needed to take, make, distribute, and account for customer orders. ERP systems were originally extensions of MRP II systems, but have since widened their scope. An ERP system also differs from the typical MRP II system in technical requirements such as relational database, use of object oriented programming language, computer aided software engineering tools in development, client/server architecture, and open system portability.
- environmental health service — (in Britain) a service provided by a local authority, which deals with prevention of the spread of communicable diseases, food safety and hygiene, control of infestation by insects or rodents, etc
- equal opportunities employer — An equal opportunities employer is an employer who gives people the same opportunities for employment, pay, and promotion, without discrimination against anyone.
- external data representation — (XDR) A standard for machine independent data structures developed by Sun Microsystems for use in remote procedure call systems. It is defined in RFC 1014 and is similar to ASN.1.
- favourable pressure gradient — a decrease of pressure in the direction of flow
- financial services authority — (in the United Kingdom) a regulatory body that oversees London's financial markets, each of which has its own self-regulatory organization: it succeeded the Securities and Investments Board
- floating-point specbaseratio — SPECbase_fp92
- follicle-stimulating hormone — FSH.
- for all intents and purposes — something that is intended; purpose; design; intention: The original intent of the committee was to raise funds.
- for one's life/for dear life — If you say that someone does something for dear life or for their life, you mean that they do it using all their strength and effort because they are in a dangerous or urgent situation.
- formal description technique — (specification, protocol) (FDT) A formal method for developing telecomunications services and protocols. FDTs range from abstract to implementation-oriented descriptions. All FDTs offer the means for producing unambiguous descriptions of OSI services and protocols in a more precise and comprehensive way than natural language descriptions. They provide a foundation for analysis and verification of a description. The target of analysis and verification may vary from abstract properties to concrete properties. Natural language descriptions remain an essential adjunct to formal description, enabling an unfarmiliar reader to gain rapid insight into the structure and function of services and protocols. Examples of FDTs are LOTOS, Z, SDL, and Estelle.
- gcos macro assembler program — (language) (GMAP) The macro assembler for the GCOS 8 operating system on Honeywell/Bull DPS-8 computers.
- general packet radio service — (communications) (GPRS) A GSM data transmission technique that transmits and receives data in packets. This contrasts with systems that set up a persistent channel. GPRS makes very efficient use of available radio spectrum, and users pay only for the volume of data sent and received. See also: packet radio.
- give one's all/put one's all — If you give your all or put your all into something, you make the maximum effort possible.
- greatest happiness principle — the ethical principle that an action is right in so far as it promotes the greatest happiness of the greatest number of those affected
- have sth/a lot going for you — If someone or something has a lot going for them, they have a lot of advantages.
- high performance file system — (file system) (HPFS) The native file system for IBM's OS/2.
- how stupid/lucky can you get — You can say, for example, 'How lucky can you get?' or 'How stupid can you get?' to show your surprise that anyone could be as lucky or stupid as the person that you are talking about.
- hydrolysed vegetable protein — a powder or liquid that is produced by boiling legumes or cereals in hydrochloric acid and then neutralizing with sodium hydroxide. It is used as a flavouring in some foods, such as soups and bouillon cubes
- ieee floating point standard — (standard, mathematics) (IEEE 754) "IEEE Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic (ANSI/IEEE Std 754-1985)" or IEC 559: "Binary floating-point arithmetic for microprocessor systems". A standard, used by many CPUs and FPUs, which defines formats for representing floating-point numbers; representations of special values (e.g. infinity, very small values, NaN); five exceptions, when they occur, and what happens when they do occur; four rounding modes; and a set of floating-point operations that will work identically on any conforming system. IEEE 754 specifies formats for representing floating-point values: single-precision (32-bit) is required, double-precision (64-bit) is optional. The standard also mentions that some implementations may include single-extended precision (80-bit) and double-extended precision (128-bit) formats.
- imperial software technology — (company) A software engineering company which emerged from Imperial College in about 1982. It enjoys a world-wide reputation for technical excellence as a software product and technology provider in the Open Systems market. Its flagship product is X-Designer, the award-winning graphical user interface builder. It also has considerable expertise in the Z language and Formal Methods.
- infectious laryngotracheitis — a viral disease of adult chickens, characterized by inflammation and hemorrhage of the larynx and trachea and, in many cases, resulting in asphyxiation.
- information retrieval system — a system for recovering specific information from stored data
- integrated drive electronics — Advanced Technology Attachment
- java servlet development kit — (web) (JSDK) A suite of software for easing the development of Java servlets.
- karelian autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the NW Russian Federation in Europe. 66,500 sq. mi. (172,240 sq. km). Capital: Petrozavodsk.
- knowledge systems laboratory — (KSL) An artificial intelligence research laboratory within the Department of Computer Science at Stanford University. Current work focuses on knowledge representation for sharable engineering knowledge bases and systems, computational environments for modelling physical devices, architectures for adaptive intelligent systems, and expert systems for science and engineering.
- leader of the house of lords — a member of the Government having primary authority in initiating legislative business
- level premium term insurance — Level premium term insurance is term insurance with premiums that remain the same throughout the life of the contract.
- like a lamb to the slaughter — without resistance
- like water off a duck's back — You say that criticism is like water off a duck's back or water off a duck's back to emphasize that it is not having any effect on the person being criticized.
- local mail transfer protocol — (messaging, protocol) (LMTP) A protocol designed as an alternative to ESMTP for cases where the mail receiver does not manage a queue. LMTP is an application level protocol that runs on top of TCP/IP. It was initially defined in RFC 2033, and uses (with a few changes) the syntax and semantics of ESMTP. It should be used only by specific prior arrangement and configuration, and it must not be used on TCP port 25 (the SMTP port).
- lotus notes formula language — (language) A macro language for Lotus Notes that uses commands starting with @, e.g. @If, @Left, @Right, @Username. Many Notes applications are built with just this language.
- machine-assisted translation — translation done by a human translator who uses computer software to assist with the translation
- magnetic particle inspection — a method of testing for cracks and other defects in a magnetic material, such as steel, by covering it with a magnetic powder and magnetizing it: any variation in the concentration of the powder indicates a flaw in the material
- marriage guidance counsellor — a person whose job is to give advice given to couples who have problems in their married life
- maxwell-boltzmann statistics — statistics for classical physics, based on the assumption that in a given physical system consisting of indistinguishable particles and regions, all possible arrangements of the particles in the various regions have equal probability.
- medical specialist registrar — a hospital doctor senior to a house officer but junior to a consultant, specializing in medicine
- meter-kilogram-second-ampere — of or relating to the system of units in which the meter, kilogram, second, and ampere are the principal units of length, mass, time, and electric current. Abbreviation: mksa, MKSA.
- microsoft foundation classes — (programming) (MFC) Software structures in C++, the Windows base classes which can respond to messages, make windows, and from which application specific classes can be derived.
- multimedia personal computer — (multimedia) (MPC) A specification published by the Multimedia PC Marketing Council in 1990 to encourage the adoption of a standard multimedia computing platform. In May 1993, the MPC Marketing Council published a new specification called MPC Level 2 Specification as an enhanced multimedia computer standard. The original MPC specification, now also known as the MPC Level 1 Specification, continues in full effect. The appearance of the MPC or MPC2 certification mark on a computer system or upgrade kit indicates that the hardware meets the corresponding (Level 1 or Level 2) MPC Marketing Council specification. Software bearing the Multimedia PC mark has been designed to work on Multimedia PC licensed hardware. By establishing a standard platform, certifying hardware compliance and providing inter-operability between software and hardware for the consumer, the MPC Marketing Council is encouraging widespread use of multimedia applications and hardware.
- national academy of sciences — a private organization, created by an act of Congress (1863), that furthers science and advises the U.S. government on scientific and technical issues. Abbreviation: N.A.S., NAS.
- national bureau of standards — National Institute of Standards and Technology
- national labor relations act — an act of Congress (1935) that forbade any interference by employers with the formation and operation of labor unions.
- national savings certificate — (in Britain) a certificate bought from the National Savings department which can be redeemed tax-free with accrued interest, usually after 5 years
- national semiconductor 32000 — (processor) (NS32000)
The first of a series of microprocessors from National Semiconductor. The 320xx processors have an interface which allows coprocessors such as FPUs and MMUs to be attached in a chain. The 320xx was the predecessor of the Swordfish processor. - newly industrialized country — a country that has recently become, or is now in the process of becoming, industrialized
- online public access catalog — (library) (OPAC) A computerised system to catalogue and organise materials in a library (the kind that contains books). OPACs have replaced card-based catalogues in many libraries. An OPAC is available to library users (public access).