23-letter words containing m, e, n, a, c

provocative maintenance — [Common ironic mutation of "preventive maintenance"] Actions performed upon a machine at regularly scheduled intervals to ensure that the system remains in a usable state. So called because it is all too often performed by a field servoid who doesn't know what he is doing; such "maintenance" often *induces* problems, or otherwise results in the machine's remaining in an *un*usable state for an indeterminate amount of time. See also scratch monkey.
psychomotor retardation — a generalized slowing of psychological and physical activity, frequently occurring as a symptom of severe depression.
publicly-quoted company — a company whose shares are traded on a stock exchange
puerto rican royal palm — a feather palm, Roystonea borinquena, of Puerto Rico and St. Croix, having leaves about 10 feet (3 meters) long and egg-shaped, yellowish-brown fruit.
quantum electrodynamics — the quantum field theory that deals with the electromagnetic field and its interaction with electrons and positrons. Abbreviation: QED.
radial drilling machine — a machine in which the drilling head is mounted to slide along a radial arm which can be rotated, raised, or lowered on a vertical mast to adjust the position of the drill above the workpiece
rate-of-climb indicator — a flight instrument that indicates the rate of climb or descent of an aircraft.
real simple syndication — (spelling) Illiterate form of Really Simple Syndication.
rocky mountain beeplant — a rank-smelling plant, Cleome serrulata, of the caper family, native to the western U.S., having showy, dense clusters of pink or white flowers, frequented by bees.
sb doesn't miss a trick — If you say that someone does not miss a trick, you mean that they always know what is happening and take advantage of every situation.
scientific data systems — (company) (SDS) The company that produced the SDS 940 (later renamed XDS 940). Around 1968 Xerox bought out SDS and renamed the SDS machines to XDS.
secondary modern school — (formerly) a secondary school offering a more technical or practical and less academic education than a grammar school
sheltered accommodation — housing specially designed to provide a safe environment for the elderly, handicapped, or disabled, often with some shared facilities and a caretaker
sierra madre occidental — the system of mountains in the west of Mexico
silicone breast implant — silicone filled bags that are implanted into a woman in order to increase the size of her breasts
site catchment analysis — the examination by survey, excavation, maps, and graphs of a contained area to evaluate the productivity of the resources customarily exploited by the inhabitants of a settlement, especially a prehistoric one.
slum clearance campaign — a campaign to rehouse those people who live in a slum area, and to prepare the area for demolition and rebuilding
small-scale integration — SSI.
smash someone's face in — to beat someone severely
social insurance number — a nine-digit number used by the federal government to identify a citizen
social security payment — a payment of social security made to an individual
somaliland protectorate — official name of the former British Somaliland.
specialite de la maison — the specialty of the house (used in referring to the most important dish served by a restaurant).
squamous cell carcinoma — a carcinoma that arises from squamous epithelium in the skin and sometimes in the mucous membranes.
state coordinate system — a system of right-angled planar coordinates established by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey for each state in the United States.
statement of cash flows — A statement of cash flows is a financial statement that shows the amounts of cash that came into and went out of a company over a particular period of time.
stream of consciousness — unpunctuated prose
stream-of-consciousness — of, relating to, or characterized by a manner of writing in which a character's thoughts or perceptions are presented as occurring in random form, without regard for logical sequences, syntactic structure, distinctions between various levels of reality, or the like: a stream-of-consciousness novel; a stream-of-consciousness technique.
structural unemployment — unemployment caused by basic changes in the overall economy, as in demographics, technology, or industrial organization.
supplementary insurance — Supplementary insurance is insurance coverage that is purchased in addition to an insurance policy to provide additional benefits or coverage.
symbolic interactionism — a theory that human interaction and communication is facilitated by words, gestures, and other symbols that have acquired conventionalized meanings.
system control language — (language) (SCL) The command language for the VME/B operating system on the ICL2900. SCL was block structured and supported strings, lists of strings ("superstrings"), integer, Boolean, and array types. You could trigger a block whenever a condition on a variable value occured. It supported macros and default arguments. Commands were treated like procedure calls.
terminal user interface — Textual User Interface
the metropolitan police — the police organization that is responsible for Greater London, excluding the City of London
the numbers game/racket — If you refer to the numbers game, the numbers racket, or the numbers, you are referring to an illegal lottery or illegal betting.
the scottish parliament — the devolved national legislature of Scotland, located in Edinburgh
thompson submachine gun — a portable, .45-caliber, automatic weapon designed to be fired from the shoulder or hip.
to call someone's bluff — If you call someone's bluff, you tell them to do what they have been threatening to do, because you are sure that they will not really do it.
to clap eyes on someone — To clap eyes on someone or something, or set or lay eyes on them, means to see them.
to come to a sticky end — If someone comes to a sticky end or meets a sticky end, they suffer very badly or die in an unpleasant way.
to force someone's hand — If you force someone's hand, you force them to act sooner than they want to, or to act in public when they would prefer to keep their actions secret.
to keep someone company — If you keep someone company, you spend time with them and stop them feeling lonely or bored.
to make your skin crawl — If something makes your skin crawl or makes your flesh crawl, it makes you feel shocked or disgusted.
to save someone's bacon — If someone or something saves your bacon, they get you out of a dangerous or difficult situation.
to send someone packing — If you send someone packing, you make them go away.
transcendental argument — an argument designed to make explicit the conditions under which a certain kind of knowledge is possible, esp those of Kant
transcendental idealism — the Kantian doctrine that reality consists not of appearances, but of some other order of being whose existence can be inferred from the nature of human reason
trellis code modulation — (TCM) A modulation technique with hardware error detection and correction.
twenty-second amendment — an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1951, limiting presidential terms to two for any one person, or to one elected term if the person has completed more than two years of another's term.
twin-lens reflex camera — a camera in which the image appears on a ground-glass viewer (focusing screen) after being reflected by a mirror or after passing through a prism or semitransparent glass; in one type (single-lens reflex camera) light passes through the same lens to both the ground glass and the film, while in another type (twin-lens reflex camera) light passes through one lens (viewing lens) to the ground glass and through a second lens (taking lens) to the film, the lenses being mechanically coupled for focusing.

Was this page helpful?

Yes No

Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page

Tell us why?