28-letter words containing n, a, b
- 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.
- methylphenylcarbinyl acetate — a colorless, synthetic liquid, C 1 0 H 1 2 O 2 , having a strong floral odor and occurring in oil of gardenia: used chiefly in gardenia and lily perfumes.
- munchausen syndrome by proxy — Psychiatry. a form of Munchausen syndrome in which a person induces or claims to observe a disease in another, usually a close relative, in order to attract the doctor's attention to herself or himself.
- 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 physical laboratory — a UK establishment founded in 1900 at Teddington to carry out research in physics and monitor standards of measurement
- object data management group — (body, database) (ODMG, previously ".. Database ..") An independent consortium that specifies universal object storage standards. ODMG's members include object-oriented database management system (ODBMS) vendors and other interested parties. They aim to increase portability of customer software across products. On 1998-04-27 ODMG changed its name from the Object Database Management Group to reflect the expansion of its efforts beyond merely setting storage standards for object databases.
- object linking and embedding — (operating system) (OLE) A distributed object system and protocol from Microsoft, also used on the Acorn Archimedes. OLE allows an editor to "farm out" part of a document to another editor and then reimport it. For example, a desk-top publishing system might send some text to a word processor or a picture to a bitmap editor using OLE.
- object persistence framework — (programming) (OPF) Any system for storing objects so they can be reloaded into a future session. Typically this will use a relational database along with some kind of object relational mapping. Another typical solution would store objects in XML files (a form of serialisation). One of the trickier problems to solve is how to maintain references between objects, e.g. replacing memory pointers with unique names or identifiers. Virtually identical considerations apply to transferring objects, or indeed any kind of data structure, from one process to another via some communications channel, e.g. a TCP/IP connection.
- 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).
- osborne computer corporation — (company) The unsucessful computer manufacturer founded by Adam Osborne that produced one of the first laptop computers, the Osborne 1.
- personal liability insurance — Personal liability insurance protects the insured if they are sued for claims that are covered by the insurance policy.
- phenylmethylcarbinyl acetate — methylphenylcarbinyl acetate.
- playboy of the western world — a satiric comedy (1907) by John Millington Synge.
- plug compatible manufacturer — (company) (PCM) A manufacturer of equipment that some other manufacturer's system can identify and work with. The PCM's device replaces the original manufacturer's. Most PCMs competed with IBM. PCM devices normally offer a cost-performance benefit over the original device. For example, several PCM versions of the Direct-Access Storage Device IBM 3350 offered twice the storage and improved data access (dual port). Plug compatible devices include replacement CPUs, such as the Hitachi 7/90 series (which could be substituted for IBM 3090 series processors), I/O subsystems, and dumb terminals like the IBM 3270.
- probability density function — a function of a continuous variable whose integral over a region gives the probability that a random variable falls within the region.
- put one's cards on the table — 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.
- robert william andrew feller — Robert William Andrew ("Bob"; "Bullet Bob") 1918–2010, U.S. baseball player.
- roundheaded apple tree borer — apple tree borer (def 2).
- sb will/can not go far wrong — If you say that someone won't go far wrong or can't go far wrong with a particular thing or course of action, you mean that it is likely to be successful or satisfactory.
- second axiom of countability — the property satisfied by a topological space in which the neighborhood system of each point has a base consisting of a countable number of neighborhoods (first axiom of countability) or the property satisfied by a topological space that has a base for its topology consisting of a countable number of subsets of the space (second axiom of countability)
- second-order lambda-calculus — (language) (SOL) A typed lambda-calculus.
- sell someone a bill of goods — to persuade someone by deception or misrepresentation to accept, believe, or do something
- single sideband transmission — a method of transmitting radio waves in which either the upper or the lower sideband is transmitted, the carrier being either wholly or partially suppressed. This reduces the required bandwidth and improves the signal-to-noise ratio
- standard normal distribution — a normal distribution with mean zero and variance 1, with probability density function [exp(–1⁄2x2)]/√2π
- tannu tuva people's republic — former name of Tuva Autonomous Republic.
- the obscene publications act — a group of obscenity laws that determines what can be published in Britain
- to be in someone's bad books — If you are in someone's bad books, they are annoyed with you. If you are in their good books, they are pleased with you.
- to beat someone's brains out — To beat someone's brains out or bash their brains in means to hit their head very hard, so that they are badly injured or killed.
- to handle sb with kid gloves — to treat someone with great tact or caution
- to have a bee in your bonnet — If you have a bee in your bonnet about something, you are so enthusiastic or worried about it that you keep mentioning it or thinking about it.
- to make a clean breast of it — If you make a clean breast of something, you tell someone the truth about yourself or about something wrong that you have done.
- to make someone's blood boil — If you say that something makes your blood boil, you are emphasizing that it makes you very angry.
- to set/put sb's mind at rest — To put someone's mind at rest or set their mind at rest means to stop them worrying about something.
- to throw the book at someone — If someone in authority throws the book at someone who has committed an offence, they give the offender the greatest punishment that they are allowed to.
- until sb is blue in the face — If you say that someone can do something until they are blue in the face, you are emphasizing that however much they do it, it will not make any difference.
- variable-density wind tunnel — a closed-circuit wind tunnel entirely contained in a casing in which the pressure and therefore the density of the working fluid can be maintained at a preselected value
- would not say boo to a goose — is extremely timid or diffident
- wouldn't be seen/caught dead — If you say that you wouldn't be seen dead or be caught dead in particular clothes, places, or situations, you are expressing strong dislike or disapproval of them.