28-letter words containing n, a, s, t

the obscene publications act — a group of obscenity laws that determines what can be published in Britain
the world owes them a living — If you say that someone thinks that the world owes them a living, you are criticizing them because they think it is their right to have a comfortable life without having to make any effort at all.
the wrong side of the tracks — the unfashionable or poor district or stratum of a community
tissue plasminogen activator — an anticlotting enzyme, naturally occurring in small amounts in the blood.
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 come to a screeching halt — (of a motor vehicle) to stop suddenly, causing the brakes or tyres to produce a high-pitched sound
to get off to a flying start — If someone or something gets off to a flying start, or makes a flying start, they start very well, for example in a race or a new job.
to handle sb with kid gloves — to treat someone with great tact or caution
to know something for a fact — If you say that you know something for a fact, you are emphasizing that you are completely certain that it is true.
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 play into someone's hands — If you play into someone's hands, you do something which they want you to do and which places you in their power.
to ruffle someone's feathers — To ruffle someone's feathers means to cause them to become very angry, nervous, or upset.
to set your face against sth — You can say that someone has set their face against something to indicate that they are opposed to it, especially when you want to suggest that they are wrong.
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 stand comparison with sth — If someone or something stands or bears comparison with another person or thing, they are as good, or almost as good.
to take something lying down — If someone takes an insult or attack lying down, they accept it without protesting.
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.
tree transformation language — (functional programming) (TXL) A hybrid functional language and rule-based language developed by J.R. Cordy <[email protected]> et al of Queen's University, Canada in 1988. TXL is suitable for performing source to source analysis and transformation and for rapid prototyping of new languages and language processors. It uses structural transformation based on term rewriting. TXL has been particularly successful in software engineering tasks such as design recovery, refactoring, and reengineering. Most recently it has been applied to artificial intelligence tasks such as recognition of hand-written mathematics, and to transformation of structured documents in XML. TXL takes as input an arbitrary context-free grammar in extended BNF-like notation, and a set of show-by-example transformation rules to be applied to inputs parsed using the grammar. TXL supports the notion of agile parsing, the ability to tailor the grammar to each particular task using "grammar overrides".
turn (or put) one's hand to — to undertake; work at
united states postal service — an independent federal agency created in 1971 to replace the Post Office Department as the division of the federal government responsible for postal services. Abbreviation: USPS.
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
vendor independent messaging — (networking) (VIM) An electronic mail API promoted by an industry group headed by Lotus Development. VIM is a competitor to Microsoft's MAPI.
very large scale integration — VLSI.
very large-scale integration — the process of fabricating a few thousand logic gates or more in a single integrated circuit
very small aperture terminal — (communications) (VSAT) A kind of ground station used to contact a communications satellite such as INMARSAT.
virgin islands national park — a national park on St. John Island, Virgin Islands: prehistoric Indian relics. 24 sq. mi. (62 sq. km).
wake up and smell the coffee — to face up to reality, especially in an unpleasant situation
walden, or life in the woods — a book of philosophical observations (1854) by Thoreau.
waterton lakes national park — a national park in W Canada, in S Alberta. 220 sq. mi. (570 sq. km).
windows management interface — (Microsoft, system management) (WMI) Microsoft's implementation of Web-Based Enterprise Management, a DMTF initiative to establish standards for accessing and sharing system management information over an enterprise network.
within an inch of one's life — almost to the point of death
work projects administration — WPA.
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.
you can cut sth with a knife — If you have been in a place where there was a very tense atmosphere, you can say that you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife.
zeroth law of thermodynamics — the principle that any two systems in thermal equilibrium with a third system are in thermal equilibrium with each other. Compare law of thermodynamics (def 2).

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