25-letter words containing n, d, t
- the sands are running out — there is not much time left before death or the end
- the thin end of the wedge — If you say that something is the thin end of the wedge, you mean that it appears to be unimportant at the moment, but that it is the beginning of a bigger, more harmful development.
- the third epistle of john — an epistle attributed to the apostle John and addressed to a man called Gaius, who is praised in the letter
- thermodynamic equilibrium — the condition of an isolated system in which the quantities that specify its properties, such as pressure, temperature, etc, all remain unchanged
- thermodynamic temperature — temperature defined in terms of the laws of thermodynamics and not in terms of the properties of any real material. It is usually expressed on the Kelvin scale
- thermoluminescence dating — a method of dating archaeological specimens, chiefly pottery, by measuring the radiation given off by ceramic materials as they are heated.
- throw dust in the eyes of — to confuse or mislead
- throw one's weight around — the amount or quantity of heaviness or mass; amount a thing weighs.
- throw one's weight behind — If you throw your weight behind a person, plan, or campaign, you use all your influence and do everything you can to support them.
- throw someone to the dogs — to abandon someone to criticism or attack
- time domain reflectometer — (hardware, networking) (TDR) An electronic device for detecting and locating short- or open-circuits in an Ethernet cable. TDRs can also measure how the characteristic impedance of a line varies along its length.
- to be in the catbird seat — to be in a very good situation
- to be in the driving seat — If you say that someone is in the driving seat, you mean that they are in control in a situation.
- to call something to mind — If something brings another thing to mind or calls another thing to mind, it makes you think of that other thing, usually because it is similar in some way.
- to drink someone's health — When you drink to someone's health or drink their health, you have a drink as a sign of wishing them health and happiness.
- to go to seed/run to seed — If you say that someone or something has gone to seed or has run to seed, you mean that they have become much less attractive, healthy, or efficient.
- to hold someone to ransom — If a kidnapper is holding someone to ransom or holding them ransom in British English, or is holding a person for ransom in American English, they keep that person prisoner until they are given what they want.
- to kiss something goodbye — If you say that you kiss something goodbye or kiss goodbye to something, you accept the fact that you are going to lose it, although you do not want to.
- to live beyond your means — If someone is living beyond their means, they are spending more money than they can afford. If someone is living within their means, they are not spending more money than they can afford.
- to mind your own business — If you say to someone 'mind your own business' or 'it's none of your business', you are rudely telling them not to ask about something that does not concern them.
- to open/reopen old wounds — Something that opens old wounds or reopens old wounds reminds someone about an upsetting experience in the past which they would prefer to forget.
- to read between the lines — If you read between the lines, you understand what someone really means, or what is really happening in a situation, even though it is not said openly.
- to sail close to the wind — If you sail close to the wind, you take a risk by doing or saying something that may get you into trouble.
- to set your teeth on edge — If you say that something sets your teeth on edge, you mean that you find it extremely unpleasant or irritating.
- to sound the death knelll — If you say that something sounds the death knell for a particular person or thing, you mean it will cause that person or thing to fail, end, or cease to exist.
- to take something as read — If you take something as read, you accept it as true or right and therefore feel that it does not need to be discussed or proved.
- to tear someone to shreds — If you tear someone to shreds or rip them to shreds, you criticize them very thoroughly and severely.
- town-and-country planning — a system of government planning used to plan how land should be used, balancing economic development and environmental quality
- track and field athletics — a collection of sporting events that involve running, sprinting, throwing, jumping and walking
- trading standards officer — a person who works for a trading standards office
- transcendental meditation — a technique, based on ancient Hindu writings, by which one seeks to achieve a relaxed state through regular periods of meditation during which a mantra is repeated. Abbreviation: TM.
- transcendental-philosophy — transcendental character, thought, or language.
- tweedledum and tweedledee — any two persons or things that differ only slightly from each other; two of a kind
- unconditional convergence — the property of a convergent infinite series that remains convergent when the terms are arranged in any order.
- under the aegis of sb/sth — Something that is done under the aegis of a person or organization is done with their official support and backing.
- under the watchful eye of — If you do something under the watchful eye of someone who has authority over you, they watch you carefully to make sure there are no problems.
- undisputed world champion — a boxer who holds the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, the World Boxing Organization, and the International Boxing Federation world championship titles simultaneously
- university of east london — (body, education) (UEL) A UK University with six academic Faculties: Design and The Built Environment, East London Business School, Institute Of Health and Rehabilitation, Faculty Of Science, Social Sciences and Technology.
- vertical redundancy check — (storage, communications) (VRC) An error checking method performed on one 8-bit ASCII character, where the 8th bit is used as the parity bit. The resulting parity bit is constructed by XORing the word. The result is a "1" if there is an odd number of 1s, and a "0" if there is an even number of 1s in the word. This method is unreliable because if an odd number of bits are distorted, the check will not detect the error. The Longitudinal Redundancy Check is an improvement.
- vienna development method — (programming, specification) (VDM) A program development method based on formal specification using the Vienna Development Method Specification Language (VDM-SL).
- wallis and futuna islands — a group of islands in the SW Pacific Ocean: overseas territory of France. 106 sq. mi. (274 sq. km).
- war of the grand alliance — the war (1689–97) in which England, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the Holy Roman Empire in league with Bavaria, Brandenburg, Savoy, and the Palatinate opposed France.
- what is sb/sth doing here — If you ask what someone or something is doing in a particular place, you are asking why they are there.
- white sands missile range — a U.S. Army military testing ground for rockets and guided missiles in SW New Mexico, W of Alamogordo.
- word sense disambiguation — the process of identifying which sense of a word is being used in a particular context
- world health organization — an agency of the United Nations, established in 1948, concerned with improving the health of the world's people and preventing or controlling communicable diseases on a worldwide basis through various technical projects and programs. Abbreviation: WHO.
- world wide web consortium — (web, body) (W3C) The main standards body for the web. W3C works with the global community to establish international standards for client and server protocols that enable on-line commerce and communications on the Internet. It also produces reference software. W3C was created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on 25 October 1994. Netscape Communications Corporation was a founding member. The Consortium is run by MIT LCS and INRIA, in collaboration with CERN where the web originated. W3C is funded by industrial members but its products are freely available to all. The director is Tim Berners-Lee who invented the web at the Center for European Particle Research (CERN).
- world's oldest profession — prostitution.
- worth your weight in gold — If you say that someone or something is worth their weight in gold, you are emphasizing that they are so useful, helpful, or valuable that you feel you could not manage without them.