23-letter words containing n, o, t, s, p
- probabilistic automaton — nondeterministic automaton
- process intensification — Process intensification is a change made to a process to make it work in a smaller volume for the same performance.
- professional misconduct — a violation of the rules or boundaries set by the governing body of a profession
- profit and loss account — income account (def 2).
- psychomotor retardation — a generalized slowing of psychological and physical activity, frequently occurring as a symptom of severe depression.
- public sector borrowing — government borrowing to fund the public sector
- put in a false position — to cause misunderstanding of the intentions, opinions, etc. of
- put one's finger on sth — If you put your finger on something, for example a reason or problem, you see and identify exactly what it is.
- put the bite on someone — to ask someone for money
- put through one's paces — a rate of movement, especially in stepping, walking, etc.: to walk at a brisk pace of five miles an hour.
- quote chapter and verse — [by analogy with the mainstream phrase] To cite a relevant excerpt from an appropriate bible. "I don't care if "rn" gets it wrong; "Followup-To: poster" is explicitly permitted by RFC 1036. I'll quote chapter and verse if you don't believe me." See also legalese, language lawyer, RTFS (sense 2).
- real simple syndication — (spelling) Illiterate form of Really Simple Syndication.
- refinery waste disposal — Refinery waste disposal is the system for dealing with waste materials, especially hazardous ones, in a refinery.
- relative sunspot number — a number indicating the degree of sunspot activity on the sun as a factor of observer idiosyncrasies, the number of sunspot groups, and the number of individual sunspots.
- respondent conditioning — conditioning (def 2).
- response generalization — generalization (def 4b).
- response-generalization — the act or process of generalizing.
- retrolental fibroplasia — an unusual eye disease occurring in premature infants, usually from being given high concentrations of oxygen, which causes abnormal formation of fibrous tissue behind the lens and often results in blindness.
- reverse polish notation — postfix notation
- rub sb up the wrong way — If you rub someone up the wrong way in British English, or rub someone the wrong way in American English, you offend or annoy them without intending to.
- saint christopher-nevis — St. Kitts-Nevis.
- schizotypal personality — a personality disorder characterized by a group of symptoms similar to but less severe than schizophrenia, as odd behavior, peculiar thinking, and social isolation.
- scottish national party — a political party advocating the independence of Scotland, founded in 1934
- separation of variables — a grouping of the terms of an ordinary differential equation so that associated with each differential is a factor consisting entirely of functions of the independent variable appearing in the differential.
- silicone breast implant — silicone filled bags that are implanted into a woman in order to increase the size of her breasts
- 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).
- spigot and socket joint — a joint between two pipes using male and female parts
- spirit of nitrous ether — ethyl nitrite spirit.
- st. pierre and miquelon — two small groups of islands off the S coast of Newfoundland: an overseas territory of France; important base for fishing. 3 sq. mi. (240 sq. km). Capital: St. Pierre.
- stand up and be counted — express opinion
- statutory maternity pay — the maternity pay a woman is legally entitled to
- structural anthropology — a school of anthropology founded by Claude Lévi-Strauss and based loosely on the principles of structural linguistics.
- structural unemployment — unemployment caused by basic changes in the overall economy, as in demographics, technology, or industrial organization.
- subscription television — pay television.
- superposition principle — principle of superposition.
- suprasegmental phonemes — phonemes or features of speech, as pitch, stress, and juncture, that may extend over and modify series of segmental phonemes
- sustainable development — supporting economy via renewable resources
- text processing utility — (language) (TPU) A DEC language for creation of text-processing interfaces, used to implement DEC's Extensible VAX Editor (EVE).
- the department of state — the United States federal department concerned with foreign policy
- the scottish parliament — the devolved national legislature of Scotland, located in Edinburgh
- the teaching profession — the profession of a teacher
- thompson submachine gun — a portable, .45-caliber, automatic weapon designed to be fired from the shoulder or hip.
- to clap eyes on someone — To clap eyes on someone or something, or set or lay eyes on them, means to see them.
- to clip someone's wings — If you say that something or someone clips your wings, you mean that they restrict your freedom to do what you want.
- to jump to a conclusion — If you say that someone jumps to a conclusion, you are critical of them because they decide too quickly that something is true, when they do not know all the facts.
- to keep someone company — If you keep someone company, you spend time with them and stop them feeling lonely or bored.
- to keep your nose clean — If you keep your nose clean, you behave well and stay out of trouble.
- to pay through the nose — If you say that you paid through the nose for something, you are emphasizing that you had to pay what you consider too high a price for it.