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19-letter words containing o, n, s, a

  • axiomatic semantics — (theory)   A set of assertions about properties of a system and how they are effected by program execution. The axiomatic semantics of a program could include pre- and post-conditions for operations. In particular if you view the program as a state transformer (or collection of state transformers), the axiomatic semantics is a set of invariants on the state which the state transformer satisfies. E.g. for a function with the type: sort_list :: [T] -> [T] we might give the precondition that the argument of the function is a list, and a postcondition that the return value is a list that is sorted. One interesting use of axiomatic semantics is to have a language that has a finitely computable sublanguage that is used for specifying pre and post conditions, and then have the compiler prove that the program will satisfy those conditions. See also operational semantics, denotational semantics.
  • bachelor of science — A Bachelor of Science is a first degree in a science subject. In British English, it can also mean a person with that degree. The abbreviation BSc or , BSc is also used.
  • baja california sur — a state of NW Mexico, in the S part of the Lower California peninsula. Capital: La Paz. Pop: 423 516 (2000). Area: 73 475 sq km (28 363 sq miles)
  • balance of payments — A country's balance of payments is the difference, over a period of time, between the payments it makes to other countries for imports and the payments it receives from other countries for exports.
  • balloon angioplasty — angioplasty in which a balloon catheter is moved to a blocked area of a blood vessel where the balloon is inflated to expand or force open the vessel
  • ballot-box stuffing — the act of illegally submitting more than one vote in a ballot in which only one vote is permitted
  • bang for one's buck — value for money
  • bargaining position — the position of a person, group, or organization in a negotiation, with respect to their ability to achieve a deal which is favourable to themselves
  • battle-ground state — a state of the U.S. in which the Democratic and Republican candidates both have a good chance of winning and that is considered key to the outcome of a presidential election: the swing states of Ohio and Indiana.
  • battles of bull run — two battles fought at Manassas Junction near a stream named Bull Run, during the American Civil War (July, 1861 and August, 1862), in both of which the Federal army was routed by the Confederates
  • be burnt to a crisp — If something is burnt to a crisp, it is completely burnt.
  • be one's own master — If you say that you are your own master, you mean that your decisions are not controlled by other people and you are free to do what you want.
  • beat someone hollow — to defeat someone thoroughly and convincingly
  • beauty preparations — the cosmetics, creams etc used to improve someone's beauty
  • behavioral genetics — an interdisciplinary field studying the effects of genetics and hereditary factors on animal and human behavior.
  • behavioural science — the application of scientific methods to the study of the behaviour of organisms
  • bend over backwards — to make a special effort, esp in order to please
  • bicarbonate of soda — Bicarbonate of soda is a white powder which is used in baking to make cakes rise, and also as a medicine for your stomach.
  • binocular disparity — the small differences in the positions of the parts of the images falling on each eye that results when each eye views the scene from a slightly different position; these differences make stereoscopic vision possible
  • booker t washington — Booker T(aliaferro) [boo k-er tol-uh-ver] /ˈbʊk ər ˈtɒl ə vər/ (Show IPA), 1856–1915, U.S. reformer, educator, author, and lecturer.
  • boundary commission — (in Britain) a body established by statute to undertake periodic reviews of the boundaries of parliamentary constituencies and to recommend changes to take account of population shifts
  • bracket abstraction — (compiler)   An algorithm which turns a term into a function of some variable. The result of using bracket abstraction on T with respect to variable v, written as [v]T, is a term containing no occurrences of v and denoting a function f such that f v = T. This defines the function f = (\ v . T). Using bracket abstraction and currying we can define a language without bound variables in which the only operation is monadic function application. See combinator.
  • brazen law of wages — the doctrine or theory that wages tend toward a level sufficient only to maintain a subsistence standard of living.
  • briggsian logarithm — common logarithm.
  • business accounting — the keeping of detailed accounts relating to a business or businesses
  • buster brown collar — a medium-sized, starched collar with rounded edges, lying flat on the shoulders, worn by women and girls.
  • by leaps and bounds — with unexpectedly rapid progess
  • by one's bootstraps — by one's own efforts; unaided
  • cairngorm mountains — a mountain range of NE Scotland: part of the Grampians. Highest peak: Ben Macdui, 1309 m (4296 ft); designated a national park in 2003
  • california job case — a job case having sufficient spaces to contain both uppercase and lowercase letters and 37 additional characters of foundry type. Compare case2 (def 8).
  • california sea lion — any of several large eared seals, as Eumetopias jubatus (Steller's sea lion) of the northern Pacific, and Zalophus californicus (California sea lion) of the Pacific coast of North America.
  • cannot help oneself — to be the victim of circumstances, a habit, etc.
  • cape york peninsula — large peninsula in NE Australia, part of Queensland, between the Gulf of Carpentaria & the Coral Sea
  • cape-disappointment — Cape, a cape in SW Washington state, projecting into the Pacific Ocean on the N of the mouth of the Columbia River.
  • captain abstraction — The champion of the principles of abstraction and modularity, who protects unwary students on MIT's course 6.001 from the nefarious designs of Sergeant Spaghetticode and his vile concrete programming practices. See also spaghetti code.
  • captain of industry — You can refer to the owners or senior managers of industrial companies as captains of industry.
  • captains courageous — a novel (1897) by Rudyard Kipling.
  • carbon dioxide snow — solid carbon dioxide, used as a refrigerant
  • carbon steel piping — Carbon steel piping is pipes made of steel with carbon as the main alloying component, used for transporting fluids.
  • cardbox for windows — (database)   A database handling program, especially useful for scholars and librarians.
  • caroline of ansbach — 1683–1737, wife of George II of Great Britain
  • cash in one's chips — to turn in one's chips for their equivalent in money
  • cash-flow statement — a financial statement that shows a company's cash disbursements and receipts over a given period
  • cask of amontillado — a short story (1846) by Edgar Allan Poe.
  • cast one's lot with — one of a set of objects, as straws or pebbles, drawn or thrown from a container to decide a question or choice by chance.
  • castelnuovo-tedesco — Mario [mah-ryaw] /ˈmɑ ryɔ/ (Show IPA), 1895–1968, U.S. composer, born in Italy.
  • catch someone's eye — If something catches your eye, you suddenly notice it.
  • cathodoluminescence — luminescence caused by irradiation with electrons (cathode rays)
  • celestial longitude — the angular distance measured eastwards from the vernal equinox to the intersection of the ecliptic with the great circle passing through a celestial body and the poles of the ecliptic
  • central reservation — The central reservation is the strip of ground, often covered with grass, that separates the two sides of a major road.
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