23-letter words containing o, p, e, n, a
- 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.
- 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
- rocky mountain beeplant — a rank-smelling plant, Cleome serrulata, of the caper family, native to the western U.S., having showy, dense clusters of pink or white flowers, frequented by bees.
- 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.
- self-addressed envelope — addressed to self
- 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
- snap someone's head off — to cut, wound, or tear with the teeth: She bit the apple greedily. The lion bit his trainer.
- 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
- 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 unemployment — unemployment caused by basic changes in the overall economy, as in demographics, technology, or industrial organization.
- 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
- the data protection act — a United Kingdom act of parliament designed to ensure the proper handling of information stored about individuals on computers and entitling individuals to find out what information is stored about them
- the department of state — the United States federal department concerned with foreign policy
- the metropolitan police — the police organization that is responsible for Greater London, excluding the City of London
- 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 keep a tight rein on — If you keep a tight rein on someone, you control them firmly.
- 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.
- to send someone packing — If you send someone packing, you make them go away.
- to win the popular vote — to get a majority as regards the votes cast by individual voters
- to wipe the slate clean — If you wipe the slate clean, you decide to forget previous mistakes, failures, or debts and to start again.
- topological equivalence — the property of two topological spaces such that there is a homeomorphism from one to the other.
- transplantation antigen — a histocompatibility antigen identified by its effect on the rejection of transplanted cells or tissues.
- transverse presentation — presentation in which the fetus is turned with its long axis across the mouth of the uterus, at right angles to the axis of the birth canal.
- triple expansion engine — (formerly) a steam engine in which the steam is expanded in three stages in cylinders of increasing diameter to accommodate the increasing volume of the steam
- unincorporated business — a privately owned business, often owned by one person who has unlimited liability as the business is not legally registered as a company
- unipress software, inc. — (company) A developer and distributor of Unix software. They produce PC-UNIX connectivity software, development tools and applications and provide technical support and maintenance, porting services, training and consulting.
- variable contrast paper — printing paper in which the contrast of the image is controlled by the color of the printing light.
- virtual private network — (networking, security) (VPN) The use of encryption in the lower protocol layers to provide a secure connection through an otherwise insecure network, typically the Internet. VPNs are generally cheaper than real private networks using private lines but rely on having the same encryption system at both ends. The encryption may be performed by firewall software or possibly by routers. Link-level (layer 2 and 3) encryption provides extra protection by encrypting all of each datagram except the link-level information. This prevents a listener from obtaining information about network structure. While link-level encryption prevents traffic analysis (a form of attack), it must encrypt/decrypt on every hop and every path. Protocol-level encryption (layer 3 and 4) encryption encrypts protocol data but leaves protocol and link headers clear. While protocol-level encryption requires you to encrypt/decrypt data only once, and it encrypts/decrypts only those sessions that need it, headers are sent as clear text, allowing traffic analysis. Application (layer 5 up) encryption is based on a particular application and requires that the application be modified to incorporate encryption.
- volumetric displacement — the volume of air per revolution that passes through a mechanical pump when the pressure at the intake and the exhaust is the same as that of the atmosphere
- voyageurs national park — a national park in N Minnesota. 343 sq. mi. (888 sq. km).