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20-letter words containing o, s, t, e

  • asset turnover ratio — An asset turnover ratio is a measure of the efficiency of a company, that is calculated by dividing sales for a period by average total assets.
  • associated statehood — the semi-independent political status of various former British colonies in the Caribbean from 1967 until each became an independent state in the British Commonwealth, by which Britain retained responsibility for defence and some aspects of foreign affairs. The associated states were Anguilla, Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines
  • astatic galvanometer — a galvanometer that is unaffected by the earth's magnetic field and is used for measuring small currents.
  • at one's convenience — at a time, or in a place or manner, suitable to one
  • at one's finger tips — the tip or end of a finger.
  • at someone's expense — If you do something at someone's expense, they provide the money for it.
  • at someone's service — ready to serve or cooperate with someone
  • at the best of times — You say at the best of times when you are making a negative or critical comment to emphasize that it is true even when the circumstances are as favourable as possible.
  • at the bottom of sth — If something is at the bottom of a problem or unpleasant situation, it is the real cause of it.
  • at two hours' notice — with notification only two hours in advance
  • atmospheric pressure — Atmospheric pressure is the pressure of the atmosphere on the Earth's surface.
  • automobile insurance — Automobile insurance is insurance coverage for cars.
  • axiomatic set theory — (theory)   One of several approaches to set theory, consisting of a formal language for talking about sets and a collection of axioms describing how they behave. There are many different axiomatisations for set theory. Each takes a slightly different approach to the problem of finding a theory that captures as much as possible of the intuitive idea of what a set is, while avoiding the paradoxes that result from accepting all of it, the most famous being Russell's paradox. The main source of trouble in naive set theory is the idea that you can specify a set by saying whether each object in the universe is in the "set" or not. Accordingly, the most important differences between different axiomatisations of set theory concern the restrictions they place on this idea (known as "comprehension"). NBG (von Neumann-Bernays-Goedel) set theory sort of allows comprehension for all formulae without restriction, but distinguishes between two kinds of set, so that the sets produced by applying comprehension are only second-class sets. NBG is exactly as powerful as ZF, in the sense that any statement that can be formalised in both theories is a theorem of ZF if and only if it is a theorem of ZFC. MK (Morse-Kelley) set theory is a strengthened version of NBG, with a simpler axiom system. It is strictly stronger than NBG, and it is possible that NBG might be consistent but MK inconsistent. ML ("Modern Logic") is to NF as NBG is to ZF. (Its name derives from the title of the book in which Quine introduced an early, defective, form of it). It is stronger than ZF (it can prove things that ZF can't), but if NF is consistent then ML is too.
  • baccalaureate sermon — a farewell sermon addressed to a graduating class in some U.S. colleges and schools.
  • back the wrong horse — to bet on a horse that loses the race
  • backwards compatible — backward compatibility
  • bacteriochlorophylls — Plural form of bacteriochlorophyll.
  • baggage storage room — A baggage storage room is a room in a hotel where people can leave their baggage in order to collect it later.
  • ballistic trajectory — the path of an unpowered object, as a missile, moving only under the influence of gravity and possibly atmospheric friction and with its surface providing no significant lift to alter the course of flight.
  • baptism for the dead — the baptism of a living person in the place of and for the sake of one who has died unbaptized: now practiced chiefly by Mormons.
  • basal metabolic rate — the rate at which heat is produced by the body at rest, 12 to 14 hours after eating, measured in kilocalories per square metre of body surface per hour
  • basic lead carbonate — ceruse.
  • basic object adapter — (architecture)   (BOA) Part of the CORBA architecture.
  • bats-wing coral-tree — a small tree, Erythrina verspertilio, of tropical and subtropical Australia with red flowers and leaves shaped like the wings of a bat
  • be (or get) wise to — to be (or become) aware of; have (or attain) a proper understanding of
  • be getting somewhere — If you say that you are getting somewhere, you mean that you are making progress towards achieving something.
  • be hard pushed to do — If you are hard pushed to do something, you find it very difficult to do it.
  • be set in one's ways — If you say that someone is set in their ways, you are being critical of the fact that they have fixed habits and ideas which they will not easily change, even though they may be old-fashioned.
  • be shot through with — If something is shot through with an element or feature, it contains a lot of that element or feature.
  • be there for someone — If someone is there for you, they help and support you, especially when you have problems.
  • be tops, be the tops — If you say that something is tops or is the tops, you mean that it is better or more successful than anything else.
  • beat around the bush — to talk around a subject without getting to the point
  • beat the shit out of — to give a severe beating to
  • beaverhead mountains — a mountain range on the border of E Idaho and SW Montana, in the Bitterroot Range. 10,961 feet (3343 meters).
  • belgorod-dnestrovski — a port in SW Ukraine, on the Dniester estuary: belonged to Romania from 1918 until 1940; under Soviet rule (1944–91). Pop: 48 100 (2004 est)
  • belgorod-dnestrovsky — a seaport in SW Ukraine, on the Black Sea.
  • benztropine mesylate — a synthetic anticholinergic, C 21 H 25 NO⋅CH 4 O 3 S, used in the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
  • benzyl isoamyl ether — a colorless liquid, C 12 H 18 O, used in soap perfumes.
  • bernese mountain dog — a strong sturdy dog of a breed with a bushy tail and a long silky black coat with reddish-brown and white markings, often used as a working farm dog
  • best-efforts selling — a method of underwriting a security whereby a syndicate takes a new issue without any guarantees of sale to the issuer.
  • biological diversity — Biological diversity is the same as biodiversity.
  • bird-footed dinosaur — theropod.
  • bloodless revolution — the events of 1688–89 by which James II was expelled and the sovereignty conferred on William and Mary.
  • blue ridge mountains — a mountain range in the eastern US, extending from West Virginia into Georgia: part of the Appalachian mountains. Highest peak: Mount Mitchell, 2038 m (6684 ft)
  • blue screen of death — (humour)   (BSOD) The infamous white-on-blue text screen which appears when Microsoft Windows crashes. BSOD is mostly seen on the 16-bit systems such as Windows 3.1, but also on Windows 95 and apparently even under Windows NT 4. It is most likely to be caused by a GPF, although Windows 95 can do it if you've removed a required CD-ROM from the drive. It is often impossible to recover cleanly from a BSOD. The acronym BSOD is sometimes used as a verb, e.g. "Windoze just keeps BSODing on me today".
  • bomb disposal expert — an expert in bomb disposal
  • bone mineral density — a measurement of the amount of calcium and other minerals in a segment of bone, a higher mineral content indicating a higher bone density and strength, used to detect osteoporosis or monitor its treatment.
  • bottle-nosed dolphin — any of several dolphins of the genus Tursiops, common in North Atlantic and Mediterranean waters, having a rounded forehead and well-defined beak.
  • bottom hole pressure — Bottom hole pressure is the pressure at the bottom of the hole, usually measured in pounds per square inch.
  • bottom-up processing — a processing technique, either in the brain or in a computer, in which incoming information is analysed in successive steps and later-stage processing does not affect processing in earlier stages
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