22-letter words containing r, a, t
- replacement cost basis — Replacement cost basis is a method of valuing insured property in which the cost of replacing property is calculated without a reduction for depreciation.
- reproductive isolation — the conditions, as physiological or behavioral differences or geographical barriers, that prevent potentially interbreeding populations from cross-fertilization.
- research establishment — an establishment or institution where research or investigation into a subject, topic, etc, can be conducted
- research systems, inc. — (RSI) Distributors of Interactive Data Language (IDL).
- resettlement programme — a scheme that helps refugees to be settled in another place
- residents' association — A residents' association is an organization of people who live in a particular area. Residents' associations have meetings and take action to make the area more pleasant to live in.
- resistance thermometer — an instrument for measuring the temperature of a metal, utilizing the principle that the electrical resistance of the metal varies with the temperature.
- respond to a complaint — If you respond to a complaint, you answer a customer who expressed their dissatisfaction with something.
- retroactive inhibition — the tendency for the retention of learned material or skills to be impaired by subsequent learning, esp by learning of a similar kind
- retrograde ejaculation — ejaculation of semen backward toward the bladder instead of forward through the urethra.
- reverse discrimination — the unfair treatment of members of majority groups resulting from preferential policies, as in college admissions or employment, intended to remedy earlier discrimination against minorities.
- revolutionary calendar — the calendar of the French First Republic, adopted in 1793 and abandoned in 1805, consisting of 12 months, each of 30 days, and 5 intercalary days added at the end of the year (6 every fourth year). The months, beginning at the autumnal equinox, are Vendémiaire, Brumaire, Frimaire, Nivôse, Pluviôse, Ventôse, Germinal, Floréal, Prairial, Messidor, Thermidor, and Fructidor.
- rheumatoid spondylitis — ankylosing spondylitis.
- rocky mountain bighorn — bighorn.
- rocky mountain juniper — a juniper, Juniperus scopulorum, of western North America, that yields a soft, reddish wood used for making fences, pencils, etc., and that is also grown as an ornamental.
- rocky mountain oysters — mountain oyster.
- rose-breasted grosbeak — an American grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, the male of which, in nuptial plumage, has a rose-pink triangular breast patch.
- round-table discussion — a discussion held at a meeting of parties or people on equal terms
- royal national theatre — a theatre complex in London, on the S bank of the Thames (opened 1976). The prefix Royal was added in 1988. It houses the Royal National Theatre Company
- rural district council — (in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974 and Northern Ireland from 1898 to 1973) a group of people elected to govern a rural division of a county
- saddleback caterpillar — a moth larva, Sibine stimulea, of the southeastern U.S, having a brown and green, saddlelike marking on its back and poisonous spines.
- safety integrity level — A safety integrity level is a relative level of risk reduction.
- safety-critical system — A computer, electronic or electromechanical system whose failure may cause injury or death to human beings. E.g. an aircraft or nuclear power station control system. Common tools used in the design of safety-critical systems are redundancy and formal methods. See also aeroplane rule.
- saint george's channel — a channel between Wales and Ireland, connecting the Irish Sea and the Atlantic. 100 miles (160 km) long; 50–90 miles (81–145 km) wide.
- sainte anne de beaupre — a village in S Quebec, Canada, on the St. Lawrence River: shrine and basilica.
- sainte-anne-de-beaupré — village in S Quebec, Canada, on the St. Lawrence: site of a Rom. Catholic shrine (established 1658): pop. 3,000
- sales force automation — (business) (Sales Automation, SFA, SFFA, Sales & Field Force Automation) Software to support sales reps. The software gives sales representitives access to contacts, appointments and e-mail. It is likely to be integrated with Customer Relationship Management systems and Opportunity Management Systems.
- salt-marsh caterpillar — the fuzzy larva of a moth, Estigmene acrea, of North America, destructive to various crops.
- santa cruz de tenerife — a seaport on NE Tenerife island, in the W Canary Islands.
- sapir-whorf hypothesis — a theory developed by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf that states that the structure of a language determines or greatly influences the modes of thought and behavior characteristic of the culture in which it is spoken.
- sarcoplasmic reticulum — a system of membrane-bound tubules that surrounds muscle fibrils, releasing calcium ions during contraction and absorbing them during relaxation.
- satellite broadcasting — the transmission of television or radio programmes from an artificial satellite at a power suitable for direct reception in the home
- satisfiability problem — A problem used as an example in complexity theory. It can be stated thus: Given a Boolean expression E, decide if there is some assignment to the variables in E such that E is true. A Boolean expression is composed of Boolean variables, (logical) negation (NOT), (logical) conjunction (AND) and parentheses for grouping. The satisfiability problem was the first problem to be proved to be NP-complete (by Cook).
- saturday night special — a cheap, small-caliber handgun that is easily obtainable and concealable.
- saturday-night special — a cheap, small-caliber handgun that is easily obtainable and concealable.
- save the children fund — a development agency which raises money for deprived children around the world
- sb can whistle for sth — If you say that someone can whistle for a particular thing, you mean that you are not willing or able to give it to them.
- scalable sampling rate — (compression, standard, algorithm) (SSR) See, e.g., MPEG-4 AAC SSR.
- schachter's hypothesis — (web) The observation that "Given two unrelated technical terms, an Internet search engine will retrieve only résumés". This was first formulated by Joshua Eli Schachter in about 1998, while poring over the uniformly irrelevant pages that resulted from a search he'd run on "+Perl +MAPI" in Altavista.
- school crossing patrol — the official name for lollipop man or lady
- scientific creationism — the belief that the account of creation in the early chapters of Genesis is scientifically as well as religiously valid and that it can be supported by scientific evidence apart from scriptural authority.
- scissors-and-paste job — if you describe a piece of work as a scissors and paste job, you mean that it has been mechanically compiled, as if by simply cutting and pasting different parts to make a new whole
- search the fucking web — (web, jargon) (Always abbreviated STFW) A response implying that an inquirer could have easily found an answer to his question using Google or some other web search engine. It is now often quicker and more productive to search the World-Wide Web than to RTFM.
- secondary articulation — coarticulation (def 2).
- secondary spermatocyte — See under spermatocyte.
- secondary-articulation — concomitance of articulation, as in fro, ostensibly a succession of three discrete sounds but physically a single articulation (f-) blending into a coarticulation (-fr-), which blends into an articulation (-r-), which blends into a coarticulation (-ro-), which blends into an articulation (-o).
- secretary to the board — the secretary to the board of directors; company secretary
- selective transmission — a transmission in which the available forward and reverse gears may be engaged in any order, without passing progressively through the different changes of gear.
- self-sustaining growth — economic growth that maintains itself without intervention
- semipalmated sandpiper — a common North American sandpiper, Calidris pusillus, having semipalmate feet.