17-letter words containing s, g, i, a
- automated testing — (testing) Software testing assisted with software tools that require no operator input, analysis, or evaluation.
- auxiliary storage — secondary storage.
- average seek time — (storage) The mean time it takes to move the head of a disk drive from one track to another, averaged over the source and destination cylinders. Usually measured in milliseconds (ms). The average seek time gives a good measure of the speed of the drive in a multi-user environment where successive read/write request are largely uncorrelated. Ten ms is common for a hard disk and 200 ms for an eight-speed CD-ROM.
- baggage screening — the procedure whereby baggage is electronically screened at an airport before it is allowed on the plane
- barbed-wire grass — an aromatic grass, Cymbopogon refractus, with groups of seed heads resembling barbed wire
- bartholin's gland — either of two small glands near the vaginal opening: during sexual excitement they secrete a mucous lubricating substance
- base lending rate — a minimum interest rate on which financial institutions base the rates they use for lending
- baseboard heating — a heating system by pipes, through which steam or hot water circulates, near the base of the walls of rooms
- bathroom fittings — plumbing fixtures or accessories suitable for use in a bathroom
- be running scared — If you say that a person or group is running scared, you mean that they are frightened of what someone might do to them or what might happen.
- beefsteak begonia — an ornamental plant, Begonia erythrophylla, having light-pink flowers and nearly round, thick, fleshy leaves that are red on the underside.
- bell-hanger's bit — a bit for drilling small holes through studs or the like.
- bergisch gladbach — city in W Germany, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia: pop. 105,000
- bergisch-gladbach — an industrial city in W Germany, near Cologne.
- betagalactosidase — any of a family of enzymes capable of liberating galactose from carbohydrates.
- bighorn mountains — range of the Rocky Mountains in N Wyo. and S Mont.: highest peak, 13,165 ft (4,013 m)
- biological shield — a protective shield impervious to radiation, esp the thick concrete wall surrounding the core of a nuclear reactor
- black-box testing — functional testing
- blue false indigo — a North American plant, Baptisia australis, of the legume family, having wedge-shaped leaflets and blue, clustered flowers.
- board-and-shingle — a small dwelling with wooden walls and a shingle roof
- bradford spinning — a wool-spinning method in which the fibers are oiled prior to combing and subsequently spun into worsted yarn.
- broadview heights — a town in N Ohio.
- broderie anglaise — open embroidery on white cotton, fine linen, etc
- brzesc nad bugiem — Polish name of Brest Litovsk.
- buerger's disease — an inflammatory and obliterative disease of the blood vessels of the legs and feet causing numbness and tingling, often leading to phlebitis and gangrene: most common in cigarette smokers.
- bushman's singlet — a sleeveless heavy black woollen singlet, used as working clothing by timber fellers
- capital gains tax — a tax on the profit made from the sale of an asset
- carbon offsetting — a program in which a company, country, etc., reduces or offsets its carbon emissions through the funding of activities and projects that improve the environment: Carbon offsetting does not always have a quantifiable impact on the planet.
- carbonic-acid gas — carbon dioxide
- cardiac glycoside — any of a group of drugs used to stimulate the heart in cases of heart failure, obtained from a number of plants, as the foxglove, squill, or yellow oleander.
- cardinal grosbeak — any of various mostly tropical American buntings, such as the cardinal and pyrrhuloxia, the males of which have brightly coloured plumage
- cardiogenic shock — a type of shock caused by decreased cardiac output despite adequate blood volume, owing to a disease of the heart itself, as myocardial infarction, or any other factor that interferes with the filling or emptying of the heart.
- casting the runes — (jargon) What a guru does when you ask him or her to run a particular program because it never works for anyone else; especially used when nobody can ever see what the guru is doing different from what J. Random Luser does. Compare incantation, runes, examining the entrails; also see the AI koan about Tom Knight.
- change one's mind — to alter one's decision or opinion
- charge d'affaires — A chargé d'affaires is a person appointed to act as head of a diplomatic mission in a foreign country while the ambassador is away.
- charles lindbergh — Anne (Spencer) Morrow, 1906–2001, U.S. writer (wife of Charles Augustus Lindbergh).
- charter of rights — a section of the Canadian Constitution containing a statement of the basic rights of citizens of Canada.
- china grass cloth — grass cloth.
- christmas pudding — Christmas pudding is a special pudding that is eaten at Christmas.
- chromolithographs — Plural form of chromolithograph.
- chugach mountains — a coastal mountain range in S Alaska, extending W from the St. Elias Mountains. Highest peak, Mount Marcus Baker, 13,176 feet (4016 meters).
- circle the wagons — to take defensive action; prepare for an attack: from arranging a wagon train in a circular formation
- circumstantiating — Present participle of circumstantiate.
- clang association — the association made between two words because they sound similar; for example cling and ring
- classical college — (in Quebec) a college offering a programme that emphasizes the classics and leads to university entrance
- clear box testing — white box testing
- cleveland heights — city in NE Ohio: suburb of Cleveland: pop. 50,000
- closed-captioning — (of a television program, film, or video) distributed with synchronized transcription of speech and written descriptions of other relevant audio elements, as for the hearing-impaired, that are visible only when the option to display them is selected. Abbreviation: CC.
- closing-down sale — a sale held to clear stock from a shop that is ceasing to operate
- coarse-grain salt — salt with a much larger grain size than table salt