28-letter words containing s, i, l

strictly increasing function — a function having the property that for any two points in the domain such that one is larger than the other, the image of the larger point is greater than the image of the smaller point.
strike while the iron is hot — Chemistry. a ductile, malleable, silver-white metallic element, scarcely known in a pure condition, but much used in its crude or impure carbon-containing forms for making tools, implements, machinery, etc. Symbol: Fe; atomic weight: 55.847; atomic number: 26; specific gravity: 7.86 at 20°C. Compare cast iron, pig iron, steel, wrought iron.
supplemental security income — income provided by the U.S. government to needy aged, blind, and disabled persons. Abbreviation: SSI.
systemic lupus erythematosus — an autoimmune inflammatory disease of the connective tissues, occurring mainly among middle-aged women, chiefly characterized by skin eruptions, joint pain, recurrent pleurisy, and kidney disease. Abbreviation: SLE.
systems administrators guild — (body, job) (SAGE) A special technical group of the USENIX Association.
tannu tuva people's republic — former name of Tuva Autonomous Republic.
television interface adaptor — (hardware, graphics) (TIA) The graphics chip in the Atari 2600, also used as a sound chip for some arcade game.
the everglades national park — the Florida park established to preserve the flora and fauna of the Everglade swamps
the last word/the final word — If someone has the last word or the final word in a discussion, argument, or disagreement, they are the one who wins it or who makes the final decision.
the line of least resistance — If you take the line of least resistance in a situation, you do what is easiest, even though you think that it may not be the right thing to do. In American English, you usually talk about the path of least resistance.
the long and the short of it — the essential points or facts
the medical research council — a government body that uses public funds to finance research in medicine
the obscene publications act — a group of obscenity laws that determines what can be published in Britain
the world owes them a living — If you say that someone thinks that the world owes them a living, you are criticizing them because they think it is their right to have a comfortable life without having to make any effort at all.
tissue plasminogen activator — an anticlotting enzyme, naturally occurring in small amounts in the blood.
to be no let-up in something — if there is no let-up in something, usually something unpleasant, there is no reduction in the intensity of it
to come to a screeching halt — (of a motor vehicle) to stop suddenly, causing the brakes or tyres to produce a high-pitched sound
to get off to a flying start — If someone or something gets off to a flying start, or makes a flying start, they start very well, for example in a race or a new job.
to handle sb with kid gloves — to treat someone with great tact or caution
to leave a lot to be desired — If you say that something leaves a lot to be desired, you mean that it is not as good as it should be.
to make a clean breast of it — If you make a clean breast of something, you tell someone the truth about yourself or about something wrong that you have done.
to make someone's blood boil — If you say that something makes your blood boil, you are emphasizing that it makes you very angry.
to play into someone's hands — If you play into someone's hands, you do something which they want you to do and which places you in their power.
to slip through your fingers — If someone or something slips through your fingers, you just fail to catch them, get them, or keep them.
to take something lying down — If someone takes an insult or attack lying down, they accept it without protesting.
tree transformation language — (functional programming) (TXL) A hybrid functional language and rule-based language developed by J.R. Cordy <[email protected]> et al of Queen's University, Canada in 1988. TXL is suitable for performing source to source analysis and transformation and for rapid prototyping of new languages and language processors. It uses structural transformation based on term rewriting. TXL has been particularly successful in software engineering tasks such as design recovery, refactoring, and reengineering. Most recently it has been applied to artificial intelligence tasks such as recognition of hand-written mathematics, and to transformation of structured documents in XML. TXL takes as input an arbitrary context-free grammar in extended BNF-like notation, and a set of show-by-example transformation rules to be applied to inputs parsed using the grammar. TXL supports the notion of agile parsing, the ability to tailor the grammar to each particular task using "grammar overrides".
uninterruptible power supply — (hardware) (UPS) A battery powered power supply unit that is guaranteed to provide power to a computer in the event of interruptions in the incoming mains electrical power. Different rating UPSs will provide power for different lengths of time. Modern UPSs connect to the computer's serial port and provide information such as battery time remaining, allowing the computer to shut down gracefully before complete loss of power.
united states postal service — an independent federal agency created in 1971 to replace the Post Office Department as the division of the federal government responsible for postal services. Abbreviation: USPS.
until sb is blue in the face — If you say that someone can do something until they are blue in the face, you are emphasizing that however much they do it, it will not make any difference.
variable-density wind tunnel — a closed-circuit wind tunnel entirely contained in a casing in which the pressure and therefore the density of the working fluid can be maintained at a preselected value
very large scale integration — VLSI.
very large-scale integration — the process of fabricating a few thousand logic gates or more in a single integrated circuit
very small aperture terminal — (communications) (VSAT) A kind of ground station used to contact a communications satellite such as INMARSAT.
virgin islands national park — a national park on St. John Island, Virgin Islands: prehistoric Indian relics. 24 sq. mi. (62 sq. km).
walden, or life in the woods — a book of philosophical observations (1854) by Thoreau.
waterton lakes national park — a national park in W Canada, in S Alberta. 220 sq. mi. (570 sq. km).
wireless encryption protocol — Wired Equivalent Privacy
within an inch of one's life — almost to the point of death
zeroth law of thermodynamics — the principle that any two systems in thermal equilibrium with a third system are in thermal equilibrium with each other. Compare law of thermodynamics (def 2).

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