23-letter words containing s, m, a, c
- nonessential amino acid — an amino acid that can be synthesized in the body
- on someone's coat-tails — thanks to the popularity or success of someone else
- osteogenesis imperfecta — a rare hereditary disease in which abnormal connective tissue development leads to fragile bones subject to fracture.
- parametric polymorphism — Polymorphism was first identified by Christopher Strachey in 1967 and developed by Hindley and Milner. For example we could specify that the argument of the "head" function was a list without specifying a type for the elements of the list. In Haskell we would write: head :: [a] -> a meaning head has type function from "list of a" to "a" where "a" is a type variable). This is known as parametric polymorphism. Polymorphic typing allows strong type checking as well as generic functions. ML in 1976 was the first language with polymorphic typing. See also generic type variable.
- parliamentary secretary — government minister's assistant
- pat someone on the back — to congratulate or encourage someone
- peroxymonosulfuric acid — persulfuric acid (def 1).
- pest control department — the local government department responsible for controlling such pests as rats and mice
- pharmaceuticals company — a company specialising in developing and marketing pharmaceuticals
- physical memory address — physical address
- pin someone's ears back — the organ of hearing and equilibrium in vertebrates, in humans consisting of an external ear that gathers sound vibrations, a middle ear in which the vibrations resonate against the tympanic membrane, and a fluid-filled internal ear that maintains balance and that conducts the tympanic vibrations to the auditory nerve, which transmits them as impulses to the brain.
- positive discrimination — special opportunities
- postcode discrimination — discrimination on the basis of the area where someone lives, with relation to employment, credit rating, etc
- potassium acid tartrate — cream of tartar.
- praxis critical systems — (company) The company that supplies SPARK.
- probabilistic automaton — nondeterministic automaton
- process gas compression — Process gas compression is a procedure for pressurizing and circulating gas through a process by compressing it in a cylinder, to enhance conditions for chemical reaction.
- professional misconduct — a violation of the rules or boundaries set by the governing body of a profession
- progressive cavity pump — A progressive cavity pump is a pump with an electric motor that rotates rods to make fluid in cavities move upward.
- psychomotor retardation — a generalized slowing of psychological and physical activity, frequently occurring as a symptom of severe depression.
- quantum electrodynamics — the quantum field theory that deals with the electromagnetic field and its interaction with electrons and positrons. Abbreviation: QED.
- quantum flavourdynamics — a gauge theory of the electromagnetic and weak interactions
- real simple syndication — (spelling) Illiterate form of Really Simple Syndication.
- relative molecular mass — the sum of all the relative atomic masses of the atoms in a molecule; the ratio of the average mass per molecule of a specified isotopic composition of a substance to one-twelfth the mass of an atom of carbon-12
- rheumatic heart disease — damage to the heart, especially to the valves, as a result of rheumatic fever, characterized by inflammation of the myocardium or scarring and malfunction of the heart valves.
- sb doesn't miss a trick — If you say that someone does not miss a trick, you mean that they always know what is happening and take advantage of every situation.
- schematic type variable — generic type variable
- scientific data systems — (company) (SDS) The company that produced the SDS 940 (later renamed XDS 940). Around 1968 Xerox bought out SDS and renamed the SDS machines to XDS.
- secondary modern school — (formerly) a secondary school offering a more technical or practical and less academic education than a grammar school
- sheltered accommodation — housing specially designed to provide a safe environment for the elderly, handicapped, or disabled, often with some shared facilities and a caretaker
- sierra madre occidental — the system of mountains in the west of Mexico
- silicone breast implant — silicone filled bags that are implanted into a woman in order to increase the size of her breasts
- site catchment analysis — the examination by survey, excavation, maps, and graphs of a contained area to evaluate the productivity of the resources customarily exploited by the inhabitants of a settlement, especially a prehistoric one.
- slum clearance campaign — a campaign to rehouse those people who live in a slum area, and to prepare the area for demolition and rebuilding
- small-saver certificate — a savings certificate issued in a small denomination.
- small-scale integration — SSI.
- smash someone's face in — to beat someone severely
- social democratic party — History/Historical. a political party in Germany advocating a form of social organization based on the economic and political ideology of Karl Marx.
- social insurance number — a nine-digit number used by the federal government to identify a citizen
- 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).
- squamous cell carcinoma — a carcinoma that arises from squamous epithelium in the skin and sometimes in the mucous membranes.
- state coordinate system — a system of right-angled planar coordinates established by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey for each state in the United States.
- state-certified midwife — a midwife with a recognized qualification
- statement of cash flows — A statement of cash flows is a financial statement that shows the amounts of cash that came into and went out of a company over a particular period of time.
- stream of consciousness — unpunctuated prose
- stream-of-consciousness — of, relating to, or characterized by a manner of writing in which a character's thoughts or perceptions are presented as occurring in random form, without regard for logical sequences, syntactic structure, distinctions between various levels of reality, or the like: a stream-of-consciousness novel; a stream-of-consciousness technique.
- structural unemployment — unemployment caused by basic changes in the overall economy, as in demographics, technology, or industrial organization.
- supplementary insurance — Supplementary insurance is insurance coverage that is purchased in addition to an insurance policy to provide additional benefits or coverage.