25-letter words containing s, t, b, r

make bricks without straw — a block of clay hardened by drying in the sun or burning in a kiln, and used for building, paving, etc.: traditionally, in the U.S., a rectangle 2.25 × 3.75 × 8 inches (5.7 × 9.5 × 20.3 cm), red, brown, or yellow in color.
make short work of sb/sth — If you make short work of someone or something, you deal with them or defeat them very quickly.
minimal brain dysfunction — (no longer in technical use) attention deficit disorder.
multi-scene control board — preset board.
national enterprise board — a public corporation established in 1975 to help the economy of the UK. In 1981 it merged with the National Research and Development Council to form the British Technology Group
national insurance number — a number allocated to UK citizens so that they can pay national insurance
never do things by halves — If you say that someone never does things by halves, you mean that they always do things very thoroughly.
no disrespect (to sb/sth) — You can say 'no disrespect to someone or something' when you are just about to criticize them, in order to indicate that you are not hostile towards them or admire them for other things.
observational equivalence — Two terms M and N are observationally equivalent iff for all contexts C[] where C[M] is a valid term, C[N] is also a valid term with the same value.
off-balance sheet reserve — a sum of money or an asset that should appear on a company's balance but does not; hidden reserve
outside broadcasting unit — a mobile studio from which broadcasts are made
party political broadcast — A party political broadcast is a short broadcast on radio or television made by a political party, especially before an election. It explains their views and often criticizes other political parties.
personalized number plate — a car registration plate that has the owner's initials or name on it
portable network graphics — (file format) /ping/ (PNG) An extensible file format for the lossless, portable, well-compressed storage of raster images. PNG provides a patent-free replacement for GIF and can also replace many common uses of TIFF. Indexed-colour, greyscale and truecolour images are supported, plus an optional alpha channel. Sample depths range from 1 to 16 bits. PNG is designed for on-line viewing applications, such as the World Wide Web, so it is fully streamable with a progressive display option. PNG is robust, providing both full file integrity checking and simple detection of common transmission errors. Also, PNG can store gamma correction and chromaticity data for improved colour matching on heterogeneous platforms.
poynting-robertson effect — the slowing down and consequent spiraling inward of small particles orbiting the sun, due to their interaction with solar radiation.
public key infrastructure — (cryptography, communications) (PKI) A system of public key encryption using digital certificates from Certificate Authorities and other registration authorities that verify and authenticate the validity of each party involved in an electronic transaction. PKIs are currently evolving and there is no single PKI nor even a single agreed-upon standard for setting up a PKI. However, nearly everyone agrees that reliable PKIs are necessary before electronic commerce can become widespread.
public relations exercise — something which is done for the sake of attracting favourable publicity
put/set sb's mind at rest — To put someone's mind at rest or set their mind at rest means to tell them something that stops them worrying.
raise (or lower) the bar — raise (or lower) the standard of judgment
red brick intelligent sql — (database) (RISQL) A vendor-specific extension to SQL designed specifically for business managers. It augments SQL with a variety of operations appropriate to data analysis and decision support applications such as ranking, moving averages, comparisons, market share, this year vs. last year, etc. It was developed to simplify the creation of complex business queries.
rubidium-strontium dating — a radiometric dating method whereby the ratio of rubidium isotope to strontium in a mineral is used to calculate the age of the mineral, based on the rate of radioactive decay of rubidium to strontium.
saybolt universal seconds — a US measurement of viscosity similar in type to the British Redwood seconds
single wingback formation — an offensive formation in which the wingback lines up outside of and about one yard behind an end, the quarterback lines up lateral to the wingback but about midway between the same end and the center, the fullback is three or four yards behind the middle of the line, and the tailback lines up one yard behind the fullback on the other side of the line from the wingback and quarterback.
spectral band replication — (audio, compression) (SBR) Guessing the nontransmitted higher frequency range of a compressed audio file by some helper bits (transmiited with the stream) and the transmitted base band. SBR allows a restoration (not reconstruction) of the upper frequency range without lots of bits. It was developed by Coding Technology, and is useful for medium and high quality coding at low and medium data rates. It is used by Digital Radio Mondiale and MP3 Pro.
subordinating conjunction — a conjunction introducing a subordinate clause, as when in They were glad when I finished.
subscriber trunk dialling — a service by which telephone subscribers can obtain trunk calls by dialling direct without the aid of an operator
tess of the d'urbervilles — a novel (1891) by Thomas Hardy.
the ball is in sb's court — If you say that the ball is in someone's court, you mean that it is his or her responsibility to take the next action or decision in a situation.
the ball is in your court — you are obliged to make the next move
the calm before the storm — You can use the calm before the storm to refer to a quiet period in which there is little or no activity, before a period in which there is a lot of trouble or intense activity.
the empire state building — a very high skyscraper in New York City
the knives are out for sb — If a lot of people want something unpleasant to happen to someone, for example if they want them to lose their job, you can say that the knives are out for that person.
throw one's weight behind — If you throw your weight behind a person, plan, or campaign, you use all your influence and do everything you can to support them.
to be in the catbird seat — to be in a very good situation
to be in the driving seat — If you say that someone is in the driving seat, you mean that they are in control in a situation.
to be on first-name terms — (of two people) knowing each other well enough to call each other by their first names, rather than having to use a more formal title.
to live beyond your means — If someone is living beyond their means, they are spending more money than they can afford. If someone is living within their means, they are not spending more money than they can afford.
to mind your own business — If you say to someone 'mind your own business' or 'it's none of your business', you are rudely telling them not to ask about something that does not concern them.
to monitor sb's movements — to monitor a person's location and activities during a specific time
to read between the lines — If you read between the lines, you understand what someone really means, or what is really happening in a situation, even though it is not said openly.
touch/cover all the bases — If someone touches all the bases or covers the bases, they deal with everyone or everything involved in a situation.
tribasic sodium phosphate — sodium phosphate (def 3).
under the aegis of sb/sth — Something that is done under the aegis of a person or organization is done with their official support and backing.
verbum sat sapienti (est) — a word to the wise (is) enough
what is sb/sth doing here — If you ask what someone or something is doing in a particular place, you are asking why they are there.
word sense disambiguation — the process of identifying which sense of a word is being used in a particular context
world wide web consortium — (web, body) (W3C) The main standards body for the web. W3C works with the global community to establish international standards for client and server protocols that enable on-line commerce and communications on the Internet. It also produces reference software. W3C was created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on 25 October 1994. Netscape Communications Corporation was a founding member. The Consortium is run by MIT LCS and INRIA, in collaboration with CERN where the web originated. W3C is funded by industrial members but its products are freely available to all. The director is Tim Berners-Lee who invented the web at the Center for European Particle Research (CERN).
yakut autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the NE Russian Federation in Asia. 1,198,146 sq. mi. (3,103,200 sq. km). Capital: Yakutsk.

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