0%

21-letter words containing s, t, u, f, e

  • lost in the underflow — (jargon)   Too small to be worth considering; more specifically, small beyond the limits of accuracy or measurement. This is a reference to "floating point underflow". The Hacker's Jargon File claimed that it is also a pun on "undertow" (a kind of fast, cold current that sometimes runs just offshore and can be dangerous to swimmers). "Well, sure, photon pressure from the stadium lights alters the path of a thrown baseball, but that effect gets lost in the underflow". Compare epsilon, epsilon squared; see also overflow bit.
  • lotus of the good law — Saddharma-Pundarika.
  • lotus-of-the-true-law — a Mahayana sutra, forming with its references to Amida and the Bodhisattvas the basis for the doctrine that there is something of Buddha in everyone, so that salvation is universally available: a central text of Mahayana Buddhism.
  • lull before the storm — If you describe a situation as the lull before the storm, you mean that although it is calm now, there is going to be trouble in the future.
  • luminous flux density — luminous flux per unit of cross-sectional area.
  • made of sterner stuff — If you say that someone is made of sterner stuff, you mean that they have a strong personality and are capable of overcoming difficulties and problems.
  • magnetic flux density — Also called magnetic flux density. a vector quantity used as a measure of a magnetic field. Symbol: B.
  • magnetofluid dynamics — magnetohydrodynamics.
  • make up for lost time — compensate for past inaction
  • make yourself at home — settle in
  • manufacturing process — chain of production
  • modulus of elasticity — the ratio of the stress applied to a body or substance to the resulting strain within the elastic limit
  • muon-catalysed fusion — an experimental form of nuclear fusion in which hydrogen and deuterium muonic atoms are formed. Because the mass of the muon is much larger than that of the electron, the atoms are smaller, and the nuclei are close enough for fusion to occur
  • nine times out of ten — If you say that something happens or is the case nine times out of ten or ninety-nine times out of a hundred, you mean that it happens on nearly every occasion or is almost always the case.
  • no smoke without fire — the evidence strongly suggests something has indeed happened
  • one-way hash function — (algorithm)   (Or "message digest function") A one-way function which takes a variable-length message and produces a fixed-length hash. Given the hash it is computationally infeasible to find a message with that hash; in fact one can't determine any usable information about a message with that hash, not even a single bit. For some one-way hash functions it's also computationally impossible to determine two messages which produce the same hash. A one-way hash function can be private or public, just like an encryption function. MD5, SHA and Snefru are examples of public one-way hash functions. A public one-way hash function can be used to speed up a public-key digital signature system. Rather than sign a long message, which can take a long time, compute the one-way hash of the message, and sign the hash.
  • pathfinder prospectus — a prospectus regarding the flotation of a new company that contains only sufficient details to test the market reaction
  • portuguese man-of-war — any of several large, oceanic hydrozoans of the genus Physalia, having a large, bladderlike structure with a saillike crest by which they are buoyed up and from which dangle tentacles with stinging cells.
  • preacquisition profit — the retained profit of a company earned before a takeover and therefore not eligible for distribution as a dividend to the shareholders of the acquiring company
  • pseudo-cleft sentence — cleft sentence (def 2).
  • pull oneself together — to draw or haul toward oneself or itself, in a particular direction, or into a particular position: to pull a sled up a hill.
  • rutherford scattering — the scattering of an alpha particle through a large angle with respect to the original direction of motion of the particle, caused by an atom (Rutherford atom) with most of the mass and all of the positive electric charge concentrated at a center or nucleus.
  • saint-maur-des-fosses — a town in N central France, near Paris, on the Marne River.
  • saponification number — the number of milligrams of potassium hydroxide required to saponify one gram of a given ester, especially a glyceride.
  • satisficing behaviour — the form of behaviour demonstrated by firms who seek satisfactory profits and satisfactory growth rather than maximum profits
  • shoot off one's mouth — to hit, wound, damage, kill, or destroy with a missile discharged from a weapon.
  • shoot one's mouth off — to talk indiscreetly
  • silicon tetrafluoride — a colorless, fuming gas, SiF 4 , used chiefly in the manufacture of fluosilicic acid.
  • sing a different tune — a succession of musical sounds forming an air or melody, with or without the harmony accompanying it.
  • south pacific current — an ocean current that flows E in the South Pacific Ocean parallel to the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
  • sovereign wealth fund — an investment fund created using the financial assets of a national government
  • spirits of turpentine — oil of turpentine.
  • sun protection factor — SPF.
  • supplementary benefit — (formerly) an extra amount of money that is paid to someone by the government, in addition to their normal income. Replaced by income support in 1988
  • surface acoustic wave — an acoustic wave generated on the surface of a piezoelectric substrate: used as a filter in electronic circuits
  • surface friction drag — the part of the drag on a body moving through a fluid that is dependent on the nature of the surface of the body
  • surface of projection — the surface upon which an image or a set of points is projected.
  • surface of revolution — a surface formed by revolving a plane curve about a given line.
  • surface-to-underwater — (of a missile, message, etc.) traveling from the surface of the earth to a target underwater.
  • symphonie fantastique — a programmatic symphony (1830–31) in five movements by Hector Berlioz.
  • take one's finger out — stop delaying or procrastinating
  • tetrabromofluorescein — eosin (def 1).
  • the best of the bunch — If you say someone or something is the best of the bunch or the pick of the bunch, you mean they are the best of a group of people or things.
  • the san andreas fault — a geological fault in California
  • the slough of despond — a state of extreme despondency, depression or degradation
  • the supreme sacrifice — the sacrifice of one's life
  • theater of the absurd — theater in which standard or naturalistic conventions of plot, characterization, and thematic structure are ignored or distorted in order to convey the irrational or fictive nature of reality and the essential isolation of humanity in a meaningless world.
  • theatre of the absurd — drama in which normal conventions and dramatic structure are ignored or modified in order to present life as irrational or meaningless
  • to cross your fingers — If you cross your fingers, you put one finger on top of another and hope for good luck. If you say that someone is keeping their fingers crossed, you mean they are hoping for good luck.
  • to get your rocks off — to reach orgasm; gain sexual satisfaction
Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?