19-letter words containing s, u, b, o
- optical double star — two stars that appear as one if not viewed through a telescope with adequate magnification, such as two stars that are separated by a great distance but are nearly in line with each other and an observer (optical double star) or those that are relatively close together and comprise a single physical system (physical double star)
- out at (the) elbows — shabby; poverty-stricken
- pointe-aux-trembles — a city in S Quebec, in E Canada, N of Montreal, on the St. Lawrence.
- portobello mushroom — a dark mushroom, strong in flavor, having a broad, flat cap that is often grilled and eaten
- potassium bisulfate — a colorless, crystalline, water-soluble solid, KHSO 4 , used chiefly in the conversion of tartrates to bitartrates.
- potassium carbonate — a white, granular, water-soluble powder, K 2 CO 3 , used chiefly in the manufacture of soap, glass, and potassium salts.
- profitability study — a study of how much profit a company, organization, etc, makes or how profitable it is
- provably unsolvable — The set or property of problems for which no algorithm at all exists. E.g. the Halting Problem. See also provably difficult.
- pseudo-biographical — of or relating to a person's life: He's gathering biographical data for his book on Milton.
- pseudorandom number — (programming) One of a sequence of numbers generated by some algorithm so as to have an even distribution over some range of values and minimal correlation between successive values. Pseudorandom numbers are used in simulation and encryption. They are pseudorandom not random because the sequence eventually repeats exactly and is entirely determined by the initial conditions. One of the simplest algorithms is x[i+1] = (a * x[i] + c) mod m but this repeats after at most m numbers and successive numbers are closely related. Better algorithms generally use more previous numbers to calculate the next number.
- put one's back into — to devote all one's strength to (a task)
- queen anne's bounty — a fund formed by Queen Anne in 1704 for the augmentation of the livings of the poorer Anglican clergy. In 1948 the administrators of the fund were replaced by the Church Commissioners for England
- registration number — number on vehicle licence plate
- republic of letters — the collective body of literary people.
- sb's spiritual home — your spiritual home is the place where you feel that you belong, usually because your ideas or attitudes are the same as those of the people who live there
- semibituminous coal — a coal intermediate between bituminous and anthracite coal in hardness, yielding the maximum heat of any ordinary steam coal.
- seminiferous tubule — any of the coiled tubules of the testis in which spermatozoa are produced.
- short-tail business — Short-tail business is insurance business where it is known that claims will be made and settled quickly.
- southern crab apple — a tree, Malus angustifolia, of the eastern U.S., having oblong leaves, fragrant, pink or rose-colored flowers, and small, round, yellow-green fruit.
- standing broad jump — a jump for distance from a standing position.
- stationery cupboard — a cupboard where things like paper, pens and paper clips are kept
- store refurbishment — Store refurbishment happens when a store needs to be redecorated, modernized or the layout changed. The store will often be closed to customers during this time.
- subsistence economy — an economy which produces only enough output for its own consumption and does not attempt to accumulate wealth
- substitution cipher — a cipher that replaces letters of the plain text with another set of letters or symbols.
- subtractive process — a process of color photography in which the colors are formed by combination of cyan, yellow, and magenta lights.
- telescopic umbrella — an umbrella having parts that telescope
- the buck stops here — the ultimate responsibility lies here
- the compassion club — (in Canada) a nonprofit organization that provides uncontaminated cannabis for medical purposes and natural therapies in a safe environment
- thumb one's nose at — to deride or mock, esp by placing the thumb on the nose with fingers extended
- to be full of beans — If someone is full of beans, they are very lively and have a lot of energy and enthusiasm.
- to be running short — If you are running short of something or running low on something, you do not have much of it left. If a supply of something is running short or running low, there is not much of it left.
- to be up shit creek — to be in an extremely bad situation
- to give sb a leg up — to help with climbing
- to make a fast buck — When someone makes a fast buck or makes a quick buck, they earn a lot of money quickly and easily, often by doing something which is considered to be dishonest.
- to plumb new depths — If you say that something plumbs new depths, you mean that it is worse than all the things of its kind that have existed before, even though some of them have been very bad.
- to plumb the depths — If someone plumbs the depths of an unpleasant emotion or quality, they experience it or show it to an extreme degree.
- to rack your brains — If you rack your brains, you try very hard to think of something.
- to take the biscuit — If someone has done something very stupid, rude, or selfish, you can say that they take the biscuit or that what they have done takes the biscuit, to emphasize your surprise at their behaviour.
- touch all the bases — to deal with all related details
- trouble someone for — to ask someone to pass, hand, give, etc. (something) to one
- u.s. robotics, inc. — (company) A US modem manufacturer. Finger: usr.com. E-mail: <[email protected]>, <[email protected]> (USA and Canada), <[email protected]>, <[email protected]> (Europe), <[email protected]> (other).
- upper carboniferous — Pennsylvanian (defs 2, 4).
- west dunbartonshire — a council area of W central Scotland, on Loch Lomond and the Clyde estuary: corresponds to part of the historical county of Dunbartonshire; part of Strathclyde Region from 1975 to 1996: engineering industries. Administrative centre: Dumbarton. Pop: 92 320 (2003 est). Area: 162 sq km (63 sq miles)
- yablonovy mountains — a mountain range in Siberia. Highest peak: 1680 m (5512 ft)
- zero-base budgeting — a process in government and corporate finance of justifying an overall budget or individual budgeted items each fiscal year or each review period rather than dealing only with proposed changes from a previous budget. Abbreviation: ZBB.