18-letter words containing t, a, r, s, n
- assignment problem — (mathematics, algorithm) (Or "linear assignment") Any problem involving minimising the sum of C(a, b) over a set P of pairs (a, b) where a is an element of some set A and b is an element of set B, and C is some function, under constraints such as "each element of A must appear exactly once in P" or similarly for B, or both. For example, the a's could be workers and the b's projects. The problem is "linear" because the "cost function" C() depends only on the particular pairing (a, b) and is independent of all other pairings.
- association cortex — any of the regions of the cerebral cortex of the brain connected by numerous nerve fibers to all parts of both cerebral hemispheres and coordinating such higher activities as learning and reasoning.
- assortative mating — the reproductive pairing of individuals that have more traits in common than would likely be the case if mating were random (contrasted with disassortative mating).
- assumption of risk — Assumption of risk is the practice of paying for minor losses yourself, but protecting against catastrophic losses by buying insurance cover.
- ast research, inc. — (company) A company, formed some time before 1980, that was a leading personal computer manufacturer. AST developed desktop computers, mobile computers, and servers that were sold in more than 100 countries worldwide. In January 1999 the name and intellectual property were acquired by a new company named AST Computers, LLC. As of 2000-03-02 it was trading as ARI Service.
- astrometric binary — a binary star that can be recognized as such because of its undulating proper motion.
- astronomical clock — a complex clock showing astronomical phenomena, such as the phases of the moon
- at a rate of knots — very fast
- at sb's right hand — If someone is at a person's right hand, they work closely with that person so they can help and advise them.
- at your fingertips — If you say that something is at your fingertips, you approve of the fact that you can reach it easily or that it is easily available to you.
- at/from a distance — If you are at a distance from something, or if you see it or remember it from a distance, you are a long way away from it in space or time.
- atmospheric engine — an early form of single-acting engine in which the power stroke is provided by atmospheric pressure acting upon a piston in an exhausted cylinder.
- atmospheric window — wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be transmitted through the earth's atmosphere. Atmospheric windows occur in the visible, infrared, and radio regions of the spectrum
- attendance figures — the number of people present at events such as football matches or concerts
- auditory phonetics — the branch of phonetics concerned with the perception of speech sounds by humans
- australian doubles — an unusual formation in doubles in which the server's partner is positioned on the same side of the court as the server.
- australian terrier — a small wire-haired breed of terrier similar to the cairn
- australopithecines — Plural form of australopithecine.
- authorized version — the revised English translation of the Bible published in England in 1611 with the authorization of King James I
- aviation insurance — Aviation insurance is insurance cover for aircraft, and for damage, injury, or loss of life or cargo while traveling on aircraft.
- axis of revolution — an axis in a plane, about which an area is revolved to form a solid of revolution.
- bachelor's-buttons — any of various plants of the daisy family with button-like flower heads
- back to square one — If you are back to square one, you have to start dealing with something from the beginning again because the way you were dealing with it has failed.
- banded rattlesnake — timber rattlesnake.
- bankers-acceptance — a draft or bill of exchange that a bank has accepted. Abbreviation: BA. Also called banker's acceptance. Compare acceptance (def 6).
- baritone saxophone — the second lowest instrument in the family of saxophones
- bartholin's glands — two small reddish-yellow glands, one on each side of the vaginal orifice, that secrete a mucous lubricating substance during sexual stimulation in females
- basal conglomerate — a conglomerate deposited on an erosion surface and constituting the bottom layer of a stratigraphic series.
- basement apartment — an apartment below the ground floor of a building
- basket-handle arch — an arch having a symmetrical form drawn from an odd number of radii in excess of one, which increase in length from the springing toward the center.
- bats-in-the-belfry — a hairy Eurasian campanulaceous plant, Campanula trachelium, with bell-shaped blue-purple flowers
- battleground-state — a state of the U.S. in which the Democratic and Republican candidates both have a good chance of winning and that is considered key to the outcome of a presidential election: the swing states of Ohio and Indiana.
- behaviour patterns — the characteristic ways in which a person or animal acts
- benchmark position — a public service job used for comparison with a similar position, such as a position in commerce, for wage settlements
- biodiversification — the process by which the diversity of plants or animals develops or is increased within a particular region or group of organisms.
- bioinstrumentation — the use of instruments, as sensors, to detect and measure certain body functions, as of persons in spaceflight, and transmit the data to a point where it is evaluated
- biological parents — the biological mother and father of a child
- bipolar transistor — (electronics) A transistor made from a sandwich of n- and p-type semiconductor material: either npn or pnp. The middle section is known as the "base" and the other two as the "collector" and "emitter". When used as an amplifying element, the base to emitter junction is in a "forward-biased" (conducting) condition, and the base to collector junction is "reverse-biased" or non-conducting. Small changes in the base to emitter current (the input signal) cause either holes (for pnp devices) or free electrons (for npn) to enter the base from the emitter. The attracting voltage of the collector causes the majority of these charges to cross into and be collected by the collector, resulting in amplification. Contrast field effect transistor.
- black-necked stork — a large Australian stork, Xenorhyncus asiaticus, having a white plumage, dark green back and tail, and red legs
- board of elections — a bipartisan board appointed usually by local authorities and charged with control of elections and voting procedure.
- bore the pants off — to bore extremely
- boston brown bread — a dark, sweetened, steamed bread made of cornmeal, rye or wheat flour, etc., and molasses
- bounty-fed farmers — farmers who benefit from subsidies
- branch instruction — a machine-language or assembly-language instruction that causes the computer to branch to another instruction
- branch to fishkill — (IBM: from the location of one of the corporation's facilities) Any unexpected jump in a program that produces catastrophic or just plain weird results. See jump off into never-never land, hyperspace.
- breast enhancement — a surgical procedure to increase the size of a woman's breasts
- breast enlargement — a surgical procedure to increase the size of a woman's breasts
- breathe one's last — When someone breathes their last, they die.
- breathing exercise — an exercise intended to promote effective and healthy breathing and breath control
- british somaliland — a former British protectorate (1884–1960) in E Africa, on the Gulf of Aden: united with Italian Somaliland in 1960 to form Somalia (or the Somali Republic); in 1991 the self-styled republic of Somaliland, covering the same area as the former British Somaliland, declared itself independent and continues to function largely as a separate entity, though without international recognition