24-letter words containing t, e, m, p

parallel virtual machine — (parallel, networking, tool) (PVM) 1. A software system designed to allow a network of heterogeneous machines to be used as a single distributed parallel processor. PVM was developed by the University of Tennessee, The Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Emory University. 2. The intermediate language used by the Gambit compiler for Scheme.
parliamentary government — government by a body of cabinet ministers who are chosen from and responsible to the legislature and act as advisers to a nominal chief of state.
people's liberation army — See under Huk (def 1).
permeability coefficient — the volume of an incompressible fluid that will flow in unit time through a unit cube of a porous substance across which a unit pressure difference is maintained
photomechanical transfer — a method of producing photographic prints or offset printing plates from paper negatives by a chemical transfer process rather than by exposure to light
phrase-structure grammar — a grammar that consists of phrase-structure rules.
physiological atmosphere — ecosphere.
pin something on someone — to lay the blame for something on someone
polymer matrix composite — A polymer matrix composite is a material consisting of a composite made stronger by adding fibers or particles to it.
portable document format — (file format) (PDF) The native file format for Adobe Systems' Acrobat. PDF is the file format for representing documents in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware, and operating system used to create those documents. A PDF file can describe documents containing any combination of text, graphics, and images in a device-independent and resolution independent format. These documents can be one page or thousands of pages, very simple or extremely complex with a rich use of fonts, graphics, colour, and images.
portable scheme debugger — (PSD) A package for source code debugging of R4RS-compliant Scheme under GNU Emacs by Kellom ?ki Pertti <[email protected]>. Version 1.1. Distributed under GNU GPL. It works with scm, Elk and Scheme->C.
potassium cobaltinitrite — a yellow, crystalline, slightly water-soluble powder, K 3 Co(NO 2) 6 , used as a pigment in oil and watercolor paints, and for coloring surfaces of glass, porcelain, etc.
potentiometric titration — titration in which the end point is determined by measuring the voltage of an electric current of given amperage passed through the solution.
pre-emptive multitasking — (operating system, parallel) A type of multitasking where the scheduler can interrupt and suspend ("swap out") the currently running task in order to start or continue running ("swap in") another task. The tasks under pre-emptive multitasking can be written as though they were the only task and the scheduler decides when to swap them. The scheduler must ensure that when swapping tasks, sufficient state is saved and restored that tasks do not interfere. The length of time for which a process runs is known as its "time slice" and may depend on the task's priority or its use of resources such as memory and I/O. This contrasts with cooperative multitasking where each task must include calls to allow it to be descheduled periodically.
present company excepted — If you are making a general, unfavourable comment about a particular type of person, and you are with people of that type, you can say 'present company excepted' as a way of making your comment sound more polite.
presumption of innocence — the rebuttable presumption of the innocence of the defendant in a criminal action in Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence, placing upon the prosecution the burden of proof of the defendant's guilt.
pretty amazing new stuff — (humour, communications) (PANS) What PSTN is evolving into.
principal quantum number — the nonnegative, integral quantum number that defines the stationary orbits in the Bohr model of the atom.
privileged communication — a communication that one cannot legally be compelled to divulge, as that to a lawyer from a client
program information file — (file format) Under Windows, a file providing information on how a non-Windows application program should be run, including how much memory should be allocated to it and what graphics interface it requires.
progressive assimilation — assimilation in which a preceding sound has an effect on a following one, as in shortening captain to cap'm rather than cap'n.
pyrotraumatic dermatitis — hot spot.
rapid eye movement sleep — REM sleep.
rational-emotive therapy — a form of therapy in which a patient is asked to reject irrational attitudes and assumptions in order to deal effectively with stressful situations.
recommended retail price — the selling price of a product officially suggested by a manufacturer to a retailer
report program generator — (tool) (RPG) An IBM programming language developed by Wilf Hey at IBM in 1965 for easy production of sophisticated large system reports. RPG is a 3GL similar to COBOL, but more concise and supposedly easier for non-programmers to use. It processes its input one line at a time and does not treat tables as conceptual entities. It was popular on System 34/36 minicomputers. Versions: RPG II, RPG III, RPG/400 for IBM AS/400. MS-DOS versions by California Software and Lattice. Unix version by Unibol. Cross-platform version by J & C Migrations runs on MS-DOS, Windows, AIX, HP-UX, and OS/390. See also CL, OCL.
representative democracy — a person or thing that represents another or others.
reproductive imagination — the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.
resale price maintenance — the practice by which a manufacturer establishes a fixed or minimum price for the resale of a brand product by retailers or other distributors
research and development — the part of a commercial company's activity concerned with applying the results of scientific research to develop new products and improve existing ones
sequentially compact set — a set in which every sequence has a subsequence that converges to a point of the set.
single person supplement — an additional sum of money that a hotel charges for one person to stay in a room meant for two people
slop oil recovery system — A slop oil recovery system is a method and the equipment used for cleaning and disposing of mixtures of oil, chemicals, and water from various sources in a refinery or oilfield.
sodium hexametaphosphate — See under Calgon.
special development area — an area earmarked for special development by the government
split image range finder — a range finder in which opposing halves of a split field move relative to each other and coincide when the object centered in the field is in focus.
stratified random sample — a random sample of a population in which the population is first divided into distinct subpopulations, or strata, and random samples are then taken separately from each stratum.
tear someone off a strip — to rebuke (someone) angrily
the department of health — a department of the government of the United Kingdom concerned with governmental policy relating to health in England but not elsewhere in the United Kingdom
the long-term unemployed — people who have no job and have not worked for a long time
the realm of possibility — If you say that something is not beyond the realms of possibility, you mean that it is possible.
thompson sub-machine-gun — a .45 calibre sub-machine-gun
to cramp someone's style — If someone or something cramps your style, their presence or existence restricts your behaviour in some way.
to jump on the bandwagon — If someone, especially a politician, jumps or climbs on the bandwagon, they become involved in an activity or movement because it is fashionable or likely to succeed and not because they are really interested in it.
to keep something at bay — If you keep something or someone at bay, or hold them at bay, you prevent them from reaching, attacking, or affecting you.
to make up for lost time — If someone is making up for lost time, they are doing something actively and with enthusiasm because they have not had the opportunity to do it before or when they were younger.
to pick someone's brains — If you pick someone's brains, you ask them to help you with a problem because they know more about the subject than you.
to pick someone's pocket — If someone picks your pocket, they steal something from your pocket, usually without you noticing.
to speak well of someone — If you speak well of someone or speak highly of someone, you say good things about them. If you speak ill of someone, you criticize them.
trisodium orthophosphate — a sodium salt of orthophosphoric acid having the formula Na3PO4

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