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 implicit function theorem — a theorem that gives conditions under which a function written in implicit form can be written in explicit form. 
 
 in the heat of the moment — without pausing to think 
 
 in the palm of one's hand — If you have someone or something in the palm of your hand, you have control over them. 
 
 international match point — a unit of scoring in contract bridge tournaments held in Europe. Abbreviation: IMP. 
 
 interstate highway system — a network of U.S. highways connecting the 48 contiguous states and most of the cities with populations above 50,000, begun in the 1950s and estimated to carry about a fifth of the nation's traffic. 
 
 johnniac open shop system — (language)   (JOSS) An early, simple, interactive calculator language developed by Charles L. Baker at Rand in 1964. There were two versions: JOSS I and JOSS II. 
 
 joint technical committee — (standard, body)   (JTC) A standards body straddling ISO and IEC. 
 
 khakass autonomous region — an autonomous region in the Russian Federation, in S Siberia. 19,161 sq. mi. (49,627 sq. km). Capital: Abakan. 
 
 know something inside out — to know something thoroughly or perfectly 
 
 magnetic character reader — a device that automatically scans and interprets characters printed with magnetic ink. It operates by the process of magnetic character recognition 
 
 magnetohydromagnetic wave — Physics. Alfvén wave. 
 
 maintenance of membership — an arrangement or agreement between an employer and a labor union by which employees who are members of the union at the time the agreement is made, or who subsequently join, must either remain members until the agreement expires, or be discharged. 
 
 make a thing about/out of — If you make a thing of something or make a thing about it, you talk about it or do it in an exaggerated way, so that it seems much more important than it really is. 
 
 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. 
 
 massachusetts bay company — a company, chartered in England in 1629 to establish a colony on Massachusetts Bay, that founded Boston in 1630. 
 
 massacre of the innocents — the slaughter of all the young male children of Bethlehem at Herod's command in an attempt to destroy Jesus (Matthew 2:16–18) 
 
 medical officer of health — a person appointed by a local or national authority to be in charge of its health policy 
 
 metal-free phthalocyanine — phthalocyanine (def 1). 
 
 methylrosaniline chloride — gentian violet. 
 
 miguel hidalgo y costilla — Miguel  [mee-gel] /miˈgɛl/ (Show IPA), 1753–1811, Mexican priest, patriot, and revolutionist. 
 
 much/little to commend it — If you say that something has much to commend it, you approve of it. If you say that something has little to commend it, you disapprove of it. 
 
 murders in the rue morgue — a short story (1841) by Edgar Allan Poe. 
 
 non-algorithmic procedure — heuristic 
 
 on the big/small etc side — If you say that something is on the small side, you are saying politely that you think it is slightly too small. If you say that someone is on the young side, you are saying politely that you think they are slightly too young. 
 
 on the horns of a dilemma — one of the bony, permanent, hollow paired growths, often curved and pointed, that project from the upper part of the head of certain ungulate mammals, as cattle, sheep, goats, or antelopes. 
 
 on the spur of the moment — a U -shaped device that slips over and straps to the heel of a boot and has a blunt, pointed, or roweled projection at the back for use by a mounted rider to urge a horse forward. 
 
 over-the-counter medicine — An over-the-counter medicine is a medicine that may be sold without a doctor's prescription. 
 
 peripheral nervous system — the portion of the nervous system lying outside the brain and spinal cord. 
 
 petropavlovsk-kamchatskiy — seaport in E Asian Russia, on Kamchatka Peninsula: pop. 210,000 
 
 pharmacotherapeutic group — Drugs and agents are categorized into pharmacotherapeutic groups based on which diseases they are designed to treat. 
 
 phase contrast microscope — a microscope that utilizes the phase differences of light rays transmitted by different portions of an object to create an image in which the details of the object are distinct despite their near-uniformity of refractive index. 
 
 phase-contrast microscope — a microscope that utilizes the phase differences of light rays transmitted by different portions of an object to create an image in which the details of the object are distinct despite their near-uniformity of refractive index. 
 
 play into someone's hands — a dramatic composition or piece; drama. 
 
 poacher turned gamekeeper — someone whose occupation or behaviour is the opposite of what it previously was, such as a burglar who now advises on home security 
 
 polymerase chain reaction — a technique in which a known DNA sequence is synthesized at high temperatures by means of a polymerase, producing millions of copies for statistical analysis: used in DNA fingerprinting, in detecting minute quantities of cancer cells, etc. 
 
 polynomial-time algorithm — (complexity)   A known algorithm (or Turing Machine) that is guaranteed to terminate within a number of steps which is a polynomial function of the size of the problem. See also computational complexity, exponential time, nondeterministic polynomial-time (NP), NP-complete. 
 
 put sb/sth/swh on the map — If you say that someone or something put a person, thing, or place on the map, you approve of the fact that they made it become well-known and important. 
 
 put sth out of its misery — If you put an animal out of its misery, you kill it because it is sick or injured and cannot be cured or healed.