26-letter words containing u, s, r, d
- mutual assured destruction — a U.S. doctrine of reciprocal deterrence resting on the U.S. and Soviet Union each being able to inflict unacceptable damage on the other in retaliation for a nuclear attack.
- newfoundland standard time — one of the standard times used in Canada, three and a half hours behind Greenwich Mean Time
- nondeterministic automaton — (theory) (Or "probabilistic automaton") An automaton in which there are several possible actions (outputs and next states) at each state of the computation such that the overall course of the computation is not completely determined by the program, the starting state, and the initial inputs. See also nondeterministic Turing Machine.
- official production system — (language) (OPS) The first production system (i.e. rule based) programming language, developed at CMU in 1970 and used for building expert systems. OPS was originally written in Franz Lisp and later ported to other LISP dialects.
- on demand: usu phr after v — If something is available or happens on demand, you can have it or it happens whenever you want it or ask for it.
- organophosphorus-compounds — Biochemistry. any of a variety of organic compounds that contain phosphorus and often have intense neurotoxic activity: originally developed as nerve gases, now widely used as insecticides and fire retardants.
- period-luminosity relation — the relationship between the period of light variation and of the absolute magnitude of Cepheid variable stars.
- pick up the threads of sth — If you pick up the threads of an activity, you start it again after an interruption. If you pick up the threads of your life, you become more active again after a period of failure or bad luck.
- post-and-beam construction — wall construction in which beams rather than studs are used to support heavy posts.
- provence-alpes-côte d'azur — metropolitan region of SE France: 12,124 sq mi (31,401 sq km); pop. 4,258,000; chief city, Marseille
- put your best foot forward — do your best
- quasi-stellar radio source — a quasar having detectable radio emission. Abbreviation: QSS.
- red-backed squirrel monkey — a related species, Saimiri oerstedi, of Central America, having a reddish coat and dark brown limbs
- renderman shading language — ["The RenderMan Companion", S. Upstill, A-W 1989, chaps 13-15].
- reticuloendothelial system — the aggregate of the phagocytic cells, including certain cells of the bone marrow, lymphatic system, liver, and spleen, that have reticular and endothelial characteristics and function in the immune system's defense against foreign bodies. Abbreviation: RES.
- richardson ground squirrel — a ground squirrel, Citellus richardsoni, of sagebrush and grassland areas of the northwestern U.S. and adjacent regions in Canada.
- ride roughshod over sb/sth — If you say that someone is riding roughshod over a person or their views, you disapprove of them because they are using their power or authority to do what they want, completely ignoring that person's wishes.
- round peg in a square hole — a person in a position, situation, etc. for which he or she is unsuited or unqualified
- sangre de cristo mountains — a mountain range in S Colorado and N New Mexico: part of the Rocky Mountains. Highest peak: Blanca Peak, 4364 m (14 317 ft)
- sixty-four-dollar question — the critical or basic question or problem: Whether the measure will get through Congress this session or not is the sixty-four-dollar question.
- square peg in a round hole — If you describe someone as a square peg in a round hole, you mean that they are in a situation or doing something that does not suit them at all.
- st andrews static language — (language) (SASL) A functional programming language designed by Professor David Turner in 1976 whilst at St. Andrews University. SASL is a derivative of ISWIM with infinite data structures. It is fully lazy but weakly typed. It was designed for teaching functional programming, with very simple syntax. Example syntax: def fac n = n = 0 -> 1 ; n x fac(n-1) A version of the expert system EMYCIN has been written in SASL. SASL was originally known as "St Andrews Standard Language". Not to be confused with SISAL.
- staffordshire bull terrier — one of an English breed of strong, stocky, muscular dogs having a broad skull and a smooth coat, in combinations of red, white, black, or blue, originally raised for bullbaiting and later dogfighting, but now bred as a companion dog.
- state of the union address — an annual message to Congress in which the president reports on the state of the nation and outlines a legislative program: required by the Constitution (Article II, Section 3). Abbreviation: SOTU.
- straight from the shoulder — direct, honest, and forceful in expression; outspoken.
- straight-from-the-shoulder — direct, honest, and forceful in expression; outspoken.
- subscriber identity module — (telecommunications, wireless) (SIM or "SIM card") A component, usually in the form of a miniature smart-card, that is theoretically tamper-proof and is used to associate a mobile subscriber with a mobile network subscription. The SIM holds the subscriber's unique MSISDN along with secret information such as a private encryption key and encryption and digital signature algorithms. Most SIMs also contain non-volatile storage for network and device management, contact lists, text messages sent and received, logos and in some cases even small Java programs.
- suit sb down to the ground — If you say that something such as a job or piece of clothing suits someone down to the ground, you mean that it is completely suitable or right for them.
- super video graphics array — (hardware) (SVGA) A video display standard created by VESA for IBM PC compatible personal computers. The resolution is 800 x 600 4-bit pixels. Each pixel can therefore be one of 16 colours. See Video Graphics Array.
- system product interpreter — Restructured EXtended eXecutor
- tarred with the same brush — any of various dark-colored viscid products obtained by the destructive distillation of certain organic substances, as coal or wood.
- the entertainment industry — the businesses connected with music, films, TV etc
- the inland revenue service — (in the US) a government board that administers and collects major direct taxes
- to do sth by the rule book — to do something in the normal, accepted way
- to get your fingers burned — If you get your fingers burned or burn your fingers, you suffer because something you did or were involved in was a failure or a mistake.
- to get your house in order — If someone gets their house in order, puts their house in order, or sets their house in order, they arrange their affairs and solve their problems.
- to put your heads together — If two or more people put their heads together, they talk about a problem they have and try to solve it.
- to rub salt into the wound — If someone or something rubs salt into the wound, they make the unpleasant situation that you are in even worse, often by reminding you of your failures or faults.
- to steal someone's thunder — If you steal someone's thunder, you get the attention or praise that they thought they would get, usually by saying or doing what they had intended to say or do.
- turn something on its head — to treat or present something in a completely new and different way
- udmurt autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation in Europe. 16,250 sq. mi. (42,088 sq. km). Capital: Izhevsk.
- ulster defence association — (in Northern Ireland) a Loyalist paramilitary organization
- united press international — a business organization of newspapers in the U.S., together with representatives abroad, for the reporting and interchange of news. Abbreviation: UPI, U.P.I.
- united states marine corps — Marine Corps. Abbreviation: USMC.
- universal time coordinated — incorrect term for coordinated universal time.
- unlisted securities market — a market on the London Stock Exchange, established in 1980 and discontinued in 1996, for trading in shares of smaller companies, who did not wish to comply with the requirements for a full listing
- upper side-band modulation — (communications) (USB) A kind of modulation applied to a sinusoidal carrier.
- very long instruction word — (language, architecture) (VLIW) Used to describe a machine code instruction set implemented using horizontal microcode. A horizontally encoded instruction word which encodes four or more operations might be considered "very long". VLIW architectures are sometimes classified as a type of static superscalar architecture. They are static in the sense that which units operate in parallel is determined by the instruction rather than by dynamic scheduling at run time. Producing code for VLIW machines is difficult; trace scheduling is a helpful compiler technique. The most famous VLIW machine was built by (the late) Multiflow Computer, Inc.
- victoria and albert museum — a museum of the fine and applied arts in London, originating from 1856 and given its present name and site in 1899
- visual-aural (radio) range — a radio range that sends out signals as an aid to air navigation; esp., a very-high-frequency range that beams four signals, two for reception by the ear and two for viewing on an indicator