Glossary
Terms starting with S
401 definitions · page 7 of 7.
- SURETY BOND
- A contract guaranteeing the performance of a specific obligation. Simply put, it is a three-party agreement under which one party, the surety company, answers to a second party, the owner, creditor or “obligee,” for a third party’s debts, default or…
- Surfactants
- Active agent which allows oil to mix with water.
- Surfing
- Using world wide web is often referred to as "surfing the web".
- SURPLUS
- (Electric utility) Excess firm energy available from a utility or region for which there is no market at the established rates.
- SURPLUS
- The remainder after an insurer’s liabilities are subtracted from its assets. The financial cushion that protects policyholders in case of unexpectedly high claims. (See Capital; Risk-based capital)
- SURPLUS LINES
- Property/casualty insurance coverage that isn’t available from insurers licensed in the state, called admitted companies, and must be purchased from a non-admitted carrier. Examples include risks of an unusual nature that require greater flexibility in…
- SURRENDER CHARGE
- A charge for withdrawals from an annuity contract before a designated surrender charge period, usually from five to seven years.
- Surround Output Level
- Allows adjustment of the rear speaker level relative to the front speaker level according to viewing location and individual preference.
- Surround Sound
- An audio reproduction system using four or more speakers to simulate the three-dimensional effect of a live music performance or a cinematic environment. With surround sound, the phase of the original sound is delayed from a two-channel source, creating a…
- Surround Sound (home theatre)
- Surround sound is the basis of a home theatre. It is created by a surround sound processor, multi-channel amplification and five or six speakers. Surround sound envelopes the viewer/listener with sound, includes special effects and simulates the ambience of…
- Surround Sound Modes
- A feature of A/V receivers that simulates the ambience of various sound environments with preset configurations for jazz, rock, concert and stadium.
- Surround Speakers (Surrounds)
- The two speakers in a home theatre system that are placed in the rear of the room or to the sides of the primary seating position. They are critical in producing surround sound.
- Survival Job
- These jobs are low-end, low-paying positions that a job seeker takes, usually on a temporary basis, in order to cover the basic cost of living. Generally accepted as a last resort, survival jobs can save a job seeker from losing his home and/or bankruptcy.
- Surviving Parent
- A child’s living parent when the child’s other parent is dead, and the living parent has not remarried.
- SUSTAINED ORDERLY DEVELOPMENT
- A condition in which a growing and stable market is identified by orders that are placed on a reliable schedule. The orders increase in magnitude as previous deliveries and engineering and field experience lead to further reductions in costs. The reliability…
- SWA
- State Workforce Agency
- SWAPS
- The simultaneous buying, selling or exchange of one security for another among investors to change maturities in a bond portfolio, for example, or because investment goals have changed.
- Sweat
- A technique in which vegetables are cooked very slowly in a covered pan using just a small amount of butter or oil, so that they soften but don't brown. Sweating plays an important part in tenderising vegetables, especially finely diced onions, before other…
- sweep train
- The shortest train, barely sweeping the floor.
- Sweet potato
- A root vegetable that resembles a potato, although it's quite different in taste and texture (and isn't related to the potato). It has a pinkish-orange skin and deep orange flesh. Sweet potatoes can be cooked in a variety of ways. They have a slightly sweet…
- sweetheart neck
- A graceful, open yoke, shaped like the top half of a heart.
- swing
- (I)A style of jazz playing whose flexible, improvised rhythms resist notation; (2) name used to describe big band jazz from the 1930s and 1940s.
- Switch
- A switch is a network device that forwards packets. Switches are more intelligent than hubs in a sense that they forward packets only to the necessary ports and not to all the ports.
- SWITCHING CENTER
- Location at which telephone traffic, either local or toll, is switched or connected from one circuit or line to another. A local switching center may be comprised of several central office units.
- SWRTA
- The Southwest Regional Transmission Association. a subregional RTG within WRTA, and awaiting FERC approval.
- syllabic
- In plainchant, a style in which each syllable of text receives a single note.
- Syllabub
- A delicious old English dessert made with whipped cream, sherry or white wine and sugar, often infused with lemon. Syllabub dates back to the time of Elizabeth I. It should be served well chilled and can be decorated with finely chopped nuts and served with…
- symphonic poem
- Same as Tone Poem.
- symphony
- A large orchestral composition in several movements- a dominant form of public music in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
- Synchro Edit
- Allows you to activate play/record functions of two units simultaneously. This requires two units that can utilize a synchro cord (optional with most VCRs). This is a useful editing feature.
- synchronous rotation
- when a satellite rotates at the same rate at which it revolves around a more massive object; a body with synchronous rotation shows only one hemisphere to the object it orbits
- Synchrotron
- A type of circular accelerator in which the particles travel in synchronized bunches at fixed radius.
- synchrotron emission
- electromagnetic radiation from high-energy electrons moving in a magnetic field
- syncopation
- The accenting, within a well-defined meter, of weaker beats or portions of beats.
- SYNCRUDE
- Synthetic crude oil made from coal of from oil shale.
- SYNFUEL
- Synthetic gas or synthetic oil. Fuel that is artificially made as contrasted to that which is found in nature. Synthetic gas made from coal is considered to be more economical and easier to produce than synthetic oil. When natural gas supplies in the earth…
- SYNGAS
- Synthetic gas make from coal.
- synthesizer
- An electronic device that can create a wide variety of sounds in response to the user's instructions.
- system
- A group of staves connected by a brace, indicating that they are to be played simultaneously.
- SYSTEM
- A combination of equipment and/or controls, accessories, interconnecting means and terminal elements by which energy is transformed to perform a specific function, such as climate control, service water heating, or lighting. [See California Code of…
- SYSTEM INTEGRATION (OF NEW TECHNOLOGIES)
- The successful integration of a new technology into the electric utility system by analyzing the technology's system effects and resolving any negative impacts that might result from its broader use.