| 释义 |
R|ɑː(r)|
the eighteenth letter of the modern and seventeenth of the ancient Roman alphabet, is derived through early Greek {egrho1}, {egrho2} from the Phoenician 𐤓, representing the twentieth letter of the early Semitic alphabet. In general the character denotes an open voiced consonant in the formation of which the point of the tongue approaches the palate a little way behind the teeth; in many languages this is accompanied by a vibration of the tongue, in which case the r is said to be ‘trilled’. This trill is almost or altogether absent in the r of modern standard English, which moreover retains its consonantal value only when it precedes a vowel; in other positions it has been vocalized to an |ə-| sound, and even this is entirely lost after certain vowels. The earlier history of these sounds is somewhat obscure, as scholars differ in their views as to the formation of r in OE. times. In Scotland r is still strongly trilled in all positions, and other varieties of the sound are characteristic of certain districts, as the burred r of Northumberland and the reverted r of the south-west. By southern speakers r is frequently introduced in hiatus, esp. in the phrase the idea(r) of; in vulgar speech it is heard even in such forms as draw(r)ing.
In all periods of English, r has exercised a marked effect upon a preceding vowel. In OE., e and a before r + consonant became eo, ea, as in steorfan starve, deorc dark, heorte heart, eorðe earth; hearm harm, wearp warp. In late ME. and early mod.E. er usually became ar, ear, as in (sterve) starve, (derk) dark; (herte) heart, (erthe) earth, the date and extent of the change varying in different dialects. In a few cases (as clerk, sergeant, Derby) the spelling with er has been retained, while ar |ɑː| is pronounced. In mod.E. (prob. from about 1650) e (or ea) and i before r in close syllables have fallen together in one obscure vowel |ɜː|, as in berth, birth |bɜːθ|, dearth |dɜːθ|, dirt |dɜːt|, often not distinguished from the sound in bur |bɜː(r)|, burn |bɜːn|. The vowel-lengthening exemplified in these words is common to all cases in which r is not followed by a vowel, as far |fɑː(r)|, farm |fɑːm|, for |fɔː(r)|, horse |hɔːs|. The effect of r is also seen in the use of open vowels instead of the normal close ones, as in care |kɛə(r)|, here |hɪə(r)|, moor |mʊə(r)|, floor |flɔə(r)| (these last two now frequently monophthongized |mɔː(r)|, |flɔː(r)|). In a few words the vowel may have been affected by a preceding r, as in break |breɪk|, great |greɪt|, broad |brɔːd|.
OE. r usually represents Germanic r, but in some cases takes the place of Germ. z (Goth. z or s), as in éare ear (Goth. ausô), mára more (Goth. maiza), hord hoard (Goth. huzd); hence the variation in verbal forms, as léosan, loren; céosan, coren. It was rarely dropped (as in specan to speak, for usual sprecan); but metathesis was frequent, and many of the forms resulting from this have been retained in the later language, as beornan to burn, berstan to burst, hors horse, fryhtu fright, North. þirda third. In some Scottish texts of the 15–16th c. there is a similar tendency to transpose r (as trage targe, rehress rehearse, scruge scourge), and it is sometimes neglected in rimes (as large: age).
Among the native words beginning with r in modern Eng. are a certain number which in OE. have initial hr-, as hring ring, hræfn raven, hréod reed. This h was usually written down to the close of the OE. period, but had probably been dropped in speech at a somewhat earlier date; in the northern Gospels it is often erroneously prefixed, as in hræst rest, hreafere reaver, hrioppa reap. On the other hand, w before r was retained so late (being still pronounced in some Scottish dialects) that confusion between wr- and r- is comparatively rare, chiefly occurring with the words rack, wrack, and rap, wrap.
I.
1. a. Illustrations of the literary use of the letter or its name.
c1000ælfric Gram. iii. (Z) 6 Semivocales syndon seofan:..r, s, x. 1460in Archæologia (1842) XXIX. 331 There was an V and thre arres to-gydre. c1460Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 2, iij ares for iij Richardes þat bene of noble fames. 1530Palsgr. 34, R in the frenche tonge shalbe sounded as he is in latyn without any exception. 1599H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner M viij b, Oysters..in those Moneths that have the letter R. in their names. 1636B. Jonson Eng. Gram. (1640) 47, R is the Dogs Letter and hurreth in the sound. 1727–41Chambers Cycl. s.v., The Hebrews allow the r the privilege of a guttural; that is, they never double it. a1854C. A. Southey Poet. Wks. (1867) 21, R's whose lower limbs Beyond the upper bulged unseemly out. 1888Cornh. Mag. Oct. 365 The letter R is not yet menaced with extinction in Washington.
b. the ‘r’ months: Those months in the name of which an r occurs (September to April), during which oysters are in season (cf. quot. 1599 above). So also r-less month.
1764Chesterfield Lett. cccxlvi, Here is no domestic news of changes and chances in the political world, which, like oysters, are only in season in the R months, when the Parliament sits. 1856Lowell Lett. (1894) I. iv. 301, I don't believe even the oysters found out what r-less month it was. 1888Pall Mall G. 21 Sept. 7/2 The ‘r’ months have, however, opened at Brussels in the usual way; the Zeeland and Ostend oysters..made their welcome appearance.
c. Phonetics. r-less adj.; r-colour, the modification of a vowel sound caused by a following r, as in the U.S. pronunciation of bird, etc.; hence r-coloured adj., r-colouring. Also intrusive r (see introductory note above); linking r: see linking ppl. a. d.
1887Trans. Philol. Soc. 1885–6 3 The intrusive r has actually produced an additional syllable in modern English. 1902H. L. Wilson Spenders xxiv. 277 Her speech bore just a hint of the soft r-less drawl of the South. 1909O. Jespersen Mod. Eng. Gram. I. 372 In literature the intrusive r is frequently indicated as a characteristic mark of vulgarity; the oldest example, perhaps, is in Smollett. 1928I. C. Ward Phonetics of English xiii. 130 There is no doubt that the intrusive r is spreading; even in districts where it has not been known, the younger generation is using it. 1935J. S. Kenyon Amer. Pronunc. (ed. 6) 158 In Southern American speech, instead of accented ɜ, an ‘r-colored’ vowel varying to ɜ̨ is often heard. Ibid. 191 The retroflexion is slight, or replaced by raising and retraction of the tongue, but..the vowel is still ‘r-colored’, giving the impression of an r sound. Ibid. 193 In South England..the ‘r color’ itself disappeared, leaving the sound ɜ. 1940Maître Phonétique Oct.–Dec. 63 ðə nouteiʃnz..witʃ dinout prisaisli vauəlz wið r-kʌlariŋ. 1941Language XVII. 240 This occurs frequently in the mixed dialect of those who have both ‘r-pronouncing’ and ‘r-less’ forms in their speech. 1950D. Jones Phoneme xvi. 82, r-colouring, when vowels are said with simultaneous lowering of the soft palate. Ibid., r-coloured vowels are found with significant function in various types of American and British English. 1965Canad. Jrnl. Linguistics XI. i. 65 Nine free vowels occur under stress in all dialects..; a tenth occurs only in r-less dialects. 1977P. Strevens New Orientations Teaching of English xii. 151 In American English, in all words spelled with r there is an r sound which occurs simultaneously with the vowel before it. (..The vowels in such cases are said to be r-coloured.)
2. Used to denote serial order, as ‘R Battery’, ‘MS. R’, etc., or as a symbol of some thing or person, a point in a diagram, etc.
II. Abbreviations.
1. Of Latin words or phrases.
a. † R (in mediæval notation) = 80. R. = rex king, regina queen. In medical prescriptions: R, ℞ = recipe take.
b. R.I.P. = requiescat in pace, ‘may he (or she) rest in peace’; or requiescant in pace, ‘may they rest in peace’; also (occas.) as v. intr.
1816Catholicon II. 264 Obituary... On the 24th inst. Mr. Cornelius Peter Murphy..possessed of a heart glowing with the most generous sentiments, he contracted his illness by the devotedness of his friendship to a deserving youth, from whom, during the course of his long and fatal malady, he could not be separated. R.I.P. 1917A. G. Empey Over Top 306 ‘R.I.P.’ In monk's highbrow, ‘Requiescat in pace’, put on little wooden crosses over soldier's graves... Tommy says like as not it means ‘Rest in pieces’, especially if the man under the cross has been sent West by a bomb. 1962Punch 5 Sept. 334/1 We had a field mouse RIP-ing under the cupboard. 1976Liverpool Echo 22 Nov. 4/1 Fortified by rites of Holy Church (R.I.P.). Requiem Mass Thursday, November 25.
2. Of English words and phrases:
a. R. = various proper names, as Richard, Robert, etc.; R. = Rabbi; R. = radius; R. = Railway; R = rand n.2 2; R. = Reaumur; R. = † rest; R, restricted (rating) (U.S.); R, reverse (as on the selector mechanism in a vehicle with automatic transmission); R. = River; R. = † rogue; R (Bacteriol.) = rough a. 1 e; R. = Royal; R. (Naut.), run (see quots. 1706 and 1867); R. = rupee; ℞ = response (to a versicle); ®, registered (of a trademark: incorporated in Statutes at Large U.S.A. 1946 (1947) LX. i. 436); R, r, right; also spec. of a stage; r = radius vector; r (Naut. in log-book) = rain; R.A. = Rear Admiral; R.A. (Astron.), right ascension; R.A., Royal Academy or Academician (hence R.A.-ship); R.A., Royal Artillery; R.A.A.F., Royal Australian Air Force; R.A.C., Royal Armoured Corps; R.A.C., Royal Automobile Club; R.A.E., Royal Aircraft Establishment; R.A.F. [G. Rote Armee Fraktion], Red Army Faction (in West Germany); R.A.F.V.R., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve; RAM (Computers), random-access memory; R.A.M., Royal Academy of Music; R.A.M.C., Royal Army Medical Corps; R and B, R & B, R'n B, r'n'b = rhythm and blues; R and D, R & D, research and development (chiefly U.S.); R and R, R & R, rest and recreation (leave) (orig. U.S.); R. and R., R.'n'R., r'n'r = rock and roll; R.A.O.C., Royal Army Ordnance Corps; R.A.P., Regimental Aid Post; R.A.S.C., Royal Army Service Corps; R. Aux. A.F., Royal Auxiliary Air Force; R.B.C., red blood cell or corpuscle; red blood (cell) count; R.B.E., relative biological effectiveness (of radiation); R.B.I. (Baseball), run batted in; R.C., r.c., reinforced concrete; RC (Electronics), resistance/capacitance (or resistor/capacitor); R.C., Roman Catholic; R.C.A., Radio Corporation of America; R.C.A.F., Royal Canadian Air Force; R.C.M., radio (or radar) counter-measures; R.C.M.P., Royal Canadian Mounted Police; R.D., refer (also loosely understood as return) to drawer (of cheque); R.D.C., Rural District Council; R.D.F., radio direction-finding, -finder (in quots., referring to radar); also as v. trans., to employ R.D.F. against; RDV, rdv = rendezvous n. (orig. U.S.); R.E., religious education; R.E., Royal Engineers; r.f., R.F., radio-frequency; R.F., representative fraction; usu. attrib.; R.F.A., Royal Field Artillery; R.F.A., Royal Fleet Auxiliary; R.F.C., Royal Flying Corps; R.F.D., rural free delivery (of letters) (U.S.); R.G.A., Royal Garrison Artillery; R.G.N., Registered General Nurse; Rh, rhesus (blood group); usu. attrib.; R.H. = Royal Highness; R.H.A., Royal Horse Artillery; R.I., religious instruction; RIAA, Record (since 1970, Recording) Industry Association of America; R.I.A.F., Royal Indian Air Force; R.I.B.A., Royal Institute of British Architects; R.I.C., Royal Irish Constabulary; R.I.N., Royal Indian Navy; R.K., religious knowledge; R.M., Reichsmark; R.M., Resident Magistrate; R.M., Royal Marines; R.M.A., Royal Marine Artillery; R.M.C., Royal Military College (at Sandhurst); R.M.L.I., Royal Marine Light Infantry; r.m.s., R.M.S. (chiefly Electr.), root mean square; usu. attrib.; R.M.S., Royal Mail Steamer (also Ship); R.N., Registered Nurse; R.N., Royal Navy; R.N.A.S., Royal Naval Air Service; R.N.D., Royal Naval Division; R.N.L.I., Royal National Life-boat Institution; R.N.R., Royal Naval Reserve; R.N.V.R., Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve; R.N.Z.A.F., Royal New Zealand Air Force; ROA [Russ. Rússkaya osvobodítel′naya ármiya], the Russian Liberation Army; R.O.C., Royal Observer Corps; R.O.K., Rok |rɒk|, Republic (also Relief) of Korea; also pl., soldiers of the Republic of Korea; ROM (Computers), read-only memory; R.O.P., rop, run of paper (as of advertisements not booked for a specific position in a newspaper); also fig.; also in colour printing (see quot. 1967); ROSLA (also with pronunc. |ˈrɒzlə|, raising of the school-leaving age; RoSPA |ˈrɒspə|, Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents; RP, rp = received pronunciation s.v. received ppl. a. 1 b; R.P.M., r.p.m., resale price maintenance; r.p.m., R.P.M., revolution(s) per minute; RPV, remotely piloted vehicle (orig. U.S.); R.Q. (Med.), respiratory quotient; rRNA, ribosomal RNA; R.S., rs, received standard; formerly, received speech; R.S. = Royal Society; R.S.A., Royal Society of Arts; also pl., R.S.A. examinations; R.S.F.S.R. [Russ. Rossíĭskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Sotsialistícheskaya Respúblika], the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic; RSJ, rolled steel joist; RSLA = ROSLA above; R.S.M., Regimental Sergeant Major; R.S.P.B., Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; R.S.P.C.A., Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; R.S.V., Revised Standard Version (of the Bible); RSV (Biol. and Med.), Rous sarcoma virus; R/T, R.T., radio-telegraph or -telephone; usu. attrib.; RTE, Radio Telefis Eireann, the official broadcasting authority of the Republic of Ireland; R.T.O., Railway Transport(ation) Officer, Railroad Transportation Officer; R.T.U. (Mil.), returned to unit; R.U.C., Royal Ulster Constabulary; RV, rateable value; RV (earlier RecV), recreational vehicle, as a motorized caravan (U.S.); hence RVer; RVing ppl. adj.; R.V., r.v. = rendezvous n. and v. intr.; R.V. = Revised Version (of the Bible); R.W. = Right Worthy or Worshipful. See also , F., RDX, REM n.2, , RNA, (as main entries).
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 156 To mak certeyn partie, *R. a quitance toke. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. iv. §3 R. Solomon makes this hill to be Kirjath-jearim. 1819Pantologia X. F j b, Then the radius vector r is expressed by either of the following formulæ. 1625Massinger New Way iv. ii, My hand hissing..with the letter R printed upon it.
1961Times 27 Jan. 19/4 Offers of ‘one-ninetyfour’ and ‘one-ninetyfive’..were chalked up as ‘R1.94’ and ‘R1.95’. 1961Africana Notes & News Mar. (recto rear cover), Subscription R2 per annum..Holt, B. Place-Names of the Transkeian Territories, 1959, Ro-75. 1971J. McClure Steam Pig iv. 40 She kept her money in the post office, just over R200.
1925Registration of Trade-Marks (U.S. Congress Senate, Comm. on Patents) 20–1 Jan. 8 It shall be the duty of the registrant to accompany a registered trade-mark with the words ‘Registered in U.S. Patent Office’,..or by letter ‘R’ in a circle, thus ®. 1977Gloss. Terms Unfair Competition (U.S. Trademark Assoc.), ®, one of several notices prescribed by law to indicate that a mark is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
1588J. Mellis Briefe Instr. Dvj, Set the same down..on this Creditor side..with an R before it, signifying rest.
1965Acronyms & Initialisms Dict. (Gale Research Co.) 589 R... Restricted (Military document classification). 1972Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 6 Feb. 2/3 The Strawberry Statement, the MGM version of a campus rebellion..was rated R (no one under 17 admitted without parent or guardian). 1976New Yorker 12 Jan. 70/2 Peckinpah was forced to trim ‘The Killer Elite’ to change its R rating to a PG. Ibid., Many of these theatres wouldn't have taken it if it had an R and the kids couldn't go by themselves.
1951R = reverse [see L = low s.v. L 7].
1846J. R. Planché Bee & Orange Tree ii. 7 On (r.) a Cavern. Tempest. A Vessel is seen in distress. When it is out of sight, enter (r.) from Cavern, Princess Amy. 1893G. B. Shaw Let. 27 Apr. (1965) I. 392 The old style—the Princess & the audience grouped R, and Adrienne beginning L in profile. 1976M. S. Hoque Hunger i. i. 1, Moina and Latif appear—R. They are just visible by the door. 1977Rolling Stone 24 Mar., (caption) (Opposite, l to r): John, Mick, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
1920J. A. Arkwright in Jrnl. Path. & Bacteriol. XXIII. 359 The R form grows in colonies which have a more or less jagged outline, are flatter and often have an irregular, rough, or dull surface and are slightly opaque. 1973Klainer & Geis Agents of Bacterial Dis. i. 23 Rough (R) colonies have a dry, flat, irregular, wrinkled appearance and are generally formed by cells that lack a capsule.
1706Lond. Gaz. No. 4216/3 All such Seamen.., that are made Run, for not repairing to their Duty, shall have their R's taken off. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., R. in the muster-book means run, and is placed against those who have deserted, or missed three musters.
1885Kipling Let. 30 July in C. Carrington Rudyard Kipling (1955) iv. 67 One Proprietor offered My Mother Rs 1,000 for an Anglo-Indian story. 1971Shankar's Weekly (Delhi) 4 Apr. 9/3 ‘It won't cost much.’ ‘No, about Rs. 10,000.’
1813Examiner 17 May 316/1 Far above the mediocrity of most of our *R.A.'s. 1829J. Constable Let. 5 Apr. (1965) III. 21, I beg my best regards to Mrs Leslie—I am always dear Leslie. / your obliged friend / John Constable R.A. 1881Athenæum 5 Nov. 603/2 The year of his R.A.-ship. 1890Lloyd George Let. 10 June (1973) 28 He had numerous R.A.'s & in fact I should fancy his picture gallery alone must have aggregated {pstlg}10,000 in value. 1970Oxf. Compan. Art 547/2 He was trained as a chorister in the Chapel Royal, and later received an allowance..to study at the R.A. Schools.
1815J. Kane List Officers R. Regiment Artillery 65 List of Subaltern Officers of the Corps of *R.A. Drivers. 1955Times 16 June 4/3 Both achieved a creditable rate of bangs per minute, the R.E. with various demolitions and a set piece assault by flail tanks, the R.A. with gunfire.
1936Age (Melbourne) 5 May 13 (caption) Aircraftsmen making adjustments to fuselage and bomb racks on the *R.A.A.F. Hawker Demon at the Exhibition. 1955Times 21 June 9/5 Melbourne, June 20... Four hundred soldiers, police and bushwalkers, helped by R.A.A.F. Dakota aircraft are searching 5,000ft. Mount Baw Baw for Mihran Haig. 1973Parade (Melbourne) Sept. 22/1 The RAAF Lockheed Hudson, carrying a VIP load, was about to land at Canberra from Melbourne.
1942Partridge Dict. Abbrev. 81/1 *R.A.C., Royal Armoured Corps; armoured fighting vehicles and tanks. 1950Jrnl. R. United Service Inst. XCV. 289 The Royal Armoured Corps, as such, did not come into being until April 1939 (A.O. 58/1939)... In the same Army Order it was also stated that on transfer to the R.A.C. the R.T.C. would be re-designated Royal Tank Regiment.
1908Autocar Handbk. (ed. 2) xxvi. 201 Members of most of the best clubs require only one proposer when joining the *R.A.C. 1934Glasgow Herald 11 Apr. 13/3 The R.A.C. will continue to press for a regulation that all pedal cyclists should be compelled to carry red rear lamps. 1977J. Bingham Marriage Bureau Murders v. 61 A large, respectable hotel, mentioned in the A.A. and R.A.C. handbooks.
1926Encycl. Brit. I. 20/2 (heading) The *R.A.E. Bubble Sextant. 1977R.A.F. News 11–24 May 11/2 Over at the R.A.E.'s Air Transport Flight. Ibid. 11/3 The Experimental Flying Squadron..is widely referred to as the sharp end of RAE flying.
1977Time 19 Sept. 8/3 It was signed ‘Kommando Siegfried Hausner, *R.A.F.’—referring to a terrorist who died after a 1975 attack on the West German embassy in Stockholm. 1980C. Moorehead Fortune's Hostages viii. 155 The freeing of six jailed ‘RAF’ prisoners.
1938Times 2 Feb. 18/6 (heading) New branch of *R.A.F.V.R. 1951Sunday Pictorial 21 Jan. 13/6 (Advt.), They must undertake to fly with the R.Aux.A.F. or R.A.F.V.R. during their subsequent reserve service.
1957R. K. Richards Digital Computer Components & Circuits vii. 347 ‘Random access storage’ (or *RAM, for ‘random access memory’). 1977Design Engin. July 15/2 The MM5799..contains 1,536 8-bit instructions in its ROM, and its RAM can store 96 BCD digits of 4 bits each.
1891G. B. Shaw in World 23 Dec. 15/2, I am not in the habit of advising novices to lay the foundations of their vocal methods in the *R.A.M. 1954Grove's Dict. Mus. (ed. 5) 271/1 The R.A.M. continues its own separate examination in London..of music teachers and performers.
1900Morning Post 25 July 5/6 Surgeon-Captain Rupert Fawssett, *R.A.M.C. a1944K. Douglas Alamein to Zem Zem (1946) 128 Presently an R.A.M.C. warrant officer came. 1971S. Hill Strange Meeting i. 67 Dick's in the R.A.M.C. but he's gone out to Egypt.
[1949Billboard 12 Nov. 110/2 Could score in pop as well as b & r mart. ] Ibid. 31 Dec. 83, I Ain't Fattening Frogs for Snakes..with its catchy tag, could have a pop as well as *r and b future.1955L. Feather Encycl. Jazz (1956) 70 Today's top R & B artists, contemporary equivalents of the Bessie Smiths and other ‘race record’ favourites of the 1920s. 1967L. Deighton London Dossier i. 30 Deafening foreground music is provided by a giant jukebox. This is where the working City mod goes for his mid-day transfusion of R'n B. 1973Publishers Weekly 14 May 48/3 Devoted to r'n'b groups, blues and r'n'b vocalists. 1977Rolling Stone 13 Jan. 55/1 ‘Autobiography’..and ‘Shakey Ground’ have no doubt been formulated by producer David Rubinson to bring Snow into an R and B-flavored pop mainstream.
1952Pohl & Kornbluth in Galaxy Aug. 129/1 ‘How's Research and Development doing on the Venus question?’..‘*R. and D. is in there punching.’ 1966Inland (Inland Steel Co., Chicago) Autumn 5/1 The American iron and steel industry alone will spend $200 million on R & D this year. 1978Nature 2 Mar. 2/2 A reprocessing plant for throughput of about 1,000 tons per annum will cost in excess of {pstlg}500 million, including radioactive waste storage, some R & D expenditure (say 5% of the total) and a decade of operating costs (perhaps 25% of the total).
1953Britannica Bk. of Year 639/2 A similar idea is contained in the expression *r. and r., the initials standing for ‘Rest and Recreation’. 1966New Statesman 14 Oct. 549/2 R & R = Rest and Recreation. Local leave for American troops, mostly in Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore. 1968Telegraph (Brisbane) 3 May 1/7 American troops visiting Australia on R and R leave are to be briefed on the exploits of Diggers in Vietnam. 1977J. Gardner Werewolf Trace xv. 129 Tonight was for R & R, tomorrow he would have another go at her to get the facts straight.
1955Life 18 Apr. 168 On a list of 10 top juke box best-selling records last week, six were *r'n r. 1958Listener 9 Oct. 572/1 The musical basis of R.'n'R...is the blues. 1973Publishers Weekly 10 Dec. 39/1 This fat collection is devoted solely to writing about music (though not restricted to r'n'r). 1977Sounds 1 Jan. 4/3 From head-bashing r&r, through Sixties pop..to an exquisite kick-in-the-teeth for Definitive Punk Rock.
1918Times 28 Nov. 9/3 (heading) R.A.S.C., R.A.V.C., and *R.A.O.C. 1930War Office Regulations for Equipment of Army (Provisional) ii. i. 3 Scabbards, bayonet, No. 1... R.A.O.C. on mobilization if especially ordered. 1971S. Milligan Adolf Hitler iii. 75 Thirty Signallers drove to the R.A.O.C. Depot at Reigate in a three-ton truck.
1942E. Waugh Put out More Flags ii. 154 ‘I don't think you mentioned the *R.A.P., did you, Smallwood?’ ‘R.A.P. sir. No, sir, I'm afraid I don't know where it is.’ 1948E. H. Smith Guns against Tanks 29 The 26th Battalion's Medical Officer..who earned the admiration of the gunners by bringing his RAP truck to within fifty yards of the forward positions. 1954J. Masters Bhowani Junction xix. 174, I came to the R.A.P., swallowed, and went down to report to Captain Chaney.
1918*R.A.S.C. [see R.A.O.C. above]. 1955Times 12 Aug. 4/7 In the permanent hutment camp by the wartime airfield..the Army Emergency Reserve transport columns of the R.A.S.C. are carrying out in succession their annual 15 days' training. 1976Daily Mail (Hull) 16 Dec., Kenneth William Tully Bodfield, T.D., Major late R.A.S.C.
1948R.A.F. Rev. Jan. 19/1 The short title of the Royal Auxiliary [Air Force] will be *R. Aux. A.F. 1972L. Hunt Twenty-One Squadrons 12 It was on 16th December 1947 that King George VI gave permission for the ‘Royal’ prefix and from that date until the squadrons disbanded in March 1957 they were R Aux AF units.
1922Indian Med. Gaz. LVII. 126/2 The results of blood examination before treatment of soamin was *R.B.C. 3,000,000, W.B.C. 3,500. 1968Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. I. xxvi. 2/2 The red cell count (RBC) ranges from 4·5–6·5 million/mm3 in men and 3·9–5·6 million/mm3 in women. 1978Nature 16 Feb. 674/2 Ageing of circulating RBC.
1954P. E. Smith in A. J. Fleming et al. Mod. Occupational Med. xiii. 179 When irradiation with two different types of radiation requires different doses to achieve the same biological effect, the radiations are said to have a relative biological effectiveness (*R.B.E.) different from one. The R.B.E. is the inverse of the dosage ratio required for equal effect. 1961G. R. Choppin Exper. Nuclear Chem. ii. 10 The RBE (relative biological effectiveness) is defined as the ratio of the absorbed dose in rads of gamma radiation to the absorbed dose of the given radiation which is required to give the same biological effect. 1975S. C. Bushong Radiologic Sci. for Technologists xvi. 286 Diagnostic x-rays have an RBE of approximately 1·0.
1951Sun (Baltimore) 6 Oct. b–1/7 (heading) Yankee hurler says own *R.B.I. gave him biggest thrill. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 1 July 4-e/1 Rusty Staub..had three RBI's, including a two-run homer on Monday. 1979Honolulu Advertiser 8 Jan. c–2/5 Ahu got his six R.B.I.s on three hits, including two doubles and a grand-slam homer.
1932C. L. Boltz Everyman's Wireless x. 190 The stage gain from an *R.C. stage is E/e, where E is the voltage (A.C.) developed across the anode resistance and e is the voltage (A.C.) applied between grid and filament. Ibid., A 2-valve circuit incorporating detector and one stage of L.F. amplification with R.C. coupling. 1965Wireless World July 326/1 RC coupling has been employed throughout, in preference to direct coupling, to minimize drift and facilitate the setting up procedure while still preserving the lower audio frequencies.
1932Civil Engin. Sept. 17 Each column is supported by two vibro piles capped with a small *R.C. slab. The whole area between the pile caps is covered with a 4 in. R.C. slab. 1953Archit. Rev. CXIV. 305/1 Floors are of r.c. slab with a lightweight screed containing embedded heating coils.
a1762Lady M. W. Montagu in Lett. (1967) III. 92 If the S[cripture] is true the *R.C. Religion is false because contrary. 1820J. Milner Suppl. Mem. Eng. Catholics II. 176 If it be true, that the Lords Grenville and Grey had any arrangements..inconsistent with the integrity and safety of the R.C. Religion, we declare, that we consider such arrangements as foreign to the obvious meaning of the Resolution we have signed. 1860Queen Victoria Let. 7 Jan. in R. Fulford Dearest Child (1964) 227 Dear good Leopold Hohenzollern arrived... Oh! if only he were not a R.C.!! 1977Belfast Telegraph 24 Jan. 10/1 (Advt.), R.C. Gent, of good family background, with means, wishes to meet teacher, nurse, or respectable farmer's daughter.
1922Radio enters Home (Radio Corp. of Amer.) 7/1 The distributors of *R.C.A. sets and apparatus have been selected carefully. 1938Rev. Sci. Instruments IX. 219/1 (caption) The tube is an RCA 32. 1967Cox & Grose Organization & Handling Bibl. Rec. by Computer ii. 48 Both Linotron and RCA Digiset have this facility for checking enlarged characters.
1924Pay & Allowance Regulations R. Canad. Air Force IV. 14 Officers..not carried on the General List, *R.C.A.F., but..attached to the Royal Canadian Air Force for flying duty. 1943Times 13 Dec. 2/2 A Royal Canadian Air Force Sunderland of Coastal Command with a mixed R.C.A.F. and R.A.F. crew. 1958‘Castle’ & ‘Hailey’ Flight into Danger ii. 27 ‘I know it looks a bit like RCAF,’ Dun was saying, fingering his great bush of a moustache.
1945Electronic Industries Sept. 222 *RCM, radar counter measures. 1947Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LI. 432/2 The job of the R.C.M. aircraft of the new Group was to impair these systems... Consequently we developed a jamming screen for the purpose of blinding the enemy's early warning system. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War xxxiii. 289, I was amazed to sit through meetings of the Radio Counter Measures Board right up to the end of 1942 discussing whether it was advisable for us to start an ‘R.C.M. War’.
1920Globe (Toronto) 9 Feb. 3/4 The great increase in the membership of the force consequent of the extensions of its duties to Eastern Canada and the absorption of the Dominion Police within the organization of the *R.C.M.P. 1967Canad. Ann. Rev. 1966 21 Prime Minister Pearson had asked for any information in the RCMP files which indicated impropriety or wrongdoing. 1977Financial Times 11 Nov. 5/5 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau ordered a Royal Commission to investigate the RCMP's activities.
1913W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. 163/2 *R.D. (bank.), refer to drawer (of cheque). 1938N. Marsh Death in White Tie iii. 41 One of my cheques has been returned R.D. 1974M. Butterworth Man in Sopwith Camel ii. 24 No..girl was going to rest a wet RD stamp on one of Stryvers' cheques by accident!
1904Local Govt. Jrnl. 2 Jan. 3/1 (heading) Contracts open. 3/2 Granite.—The Clerk, *R.D.C., Midhurst. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 114 At the time, I wasn't too alarmed when Alderman Reeves, the chairman of the R.D.C., called the decision the worst he had ever seen.
1938F. A. Lindemann 8 Mar. in R. V. Jones Most Secret War (1978) iv. 40 Lest too much reliance be placed upon the *R.D.F. methods, it is perhaps worth pointing out that certain difficulties may easily be encountered in actual use. 1942E. Waugh Put out More Flags i. 28 We've got a most valuable invention called R.D.F. Ibid., The German air-bases are too far away for them to be able to attack us. If they do, we'll R.D.F. them out of the skies. 1963L. Deighton Horse under Water xxiii. 101 Just behind me on the bridge Singleton was admiring the R.F.D. and the electronic depth⁓gauge. 1975S. Johnson Urbane Guerilla iii. 147 We didn't RDF him... The trouble is RDF-ing, radar direction finding, requires a cross-bearing. 1976Oxf. Compan. Ships & Sea 685/2 In its earliest days, radar in Britain was known as RDF, the initial letters of radio direction finding, but the name was changed early in the Second World War to avoid confusion with H/F D/F, high frequency direction finding.
1955R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 152/3 *RDV, rendezvous (US Army). 1973‘A. Hall’ Tango Briefing iv. 45 I'm speaking from base. We shall need a little more time to set up the radio, so the next rdv is for 15.00 hours tomorrow.
1963R. Acland We teach them Wrong 9, I told the deputy head master that I was a Lay Reader in the Church of England and could perhaps help with *R.E. lessons. 1972Guardian 29 Aug. 13/7 RE has been crippled by dogmatism and an arid biblicism. 1978Times 3 Oct. 15/7 Some LEA's have been bold enough to recast their RE curriculum... The RE Council keeps a monitoring eye on emerging methodologies for RE.
1848Brit. Army Despatch 24 Nov. 307/3 Captain Chapman, *R.E., has returned to Zante from Cephalonia. 1877Army Circular Dec. App. 18 Each Officer of R.E. below the rank of Major..is allowed 2 public horses. 1921V. E. Inglefield Hist. 20th (Light) Div. iii. 37 Rations, R.E. material, etc., had to be brought up a long way from the dumps under very difficult conditions. 1959I. Jefferies Thirteen Days xi. 175 If that's all you have to say you can get out. This is the R.E. office.
1918W. H. Eccles Wireless Telegr. & Teleph. (ed. 2) 471 The *r.f. generator 1 and microphone 2 induce currents in circuit 5. 1930Proc. IRE XVIII. 1339 A relatively simple outfit is used comprising an r-f oscillator of variable frequency. 1931Electronics July 17/1 A new impregnation compound for r.f. transformers affords better protection in humid atmosphere. 1956Proc. CERN Symposium I. 64/2 Synchrotron oscillations (if an rf is present) are damped. 1967Electronics 6 Mar. 2 (Advt.), Sweep Oscillators with RF and marker plug-ins meet virtually all of your swept frequency testing requirements.
1886H. D. Hutchinson Military Sketching made Easy i. 12 A French map may show a scale of mètres, but to be generally useful to Englishmen it would be necessary to add to it a scale of yards with the same *R.F. 1969G. C. Dickinson Maps & Air Photographs vii. 102 In countries using the metric system scales of so many centimetres to a kilometre usually also give R.F.s with convenient round numbers.
1900W. S. Churchill in Morning Post 27 Mar. 7/7, 1 battery Corps artillery (*R.F.A.). 1974A. Price Other Paths to Glory vi. 71 See how those casualties in the first two years [of the First World War] came from the..8th Hussars and the RFA—I'll bet they were all regulars.
1911Shipping World 15 Mar. 276/1 (caption) The *R.F.A. ‘Burma’. 1931Jane's Fighting Ships 84/2 Oilers (R.F.A.).
1913Flight 12 Apr. 404/1 (heading) Motto for the *R.F.C. 1933V. Brittain Testament of Youth ii. vii. 293 As we left the harbour a transport of the R.F.C. cheered us. 1977R.A.F. News 27 Apr.–10 May 2/2 The final meeting of the North West Royal Flying Corps Association..was attended by Mr. Walter Sumner, a member who is now the sole RFC veteran to be a pensioner at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.
1903(title) *R.F.D. news; devoted to the interests of the Rural Free Delivery Carriers of the U.S. 1903R.F.D. News Feb. 21/2 Pa doesn't go to town for mail; we've got the R.F.D. 1974M. Hoyt Thirty Miles for Ice Cream xv. 187 Our mail used to be delivered by an R.F.D. mailman riding behind a horse in a sort of outhouse on wheels, painted red, white and blue, and lettered U.S. Mail.
1907Field Service Pocket Bk vi. 120 *R.G.A. 1909Army & Navy Gaz. 6 Feb. 140/1 Sir F. D. Blake, Bt., late Northumberland R.G.A. (Mil.). 1924Nursing Mirror Pocket Encycl. & Diary 1924 85 *R.G.N., Registered General Nurse (Scotland). 1975Irish Independent 27 May 16/5 (Advt.), Resident R.G.N., or S.E.N., required for day duty in nursing home in Dublin south east.
1940Landsteiner & Wiener in Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol. & Med. XLIII. 223 The capacity possessed by some rabbit immune sera produced with blood of Rhesus monkeys, of reacting with human bloods that contain the agglutinogen M has been reported previously. Subsequently it has been found that another individual property of human blood (which may be designated as *Rh) can be detected by certain of these sera. 1954A. E. Mourant Distribution Human Blood Groups iii. 12 The Rh blood groups depend upon three very closely adjacent loci on each of a pair of chromosomes, which may be called the C, D and E loci. 1958L. P. Strean Birth of Normal Babies iv. 60 If the fetus is Rh-positive and the mother is Rh-negative, then the mother is actually immunized by the developing child's blood and she develops antibodies against the Rh-positive factor. 1968Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. I. xxvi. 19/2 Only the ABO and Rh blood group systems contribute significantly to isoantibody incompatibility in the giving of blood transfusions.
1654Sir E. Nicholas in N. Papers (Camden) II. 48 Beseech her *R.H. that nothing that comes from me may in any kinde be taken notice.
1854Times 20 Oct. 7/1 Captain Maude's Battery, *R.H.A., was most useful. 1916E. W. Hamilton First Seven Divisions 27 The 119th Battery R.F.A. was at this time just south-west of Eloges, and L Battery R.H.A. just north-east of Andregnies. 1962M. Carver El Alamein iv. 51 While F Battery R.H.A. put down a ‘stonk’ the carriers counter-attacked and drove the enemy infantry back.
1961Where? III. 16/2 Religious instruction (*RI): The only subject which state schools are obliged to teach by law: in county and voluntary controlled schools. 1976Evening Post (Nottingham) 15 Dec. 13/3 (Advt.), A teacher required in January and April for Independent School..(3) R.I. with an interest in general counselling for girls 11 and over.
1952Billboard 16 Feb. 18/1 Selection of an executive secretary for *RIAA..was put off until early next week. 1971J. Earl How to choose & use Pickups & Loudspeakers iii. 90 It is often necessary to attenuate the signal from a piezo cartridge before applying it to the RIAA amplifier input. 1975Gramophone Jan. 1421/3 Also the RIAA correction curve for discs shows only the slightest deviation from the ideal playback curve.
1946Civil & Milit. Gaz. 2 June 11/3 Disciplinary standards in the R.A.F. and *R.I.A.F. 1971R. Russell tr. A. Ahmad's Shore & Wave xv. 161 On one side stood Hasan, looking very smart in his R.I.A.F. uniform.
1913W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. 167/1 *R.I.B.A. (Soc.), Royal Institute of British Architects. 1938Times 7 Feb. 9/2 The article consists of a memorandum by the Public Relations Committee of the R.I.B.A. and correspondence therein between the Minister of Health and the R.I.B.A. Council. a1974R. Crossman Diaries (1975) I. 86, I had a difficult task when I had to go to the R.I.B.A. and give the certificates and prizes for the best-designed houses of the year.
1903Somerville & ‘Ross’ All on Irish Shore 196 Two tall constables of the *R.I.C. stood at the door of the cottage. 1972A. Hezlet ‘B’ Specials i. 4 The I.R.A. issued a proclamation referring to the R.I.C. as spies and traitors. 1978J. Carroll Mortal Friends i. iv. 47 He saw a private soldier, not an RIC Auxiliary, but an honest to God Tommy.
1946Civil & Milit. Gaz. 2 June 11/3 *R.I.N. ratings.
1959*R.K. [see physical torture s.v. physical a. 7]. 1968G. Mitchell Three Quick & Five Dead i. 24 ‘Edward teaches history and something he calls R.K.’ ‘Religious Knowledge,’ said Laura. ‘They used to call it Scripture in my young day.’
1875Anglo-Brazilian Times 23 July 6/1 On Hamburg the rates for Bank paper at 90 days have been 442 Reis per *R.M. 1963L. Deighton Horse under Water 251 Peterson had a Reisepass..and 200 RM.
1888V. Martin Diary 24 June in M. Collis Somerville & Ross (1968) iv. 56 Jostled as to our seat by Brady *R.M. 1899Somerville & ‘Ross’ (title) Some experiences of an Irish R.M. 1947Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 3 Nov. 12/5 Some cases before the R.M. Court... His Hon. Mr. S. T. B Sanguinetti, R.M. observed that he had left over the case from last week.
1827J. Wright Let. 13 Nov. in P. H. Nicolas Hist. Record of Royal Marine Forces (1845) II. viii. 313 (heading) Deputy Adjutant-general's office, *R.M. 1923Admiralty Fleet Order No. 1643 22 June The R.M. Artillery at Eastney, and the R.M.L.I. at Forton will be combined into the Portsmouth Division, R.M. Ibid., Shoulder Letters.—Letters ‘R.M.’ to be worn by all ranks. 1962S. Bassett Royal Marine iii. 69 If I got high marks, I'd be appointed Superintendent RM Signals, a Corps appointment.
1883A. Cooper Key Let. in L. Conway-Gordon Case of Lt. Lewis Conway-Gordon (1884) 17, I might be able to give you a final answer to your request as to the removal of the names of the two Officers from..the list of Lieutenants, *R.M.A. 1931Times Lit. Suppl. 26 Mar. 246/3 After 1894 the R.M.A. were no longer sent to sea in small craft, but assigned only to first-class ships and flagships.
1893W. S. Churchill Let. 10 Sept. in R. S. Churchill W. S. Churchill (1967) I. Compan. i. vii. 412 Tonight I go back to *RMC. 1956J. Masters Bugles & Tiger ii. 36 Bert King..led me up the steps and into the low grey pile before me—the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. From that moment..I was Gentleman Cadet John Masters, of No. 5 Company of the R.M.C., as I soon learned to call it. 1968A. Powell Military Philosophers i. 55 Chu enjoyed the RMC so much he wants to go to Eton.
1889W. Richards Her Majesty's Army II. 195 Lieutenant H. Earle, *R.M.L.I., was sent as an envoy to the King of Dekra. 1916‘Taffrail’ Pincher Martin ix. 166 He..hastily told the marine corporal of the watch to turn out twenty marines..and then to inform Captain Hannibal Chance, R.M.L.I., that a Zeppelin was in sight. 1930Times Lit. Suppl. 3 July 542/3 It is the evacuation of the Y Beach at Gallipoli, in which the 1st Battalion was concerned, with one company of the 2nd South Wales Borderers and the Plymouth Battalion R.M.L.I. (consisting entirely of men specially enlisted for the War). 1980Globe & Laurel July/Aug. 241/1 The original Forton RMLI Cadet Band was disbanded on amalgamation of the RMLI and RMA.
1897A. Hay Princ. Alternate-Current Working vii. 93 When we speak of so many volts of an alternating P.D., or so many amperes of an alternating current, we thereby mean their *R.M.S. values. 1940Jrnl. Acoustical Soc. Amer. XI. 278/1 Peak and r.m.s. pressures in one-eighth-second intervals..from the voices of six men and five women. 1945Electronic Engin. XVII. 737/3 The oscillator output voltage was 20V R.M.S. 1977S. A. Book Statistics ii. 40 The standard deviation is the square root of the mean of the squared deviations. (In some applied contexts, it is referred to as the ‘root-mean-square deviation’ or the ‘rms deviation’.)
[1852Nautical Mag. XXI. 91 To the Secretary R.M.S.P. Company.] 1870Weekly Standard (Buenos Aires) 12 Jan. 1/3 The *R.M.S. La Plata arrived in port..with the following passengers. 1936Discovery June 181/2 R.M.S. ‘Queen Mary’, the greatest achievement of British shipbuilding. 1976Oxf. Compan. Ships & Sea 684/1 R.M.S., the prefix, short for Royal Mail Ship, placed before the name of a British merchant ship with a licence to carry the Royal Mails.
1938Amer. Speech XIII. 228/2 She is an ‘*R.N.’, which means registered nurse—one who has graduated from an accredited school of nursing. 1974Publishers Weekly 11 Feb. 62/2 Irish Katie, R.N. in a nursing home.
1846H. D. Chads Let. in Madras Artillery Record VI. 323 [signed] H. D. Chads, Captain *R.N. 1946‘Tackline’ You met such Nice Girls in Wrens xiii. 144 It is very strange..why R.N. officers are so much meaner with their clothing-coupons than R.N.V.R. officers. 1975‘J. Bell’ Victim iv. 52 Wing-Commander Redfern, Late R.A.F., his wife, Amanda, and Commander Pilcher, R.N., retired.
1918W. S. Churchill Let. 10 Sept. in M. Gilbert W. S. Churchill (1975) IV. vii. 144 How much flying, for instance, is done by the *RNAS for the 45,000 first-rate fighting men and skilled men they employ? 1977Air Mail Spring 21/1 So this RAF phrase, like ‘port’ and ‘starboard’, came with the RNAS when the flying sailors merged with the RFC in 1918 to become the Royal Air Force.
1914R. Brooke Let. 24 Sept. (1968) 619 The nucleus of the *R.N.D. is marines, Naval Reserve, etc.—more or less trained men. 1916W. S. Churchill Let. 29 Nov. in M. Gilbert W. S. Churchill (1977) IV. Compan. i. 34, I rejoiced to read of the glorious achievements of the RND. 1924Life-Boat: Centenary Number 33 Small wonder that its sister-organization in little Holland has kept its eye upon the largest and oldest organization, the *R.N.L.I. 1948Life-Boat Mar. 157 The R.N.L.I. Roadless Tractor..can take the boat over all types of beach. 1977Navy News June 1/2 The Merchant Navy and fishing fleets will be represented, as well as organizations like the R.N.L.I., Trinity House and H.M. Coastguard.
1868Times 1 July 2/2 (Advt.), John Gray, *R.N.R., Commander. 1902C. J. C. Hyne Mr. Horrocks, Purser 85 What's the use of being R.N.R. if you don't let people know it? 1977Stornoway Gaz. 27 Aug. 3/1 As were many other Lewismen, Alick was a member of the R.N.R.
1905Text Book for Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve 3 The smartness, efficiency, and the credit of the *R.N.V.R. depend upon the following principles. 1934Brassey's Naval & Shipping Ann. 25 New rules were notified in Fleet Orders dated April 6, 1933, respecting the rank of Commodore in the R.N.R. and R.N.V.R. 1977Listener 25 Aug. 241/2 Lambert was given a commission in the RNVR.
c1944Mod. Jun. Dict. (Whitcombe & Tombs) 454/1 *R.N.Z.A.F., Royal New Zealand Air Force. 1947Air Force News (Cairo) 14 Jan. 1/2 The first two senior RNZAF officers nominated for participation in the exchange scheme with the RAF.
1959Listener 23 July 146/2 We follow the fortunes of Vlasov's Army of Liberation, the *ROA, during the last months of the war. 1974T. P. Whitney tr. Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago I. i. vi. 253 As for the leaflets reporting the creation of the ROA, the ‘Russian Liberation Army’, not only were they written in bad Russian, but they were inbued with an alien spirit that was clearly German.
1942Partridge Dict. Abbrev. 84/2 *R.O.C., Royal Observer Corps..A civilian body that scans the skies. Modest and selfless. 1947R.A.F. Rev. Sept. 20/2 We hope to live up to its claim, as did the R.O.C.
1950N.Y. Times 2 July iv. 1/6 The man who took over direction of operation *ROK—Relief of Korea—in these dire circumstances was General MacArthur. 1950Life 11 Sept. 51/2 (heading) The Durable Roks. Ibid., But the Rok (for Republic of Korea) army was more durable than anybody thought. 1972P. M. Bartz South Korea 2/2 South Korea's correct title is the Republic of Korea, usually abbreviated R.O.K.
1966IEEE Trans. Electronic Computers XV. 502/1 Transformer memories are read-only memories (*ROM) which make use of magnetic coupling..between a set of interrogation lines and a set of sense lines. 1975Sci. Amer. May 37/3 ROM's are non⁓volatile: their contents cannot be altered during the operation of the computer, and the retention of stored data does not depend on a supply of power. 1979Personal Computer World Nov. 82/1 Monitors are held in ROM so that they are available and running as soon as the computer is started.
1947K. M. Wells Owl Pen Reader (1969) i. 97 Our goats..were neither registered, accredited, pure-bred, or *R.O.P.
1955R. J. Schwartz Compl. Dict. Abbrev. 155/3 rop, run of paper (advertising). 1961Penrose Ann. LV. 110 Only in recent years was the reproduction of colour transparencies taken up by means of ROP printing, where the full range of colours is produced by superimposing the three basic colours. 1967E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset 276 R.O.P., an American term (run of paper) applying when colour half⁓tones are printed at the same time as the type matter.
1972J. R. Bridge in Mathematics in School Sept. 8 (title) *ROSLA and after. Ibid. 9/2, I believe ROSLA will be rewarding for groups 2 and 3. 1977Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXV. 300/1 When the additional ROSLA year operated, the prospect of a further year of standard education seems to have been unpalatable to some of the potential beneficiaries.
1948Fire Protection & Accident Prevention Year Book 1948–49 iii. 139 The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (*RoSPA)... The aim of the Society is the prevention of accidents of all kinds. 1955Proc. National Industrial Safety Conf. 7 Attract new members to your local groups, encourage them to become members of RoSPA. 1965Autocar 24 Sept. 609/1 The leaflet recently published by RoSPA in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport.
1889A. J. Ellis Early Eng. Pronunc. v. 6 Other Abbreviations in Frequent Use... *rp., received pronunciation, or that of pronouncing dictionaries and educated people. 1964R. H. Robins Gen. Linguistics ii. 57 The pronunciation characteristic of this type of English has been called ‘received pronunciation’ or ‘R.P.’. 1964English Studies XLV. 26 There is no Standard Accent of English, and almost the only people who think there is are a small number of RP speakers who feel that their accent is..in some way superior. 1977P. Strevens New Orientations Teaching of English xi. 138 In Britain, the non-regional accent is RP.
1960Times Rev. Industry Mar. 3/2 In the absence of price competition, distributors may compete by offering extra services. *R.p.m. does not guarantee that they do. 1964Financial Times 31 Jan. 6/4 However, the pending abolition of R.P.M. has confused some M.P.s in deciding their attitudes. 1966J. F. Pickering Resale Price Maintenance i. 15 In a number of trades r.p.m. was enforced privately through the mechanism of the relevant trade association. 1978Bookseller 17 June 3183/1 In Australia and in Sweden the abolition of r.p.m. has had these very effects.
1906Trans. Inst. Engineers & Shipbuilders in Scotland XLIX. 30 Especially should this be done in cases where..the weight increases more rapidly in inverse proportion to the *r.p.m. and the diameter than it does with other types. 1931Discovery Nov. 344/2 Running the engine at a higher r.p.m. 1950Down Beat 5 May 16 (heading) Here's LP, 45 RPM jazz list. 1966R. Thomas Spy in Vodka (1967) xix. 218 The engine was responding nicely..and I was estimating the rpm's needed for the next bend.
1970Air Force Mag. Oct. 40/2 This study of the Remotely Piloted Vehicle (*RPV) potential consisted of detailed examinations of presently available technologies. 1972Observer 13 Aug. 1/6 Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPVs) that promise a bizarre kind of ‘bloodless’ warfare. 1977Time 23 May 33/3 That will make being a pilot a cushy job: he sits at a TV console 200 miles away and gets the RPV to provide surveillance or relay radio messages or pinpoint targets for precision bombing.
1905W. H. Howell Textbk. Physiol. xxxviii. 632 In connection with other data,..the *R.Q. may be used to throw light upon the character of the nutrition. 1968Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. I. xlii. 4/2 Ingestion of glucose within minutes restores the blood glucose concentration and the working ability, without changes in the RQ.
1967Jrnl. Molecular Biol. XXIII. 149 Abbreviations used: *rRNA, ribosomal RNA. 1977Nature 8 Dec. 473/3 It is probable that no rRNA gene is integrated into the chromosomal DNA of the macronucleus [of Tetrahymena].
1889A. J. Ellis Early Eng. Pronunc. v. 3 They all spoke ‘received speech’ (abbreviated to *rs.) in ‘received pronunciation’ (abbreviated to rp.).
1934H. C. Wyld S.P.E. Tract xxxix. 605 With this type [of spoken English]..I contrast what, for want of a better name, I call Received Standard (henceforward referred to in this paper by the initials *R.S.). 1964C. Barber Ling. Change Present-Day Eng. ii. 22, I shall use the expression Received Standard (R.S.) to refer to all aspects of the language.
1676Glanvill Ess. Philos. & Relig. title-p., Joseph Glanvill..Fellow of the *R.S.
1920R. Soc. Arts Syllabus Examinations, 1921 p. xviii (Advt.), A selection from many books suitable for *R.S.A. examinations. 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 64 Not that age was a helpful grouping criterion, the elder lot ranging as they did from fifteen (a delinquent ghoul studying for RSAs) to nineteen (myself). 1980Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts Feb. 145/1 Nor is the RSA alone.
1923Nation 31 Jan. 130/1 The Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic (*RSFSR)..and the Transcaucasian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic (Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia) are concluding the present treaty on their consolidation into one united state. 1975Whitaker's Almanac 1976 956/1, By the 1947 Peace Treaty with Finland, the district of Petsamo..was added to the territory of the R.S.F.S.R.
1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 733/1 *R.S.J., rolled steel joist. 1954Archit. Rev. CXV. 334 The extension has a reinforced concrete frame with the exception of the top floor of the main block, which has a RSJ portal frame and a flat roof of asbestos cement decking. 1978Private Eye 17 Mar. 15 We had..three RSJs put across the ceiling to stop the upstairs coming downstairs.
1971Circular (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) No. 8. 1 The effect of raising the school leaving age (*RSLA) is to substitute 16 for 15 in all the provisions of the Education Acts which deal with the upper limits of compulsory school age. 1979Rep. on Educ. (Dept. Educ. & Sci.) No. 95. 1/1 The raising of the school leaving age to 16 (RSLA)—on 1 September 1972 with effect from 1 September 1973—marked the achievement of a long held objective.
1913W. T. Rogers Dict. Abbrev. 170 *R.S.M. (tit.), Regimental Sergeant-Major. 1955E. Waugh Officers & Gentlemen i. ix. 107 The RSM sent up the rocket which announced the start of the exercise. 1978R. V. Jones Most Secret War x. 90 The Grenadiers had sent an R.S.M. to Dover to pick up any Grenadiers and drill them.
1907Bird Notes & News II. 52/2 In our parish nearly all belong to the *R.S.P.B. 1937Discovery Jan. 21/2 We are not planning to have our own bird sanctuaries with watchers to protect them, as this work is already being carried out with great success by the R.S.P.B. 1979Birds Summer 34/1 The RSPB has seven reserves with major reedbeds.
1870Animal World (Suppl.) 1 July 177/1 (heading) Annual report of the *R.S.P.C.A. 1924Fairholme & Pain Century of Work for Animals iii. 53 At the present time the R.S.P.C.A., working in England and Wales, alone employs two hundred and three full-time inspectors. 1978Daily Tel. 18 July 1/8 The RSPCA is to launch an investigation today after about 2,800 of a cargo of 4,000 mink were found dead at Manchester airport.
1961F. F. Bruce English Bible xiv. 186 The *R.S.V. dispenses with one of the most distinctive features of what English-speaking people have come to regard as ‘Bible language’. 1974Oxf. Dict. Chr. Ch. (ed. 2) 171/2 The RSV is widely used not only in America but also in Britain..and other English-speaking countries.
1956Jrnl. Nat. Cancer Inst. XVI. 365 Lesions of the central nervous system produced by a duck variant of the Rous sarcoma virus (*RSV). 1974J. D. Acton et al. Fund. Med. Virol. xxiii. 301 Some strains of RSV will induce transformation of mammalian (mouse, rat, hamster, primate, human) fibroblast cells.
1942Tee Emm (Air Ministry) II. 64 If the *R/T transmission is a bit distorted, ‘Say again’ is a set expression. 1971‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird xiii. 180 The R/T isn't functioning, and neither are the radar or echo sounder. 1975J. Wyllie Butterfly Flood (1977) xxxii. 156 Keep within R.T. range of us.
1969W. B. Emery Nat. & Internat. Syst. Broadcasting vi. 117 *RTE now has a repertory company of twenty-eight actors. 1979J. J. Lee Ireland 1945–70 173 Over 50 per cent of RTE television broadcasting featured imported programmes at the end of the 1960s.
1917B.E.F. Times 8 Sept. (1918) 4/2 There is also a rumour that the *R.T.O. of Bath has not got a decoration in the new list. 1919G. S. Gordon Let. 20 June (1943) 95 We then drove over to the Gare de Lyon, where we hung about the R.T.O.'s office till 11, getting tickets made out, and our luggage registered. 1930Amer. Speech V. 385 R.T.O., Railroad transportation officer. 1955E. Waugh Officers & Gentlemen i. v. 45 Guy sought aid of the RTO and was rebuffed. 1978Ld. Lovat March Past i. viii. 132 His last appointment was that of Railway Transport Officer (RTO) at Euston Station.
1917Kipling Bk. of Words (1928) 147 I'm not defending ragging—I've known cases where everyone who took part in it ought to have been *R.T.U. 1976K. Bonfiglioli Something Nasty in Woodshed ix. 103 Mortdecai [sic] would never wear the coveted red tabs on his khaki. ‘RTU’ (Returned to Unit) would follow his name for ever.
1922M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1977) IV. Compan. iii. 1948 The Secretary of State for the Colonies..stated that the *RUC were not up to strength. 1941T. J. Campbell Fifty Years of Ulster xxii. 322 The R.U.C. are an armed force, provided with revolvers and rifles. 1977Irish Times 8 June 11/8 Last night the injured RUC man was stated to be seriously ill in hospital.
1975Irish Times 9 May 24/1 (Advt.), Long Lease. G.R. {pstlg}12·50. *R.V. {pstlg}25. 1976Dumfries & Galloway Standard 25 Dec. 17/7 (Advt.), Modernised ground floor flat... R.V. to be reassessed.
1967Wheels Afield June 42 (heading) Handling your *RV in traffic. 1968Trailer Life June 52/2 For early Rec V construction the terms cracker box or bullets served as type designation. 1978Sunday Sun-Times (Chicago) 1 Jan. 120/2 The RV industry..has regained its feet. 1973Trailer Life Apr. 134/2, I sure wish there was some way to allow *RVers to utilize those great areas. Ibid. 194/2 An *RVing woman's luck in being able to take along a wardrobe for every occasion.
1942Partridge Dict. Abbrev. 86/1 *r.v. or R.V., (place of) rendezvous. (Common to all three services.) 1973C. Egleton Seven Days to Killing xiv. 163 He had no way of knowing whether Tarrant would have set up a fail-safe RV or not. 1975N. Luard Travelling Horseman vi. 162 We'll r.v...in the boozer, and I'll take him over to the garage.
1896Expositor Aug. 126 Here the *R.V...has rightly translated.
b. the three R's: Reading, (W)riting, (A)rithmetic. See also quots. 1879, 1892.
The phrase is said to have originated with Sir W. Curtis (1752–1829) who proposed it as a toast.
1825Mirror V. 75/1 The three R's—Reading, Writing, and Rithmetic. 1828New Jersey Eagle (Newark, N.J.) 23 May 3/3 The three R's—honest 'Rithmetic, Reading & 'Riting I think I can say, I'm no fool in. 1864Reader 30 Jan. 134 Middle-class schools, in which education is pushed beyond the three ‘R's’. 1879Athenæum 5 Apr. 431/1 Romanism, Ritualism, and Rationalism, the three ‘r's’ of theological controversy. 1892Academy 31 Dec. 602/3 Rhetoric, reflexion, and repetition—those three R.s of the inexperienced book⁓maker. 1976Times 26 Mar. 6/3 In some primary and secondary schools the three Rs have been neglected or devalued. 1979Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts CXXVII. 483/1 Writing is, after all, one of the three R's on which education is based.
3. R.S.V.P., abbrev. of the French phrase répondez, s'il vous plaît, ‘reply, if you please’: commonly placed in one of the corners of invitation-cards. Also attrib. or v. intr.
a1845Barham Ingol. Leg. iii. House Warming 289 Quadrilles in the afternoon, R.S.V.P. 1883A. Thomas Mod. Housew. 92 Attend strictly to the R.S.V.P. corner of your ‘at home’ cards. 1969R. V. Beste Next Time I'll pay my Own Fare viii. 111 The Duchess de Santine Miorna requests the pleasure of Detective-Inspector John Gage's company to dinner tonight... R.S.V.P... Gage R.S.V.Ped in Spanish. 1978Observer 19 Feb. 7/1 The printed invitations to 27 journalists were delivered... We all RSVP'd.
4. R or r (Physics): abbrev. of roentgen (unit) s.v. Roentgen 2. Also r-unit.
1922Physics Abstr. A. XXV. 508 The instrument is calibrated in terms of a unit R (the Röntgen), i.e. the ionisation produced in 1 sec. by 1 gm. of Ra at a distance of 20 mm. after filtration by 0·5 mm. of Pt. 1938R. W. Lawson tr. Hevesy & Paneth's Man. Radioactivity (ed. 2) iv. 58 The γ-radiation from 1 mg. Ra..supplies 8·6 r per hour at a distance of 1 cm. Ibid. xxiv. 260 The maximum permissible daily dosage of neutrons is estimated to be one-tenth that for γ- or X-rays, or 0·01 r unit. 1962Newnes' Conc. Encycl. Nuclear Energy 205/1 Thus for X- and γ-radiation of energy between 0·3 and 3 MeV, 1 r is nearly equivalent to 1 rad in water or soft tissue. 1973Kaye & Laby Tables of Physical & Chem. Constants (ed. 14) iii. 285 The unit of exposure is the roentgen (R) which is equal to 2·58 × 10-4 coulomb per kilogram of air.
III. As a symbol.
1. Chem. [Initial letter of radical.] R is used in chemical formulæ to represent an unspecified radical or group of radicals (usu. organic).
1866Watts Dict. Chem. IV. 219 In these formulæ, R+ represents a positive organic radicle, and R- a negative radicle: no negative organic radicle as such, has yet been introduced into these compounds. Ibid. 227 Stannic compounds of the form SnivR4+ are colourless mobile liquids. 1872[see polymerization]. 1909C. A. Keane Mod. Org. Chem. viii. 130 In the formula for ketones, the radicals R and R′ may be either like or unlike. 1932I. D. Garard Introd. Org. Chem. vi. 74 The aldehydes have one of these valences attached to carbon and one to hydrogen, so that for any hydrocarbon radical, R the aldehyde is R{b1}C{b2}O{bbc1}H . 1950N. V. Sidgwick Chem. Elements I. 30 It can be shown that the cyanamides H2N·CN and HRN·CN are highly associated in benzene, while R2N·CN is monomeric. 1966Williams & Fleming Spectrosc. Methods in Org. Chem. ii. 38 The absorption maximum of the nitroaniline XXXVI (R = Me) is at 385 mµ..showing a red shift and marked reduction in intensity from that of the parent compound XXXVI (R = H) at 375 mµ.
2. Physical Chem. R is used to denote the gas constant, i.e. the constant of proportionality in the equation of state for an ideal gas, PV = NRT, where P = pressure, V = volume, n = the number of moles of gas, and T = absolute temperature; now usu. taken to be 8·314 joule kelvin-1 mole-1. [Arbitrary: first used by J. D. Van der Waals 1873, Over de Continuitet van den Gas- en Vloiestoestand (Leiden) 58.]
1880Phil. Mag. IX. 393 In relation to pressure, volume, and temperature, gases follow..with a certain degree of approximation, the laws of Mariotte and Gay-Lussac, which can in common be expressed by the following equation—pv = RT..wherein..R is a constant dependent on the nature of the gas. 1895C. S. Palmer tr. W. Nernst's Theoret. Chem. i. i. 31 The factor R is only conditioned by the unit of measure chosen, but is independent of the chemical composition of the gases in question. 1940Glasstone Textbk. Physical Chem. ix. 654 The value of R for solutions is thus very close to that of R usually accepted for a gas, namely 0·0821 liter-atm.., so that it is possible to write ΠV = RT, where R may be taken as the gas constant [and Π = osmotic pressure]. 1978P. W. Atkins Physical Chem. 13 In this expression R, the gas constant, is another fundamental constant with the value 8·3 J K-1 mol-1.
3. Biol.
a. r is used in formulæ and elsewhere to denote the rate of increase of a population, usually representing the factor by which its size is multiplied in each generation; or the value which this factor would have if resources (food etc.) were unlimited.
1918Q. Publ. Amer. Statistical Assoc. XVI. 123 Where b = birth rate per head per annum, r = natural rate of increase per head per annum... The formulae thus obtained give the relationship between b and r. 1954Andrewartha & Birch Distribution & Abundance of Animals iii. 33 In nature, one or several components may predominate to determine the actual rate of increase, which we shall call r. 1967MacArthur & Wilson Theory of Island Biogeogr. vii. 150 Clearly..r will be increased by a habitat or food shift which increases the density of available food. 1971A. S. Boughey Fundamental Ecology iii. 97 The biotic potential is usually expressed by a factor representing the intrinsic rate of natural increase r. 1977J. L. Harper Population Biol. of Plants i. 3 There is a growing tendency to talk and write about r-phases in the life of a population—phases when it explodes with near-exponential growth after a disaster or after a new colonization into an unexploited environment.
b. r selection, the form of natural selection which acts on populations having ample resources and little or no competition.
1967MacArthur & Wilson Theory of Island Biogeogr. vii. 149 In an environment with no crowding (r selection), genotypes which harvest the most food (even if wastefully) will rear the largest families and be most fit. 1973P. A. Colinvaux Introd. Ecology 618/2 r-Selection, selection for an opportunist strategy leading to an opportunist species. Traits are preserved which use energy to obtain a high natural rate of increase ‘r’. 1976Nature 12 Feb. 478/2 MacArthur & Wilson coined the terms r selection and K selection to describe two general kinds of selection they believed could be functioning in nature (K refers to carrying capacity and r to maximal intrinsic rate of natural increase, rm). 1979Sci. Amer. Jan. 26/3 The poles of evolutionary adaptation, r selection increasing the number of offspring (the prodigal mackerel roe with half a million eggs) and K selection ensuring survival (the proverbial royal litter, only one cub born at a time, but that one a lion).
4. Spectroscopy. R is used to denote the Rydberg constant s.v. Rydberg 1.
1920Phil. Mag. XXXIX. 47 If the nucleus be a simple point-charge, the negatived total energy W belonging to any one of the stationary orbits is given by W/ch = κ2R/n2,..where n is an integer, c the light velocity in vacuo, h Planck's constant, and R the Bohr expression of Rydberg's constant. 1926G. Birtwistle Quantum Theory of Atom ii. 21 In 1913, Niels Bohr..gave a theory of the hydrogen spectrum which..led..to an expression for the Rydberg constant R in terms of known physical constants. 1965R. N. Dixon Spectroscopy & Struct. ii. 31 Since the lowest energy level has n = 1, and the highest n = ∞, the Rydberg constant RH corresponds to the minimum energy required for the removal of the electron. 1978P. W. Watkins Physical Chem. xiv. 427 Balmer..pointed out that the wavelength of the light in the visible region..fitted the expression 1/λ = R(1/4 - 1/n2), n = 3, 4..where R is a constant now called the Rydberg constant, and having the value 109 677 cm-1, or 3·289 8 × 1015 Hz.
5. Psychol. R, or r, is used in some methods of factor analysis in which traits or abilities are the variables (see quots.); also attrib., as R, r technique. Cf. Q III. 4.
1925Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. July 75 Where R is the matrix of the r-correlation coefficients. 1927C. Spearman Abilities of Man vi. 73 The form recently preferred is given below. In it, as usual, the letter r stands for any correlation, whilst its two subscripts indicate the two abilities (tests, school marks, etc.) that are correlated. 1936Brit. Jrnl. Psychol. Apr. 345 It is convenient to designate all previous factor analysis as r technique, and this new inverted form as Q technique. 1950R. B. Cattell Personality ii. 30 In R technique one would point to a particular trait-indicator test and say, ‘This is the test measure of the surface trait or factor in question’. 1974W. B. Arndt Theories of Personality viii. 99 In an actual application of the procedure just described, fifty or more measurements would be made on one hundred or more subjects. This technique, based on normative data, is called the R-technique.
6. Chem. [Abbrev. of L. rectus right.] R is used to designate (compounds having) a configuration about an asymmetric carbon atom in which the substituents, placed in order according to certain rules, form a clockwise sequence when viewed from a particular direction. Opp. S (see S 13).
1956R. S. Cahn et al. in Experientia XII. 83/2 The suggested indications for asymmetry leading, under the sequence and conversion rules, to a right- and left-handed pattern, are capital italic R and S respectively, where R derives from the Latin rectus, meaning ‘right’, and S from sinister... For the description of pseudo-asymmetric atoms, it is proposed to employ the corresponding lower-case italic symbols, r and s. Ibid. 85/2 The simplest case may be exemplified by bromochloroacetic acid (XV). Priority of the groups (a, b, c, d) is here determined simply by the atomic numbers as Br, Cl, C (of CO2H), H. Hence, by the conversion rule..formula (XV) represents an (R)-form. 1966Rakoff & Rose Org. Chem. xiv. 477 Going from OH to CHO to CH2OH traces a clockwise path, so the configuration about the asymmetric center in d-glyceraldehyde is rectus, and the compound would be designated (R)-glyceraldehyde. 1971Sci. Amer. Aug. 46/3 One enantiomeric form of carvone, R-carvone, has a strong odor of spearmint; the other form, S-carvone (which is geometrically a mirror image..) has the odor of caraway. 1973Times 20 Jan. 16/6 Most of the tests were therefore carried out using the R analogue which seemed to be free from side effects.
7. Astr. [Initial letter of rapid.] r-process: a process believed to occur in stars in circumstances of high neutron flux (e.g. in supernova explosions), in which heavy atomic nuclei are formed from lighter ones by a combination of rapid neutron captures and slower beta decays.
1956F. Hoyle et al. in Science 5 Oct. 612/2 We have distinguished two conditions under which the Neutron capture can take place, a slow (s) process and a rapid (r) process. Ibid., The r-process we associate with the explosion of supernovae, the time scale being as small as 10 to 100 seconds. 1975Nature 2 Oct. 362/1 The measured charge distribution in the vicinity of the Earth at ∼0·5 GeV per nucleon strongly favours synthesis of these cosmic rays by the r-process (rapid neutron capture) within the last 107 yr. 1977J. Narlikar Struct. Universe ii. 49 Whereas the s-process produces proton-rich nuclei, the r-process produces neutron-rich nuclei.
8. Microbiology. [Initial letter of resistance.] R is used to denote certain plasmids which confer drug-resistance on bacteria and can be transferred to other bacteria by conjugation.
1961Gunma Jrnl. Med. Sci. X. 59 It is strongly suggested that there is a transmissible drug-resistance factor (R) which makes R- cells drug resistant when infected with R+ cells following cell-to-cell contact. 1962Jrnl. Bacteriol. LXXXIV. 902/2 R or R factor is a general term for the infectious drug-resistance factors (Mitsuhashi, 1960; at the Meeting of Microbial Genetics at Mishima, Japan, it was agreed by investigators in this field to use the term ‘R’ for the multiple drug-resistance factor). 1967Jrnl. Gen. Microbiol. XLIX. 97 Genetic alterations resulting in the loss or acquisition of F or R pili are strictly correlated with loss or gain of ability to transfer the chromosome by conjugation. 1969A. M. Campbell Episomes iii. 41 Cells harboring R can transfer it to other cells. 1975Sci. Amer. July 28/3 Antibiotic-resistant E[scherichia] coli isolated in many parts of the world..were found to contain plasmids, designated R factors..carrying the genetic information for products that in one way or another could interfere with the action of specific antibiotics.
Add:[II.] [2.] RME, rape methyl ester.
1991South Aug. 58/2 Bio-diesel is made by mixing rape seed oil (ESO) with Methyl Alcohol to produce Methyl RSO. Glycerol is then added to produce Rape Methyl Ester (*RME). 1993New Scientist 9 Oct. 22/1 Since mid-August, two boats fuelled by RME have been cruising on the Broads—a network of inland lakes in eastern England.
▸ RDA n. recommended dietary (or daily) allowance (or amount) (cf. recommended daily allowance at recommended adj. Additions); also fig.
1953L. G. Allbaugh Crete vi. 128 The computed NRC-*RDA [NRC = National Research Council] calorie allowance for community families is 2,695 and for municipal families, 2,474 calories. 1961Ann. Rep. National Vitamin Found. Incorporated 1960 8 The National Research Council's Food and Nutrition Board established its first Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) in 1943. 1995Which? Feb. 11/1 The EC hasn't yet set RDAs for copper and selenium. 1999BBC Good Food July 115/4 Some over-the-counter supplements contain 300 per cent more than the RDA and are still considered safe. 2005Time Out N.Y. 1 Dec. 91/2 The always-affable Ron Poole's longtime award-winning staple should fulfill your RDA of stand-up and cabaret-type comics.
▸ RDI n. recommended daily intake (cf. recommended adj.).
1974Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 71 4442 Abbreviation: RDA, Recommended Dietary Allowance; *RDI, Recommended Daily Intake. 1990Milling & Banking News (Nexis) 3 July 1 The U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance reference values on the nutrition label would be replaced with a new RDI (Reference Daily Intakes). 2002Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 28 Apr. (Body + Soul section) 4/4 The RDI was established many decades ago and is basically the minimum of nutrients required to prevent diseases of malnutrition.
▸ RFC n.initialism Computing any of a series of archived, sequentially numbered documents describing technical aspects of networked computer communication, esp. standards for such communication; a standard so described.
1969S. Crocker Request for Comments (Network Working Group) (Electronic text) No. 1. 2 (running title) *RFC 1 Host Software 7 April 1969. 1994.net Dec. 29/1 RFC1034 and RFC1035..describe the Internet's global naming set-up, the DNS, or Domain Name System. 2002Personal Computer World Aug. 137/3 There's also an Internet standard, or RFC, in development for IMPP—the Instant Messaging and Presence Protocol.
▸ RFID n. radio-frequency identification, a method for tracking objects, animals, etc., by means of an attached or embedded device which transmits a radio signal.
1985Handling & Shipping Managem. Apr. 90/1 Born in the 1950s in Europe, *RFID was designed initially to provide a means for positively identifying individual cows and steers. The technology then spread to urban mass transit. 2004Independent 12 Jan. 6/2 Although Tesco insisted the exercise was for stock control..the microchips—called Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) labels—remain active over a range of five metres once the product leaves the store.
▸ RIB n. rigid inflatable boat (cf. rigid inflatable adj. and n. at rigid adj. and n. Additions).
1982Offshore Mar. 93/3 The *RIB comprises a solid, V-shaped hull fixed to an inflatable tube above the water line that serves as a combination gunwhale and fender. 2002Independent 12 Jan. (Mag.) 44/1 You usually see rigid inflatable boats (RIBs) on the news crashing through towering waves to rescue capsized yachts or assaulting polluting oil rigs.
▸ RSI n. = repetitive strain injury n. at repetitive adj. and n. Additions.
1983Med. Jrnl. Austral. 10–24 Dec. 605/2 As a result, the phrases ‘occupational overuse syndrome’ and ‘repetitive strain injury’ (*RSI) are now used. 1991Personal Computer World Feb. 135/1 A common RSI is Tenosynovitis, the inflammation of the tendon sheaths in the hands, wrists and arms. 2000M. Blake 24 Karat Schmooze (2001) v. 51 Graham was sitting on a stool supping his pint,..mouse hand twitching with the early onset of RSI.
▸ RTW n. and adj. (a) n. an aeroplane ticket for round-the-world travel via several destinations; (b) adj. round-the-world (freq. designating an aeroplane ticket).
1986Guardian 25 Jan. 10/1 *RTWs require a minimum of three stopovers, and students of jet lag recommend that these should be at least four days long. 1986Los Angeles Times (Electronic ed.) 24 Aug. 2 The highly promoted fare angered the world's airlines, because the price of the RTW ticket was less than half the cost of a regular economy fare to circle the globe. 1996Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald Amer. 14 July (Stars Mag. section) 3/2, I committed to 11 stops on my RTW ticket in eight months. 2003K. Dydynski Columbia (Lonely Planet) (ed. 3) 68/1 RTWs which include Latin America or the South Pacific will cost at least an additional A$1000. |