14-letter words containing a, b, i, o
- liberalization — (US) The process or act of making more liberal.
- line of battle — a line formed by troops or ships for delivering or receiving an attack.
- linen cupboard — airing cupboard
- load balancing — (operating system, parallel) Techniques which aim to spread tasks among the processors in a parallel processor to avoid some processors being idle while others have tasks queueing for execution. Load balancing may be performed either by heavily loaded processors (with many tasks in their queues) sending tasks to other processors; by idle processors requesting work from others; by some centralised task distribution mechanism; or some combination of these. Some systems allow tasks to be moved after they have started executing ("task migration") others do not. It is important that the overhead of executing the load balancing algorithm does not contribute significantly to the overall processing or communications load. Distributed scheduling algorithms may be static, dynamic or preemptive. Static algorithms allocate processes to processors at run time while taking no account of current network load. Dynamic algorithms are more flexible, though more computationally expensive, and give some consideration to the network load before allocating the new process to a processor. Preemptive algorithms are more expensive and flexible still, and may migrate running processes from one host to another if deemed beneficial. Research to date indicates that dynamic algorithms yield significant performance benefits, but that further (though lesser) gains may be had through the addition of process migration facilities.
- lobelia family — the plant family Lobeliaceae (sometimes considered a subfamily, Lobelioideae, of the Campanulaceae, or bellflower family), typified by usually herbaceous plants having milky sap, simple alternate leaves, irregular two-lipped flowers, and fruit in the form of a capsule or berry, and including the cardinal flower, Indian tobacco, and lobelia.
- lobotomization — to perform a lobotomy on.
- local variable — (programming) A variable with lexical scope, i.e. one which only exists in some particular part of the source code, typically within a block or a function or procedure body. This contrasts with a global variable, which is defined throughout the whole program. Code is easier to understand and modify when the scope of variables is as small as possible because it is easier to see how the variable is set and used. Code containing global variables is harder to modify because its behaviour may depend on and affect other sections of code that refer to that variable.
- localizability — The condition of being localizable.
- logic variable — (programming) A variable in a logic programming language which is initially undefined ("unbound") but may get bound to a value or another logic variable during unification of the containing clause with the current goal. The value to which it is bound may contain other variables which may themselves be bound or unbound. For example, when unifying the clause sad(X) :- computer(X, ibmpc). with the goal sad(billgates). the variable X will become bound to the atom "billgates" yielding the new subgoal "computer(billgates, ibmpc)".
- lord baltimore — David, born 1938, U.S. microbiologist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1975.
- lower sideband — the frequency band below the carrier frequency, within which fall the spectral components produced by modulation of a carrier wave
- macrobiologist — One who studies macrobiology.
- macroglobulins — Plural form of macroglobulin.
- malleable iron — malleable cast iron.
- mandibulectomy — (surgery) excision of the mandible.
- mandibulohyoid — (anatomy) Pertaining both to the mandibular and the hyoid arch.
- manitoba maple — a Canadian fast-growing variety of maple
- marine biology — science of sea life
- marriage bonds — the strong feeling of being united that is associated with marriage
- marsupial bone — epipubis.
- memorabilities — Plural form of memorability.
- metabolic heat — animal heat.
- metabolic rate — the rate at which living organisms expend energy or convert energy into food
- methaemoglobin — a brownish compound of oxygen and hemoglobin, formed in the blood, as by the use of certain drugs.
- mexican bamboo — a hardy plant, Polygonum cuspidatum, of the buckwheat family, native to Japan, having small, greenish-white flowers and tending to escape from cultivation.
- microbarograph — a barograph for recording minute fluctuations of atmospheric pressure.
- microfibrillar — Of or pertaining to microfibrils.
- mills-and-boon — of or relating to novels by the British publisher Mills and Boon, esp in being romantic or sexual in nature
- misattribution — the act of attributing; ascription.
- mobile canteen — a truck or lorry with kitchen facilities that can be used on site, such as on a film set, construction site, as a soup kitchen, etc
- mobile command — the Canadian army and other land forces
- mobile library — travelling book-lending facility
- monocarboxylic — containing one carboxyl group.
- morbid anatomy — the branch of medical science concerned with the study of the structure of diseased organs and tissues
- morbidity rate — a measure of the relative incidence of a particular disease in a specific locality
- moulding board — a board on which dough is kneaded
- multivibrators — Plural form of multivibrator.
- municipal bond — a bond issued by a state, county, city, or town, or by a state authority or agency to finance projects.
- myofibroblasts — Plural form of myofibroblast.
- nanopublishing — an inexpensive form of online publishing that uses blogging as a model to reach a specific audience
- napalm bombing — the act of attacking with napalm bombs
- napier's bones — a form of multiplication table originally marked on sticks of bone or ivory that could be rearranged to carry out the operations of multiplication or division.
- navigation bar — (web) (Always abbreviated "nav bar") On a website, a prominently displayed set of links to important sections of the site.
- neurofibromata — a benign neoplasm composed of the fibrous elements of a nerve.
- nitrobacterium — Any of the several genera of bacteria in soil that take part in the nitrogen cycle, oxidizing ammonium and organic nitrogen compounds to the more soluble nitrite and nitrate.
- no fixed abode — If someone has no fixed abode, they are homeless.
- noctambulation — Sleepwalking.
- non perishable — not subject to rapid deterioration or decay: A supply of nonperishable food was kept for emergencies.
- non-absolutist — the principle or the exercise of complete and unrestricted power in government.
- non-accessible — easy to approach, reach, enter, speak with, or use.