17-letter words containing a, c, e, i, t
- dictating machine — a device that records spoken words, as on audiocassettes, for playing back later to prepare a transcript
- digital recording — a method of sound recording in which an input audio waveform is sampled at regular intervals, usually between 40,000 and 50,000 times per second, and each sample is assigned a numerical value, usually expressed in binary notation.
- diocletian window — a window in the form of a round-headed archway with a narrower compartment on either side, the side compartments usually being capped with entablatures on which the arch of the central compartment rests.
- diphenylacetylene — tolan.
- dipterocarpaceous — of, relating to, or belonging to the Dipterocarpaceae, a family of trees chiefly native to tropical SE Asia, having two-winged fruits. Many species yield useful timber and resins
- disability clause — a clause in a life-insurance policy providing for waiver of premium and sometimes payment of monthly income if the policyholder becomes totally and permanently disabled.
- disaster recovery — (business) (DR) Planning and implementation of procedures and facilities for use when essential systems are not available for a period long enough to have a significant impact on the business, e.g. when the head office is blown up. Disasters include natural: fire, flood, lightning, hurricane; hardware: power failure, component failure, head crash; software failure: bugs, resources; vandalism: arson, bombing, cracking, theft; data corruption or loss: human error, media failure; communications: computer network equipment, network storm, telephones; security: passwords compromised, computer virus; legal: change in legislation; personnel: unavailability of essential staff, industrial action. Companies need to plan for disaster: before: risk analysis, preventive measures, training; during: how should staff and systems respond; after: recovery measures, post mortem analysis. Hardware can usually be replaced and is usually insured. Software and data needs to be backed up off site. Alternative communication systems should be arranged in case of network failure or inaccessible premises, e.g. emergency telephone number, home working, alternative data center.
- discreditableness — Quality of being discreditable.
- discrete variable — a variable that may assume only a countable, and usually finite, number of values.
- disidentification — The act of disidentifying, or rejecting a personal or group identity.
- displacement hull — a hull that displaces a significant volume of water when under way.
- disrespectability — Lack of respectability.
- disruptive action — action performed by protestors, workers, etc that causes the disruption of a service
- dissociated press — [Play on "Associated Press"; perhaps inspired by a reference in the 1949 Bugs Bunny cartoon "What's Up, Doc?"] An algorithm for transforming any text into potentially humorous garbage even more efficiently than by passing it through a marketroid. The algorithm starts by printing any N consecutive words (or letters) in the text. Then at every step it searches for any random occurrence in the original text of the last N words (or letters) already printed and then prints the next word or letter. Emacs has a handy command for this. Here is a short example of word-based Dissociated Press applied to an earlier version of the Jargon File: wart: A small, crocky feature that sticks out of an array (C has no checks for this). This is relatively benign and easy to spot if the phrase is bent so as to be not worth paying attention to the medium in question. Here is a short example of letter-based Dissociated Press applied to the same source: window sysIWYG: A bit was named aften /bee't*/ prefer to use the other guy's re, especially in every cast a chuckle on neithout getting into useful informash speech makes removing a featuring a move or usage actual abstractionsidered interj. Indeed spectace logic or problem! A hackish idle pastime is to apply letter-based Dissociated Press to a random body of text and vgrep the output in hopes of finding an interesting new word. (In the preceding example, "window sysIWYG" and "informash" show some promise.) Iterated applications of Dissociated Press usually yield better results. Similar techniques called "travesty generators" have been employed with considerable satirical effect to the utterances of Usenet flamers; see pseudo.
- distance learning — education in which students receive instruction over the Internet, from a video, etc., instead of going to school.
- distance teaching — teaching via correspondence or the internet, where students are not physically present in a classroom
- district attorney — an officer who acts as attorney for the people or government within a specified district.
- document examiner — (hypertext, tool) A high-performance hypertext system by Symbolics that provides on-line access to their user documentation.
- double refraction — the separation of a ray of light into two unequally refracted, plane-polarized rays of orthogonal polarizations, occurring in crystals in which the velocity of light rays is not the same in all directions.
- double track line — a railway line with double track
- duality principle — the principle that a mathematical duality exists under certain conditions.
- ductus arteriosis — a fetal blood vessel that connects the left pulmonary artery directly to the descending aorta, normally closing after birth.
- dutch east indies — a former name of the Republic of Indonesia.
- dutch elm disease — a disease of elms characterized by wilting, yellowing, and falling of the leaves and caused by a fungus, Ceratostomella ulmi, transmitted by bark beetles.
- dynamic execution — (processor) A combination of techniques - multiple branch prediction, data flow analysis and speculative execution. Intel implemented Dynamic Execution in the P6 after analysing the execution of billions of lines of code.
- dynamically typed — dynamic typing
- east pacific rise — a long north-south elevation of the sea floor in the E Pacific Ocean extending southward from SW Mexico to the Antarctic Ocean.
- echo cancellation — A process which removes unwanted echoes from the signal on a telephone line. Echoes are usually caused by impedance mismatches along an analogue line.
- ectoparasiticides — Plural form of ectoparasiticide.
- ectopic pregnancy — the development of a fertilized ovum outside the uterus, as in a Fallopian tube.
- education contact — (job) The person at a company who should receive educational material.
- egyptian brackets — (programming, humour) A humourous term for K&R indent style, referring to the "one hand up in front, one down behind" pose which popular culture inexplicably associates with Egypt.
- ehelp corporation — (company) A vendor of Microsoft Windows application development tools such as RoboHELP and RoboDemo. EHelp were formerly (around 1997) Blue Sky Software. Address: 7777 Fay Avenue, Suite 201, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA. Telephone: +1-800-793-0364, +1 (619) 459 6365. Fax: +1 (619) 459 6366.
- elastic stockings — something made of elastic which you wear on your legs to aid circulation
- election campaign — efforts to promote party or candidate to voters
- electric constant — the permittivity of free space, which has the value 8.854 187 × 10–12 farad per metre
- electric retarder — An electric retarder is an electromagnetic transmission brake that is only effective when a vehicle is moving.
- electrical fitter — someone whose job is to fit electrical equipment
- electricity board — a company which supplies electricity
- electroanesthesia — Anesthesia induced by cranial electrotherapy stimulation.
- electrocardiogram — A record or display of a person’s heartbeat produced by electrocardiography.
- electrochemically — In an electrochemical manner.
- electrofiltration — Electrofiltration is a separation process in which an electric field is applied across a filter to improve separation.
- electromechanical — Of, relating to, or denoting a mechanical device that is electrically operated.
- electromyographic — Using electromyography.
- electron affinity — a measure of the ability of an atom or molecule to form a negative ion, expressed as the energy released when an electron is attached
- electronegativity — The tendency, or a measure of the ability, of an atom or molecule to attract electrons and thus form bonds.
- electroretinogram — A record of the electrical activity of the retina, used in medical diagnosis and research.
- electrostatically — In an electrostatic manner, by electrostatic means.
- elliptical spring — An elliptical spring is a spring that is made from two springs in the shape of elongated ovals laid cut in half and back-to-back.