0%

13-letter words containing a, c, e, p, t

  • optical drive — optical disk drive
  • optical fiber — optical fibre
  • optical fibre — (communications)   (fibre optics, FO, US "fiber", light pipe) A plastic or glass (silicon dioxide) fibre no thicker than a human hair used to transmit information using infra-red or even visible light as the carrier (usually a laser). The light beam is an electromagnetic signal with a frequency in the range of 10^14 to 10^15 Hertz. Optical fibre is less susceptible to external noise than other transmission media, and is cheaper to make than copper wire, but it is much more difficult to connect. Optical fibres are difficult to tamper with (to monitor or inject data in the middle of a connection), making them appropriate for secure communications. The light beams do not escape from the medium because the material used provides total internal reflection. See also FDDI, Optical Carrier n, SONET.
  • optical mouse — (hardware)   Any kind of mouse that uses visible light or infrared to detect changes in its position.
  • optical wedge — a wedge-shaped filter whose transmittance decreases from one end to the other: used as an exposure control device in sensitometry.
  • orchestra pit — musicians' seating in front of stage
  • orchestra-pit — a group of performers on various musical instruments, including especially stringed instruments of the viol class, clarinets and flutes, cornets and trombones, drums, and cymbals, for playing music, as symphonies, operas, popular music, or other compositions.
  • orthocephalic — having a medium or intermediate relation between the height of the skull and the breadth or length.
  • orthoepically — In terms of correct pronunciation.
  • orthopaedical — Pertaining to orthopaedics; characteristic of orthopaedia.
  • overspeculate — to engage in thought or reflection; meditate (often followed by on, upon, or a clause).
  • pacific plate — Geology. one of the major tectonic divisions of the earth's crust, comprising four sea-floor basins; separated from the Nazca, Cocos, and North and South American plates by the East Pacific Rise and San Andreas fault and bounded in the western Pacific Ocean by a series of major ocean deeps, including the Kuril, Japan, Mariana, Kermadec, and Tonga trenches.
  • package store — a store selling sealed bottles or other containers of alcoholic beverages that may only be consumed off the premises.
  • packet driver — (networking)   IBM PC local area network software that divides data into packets which it routes to the network. It also handles incoming data, reassembling the packets so that application programs can read the data as a continuous stream. Packet drivers provide a simple, common programming interface that allows multiple applications to share a network interface at the data link layer. Packet drivers demultiplex incoming packets among the applications by using the network media's standard packet type or service access point field(s). The packet driver provides calls to initiate access to a specific packet type, to end access to it, to send a packet, to get statistics on the network interface and to get information about the interface. Protocol implementations that use the packet driver can coexist and can make use of one another's services, whereas multiple applications which do not use the driver do not coexist on one machine properly. Through use of the packet driver, a user could run TCP/IP, XNS and a proprietary protocol implementation such as DECnet, Banyan's, LifeNet's, Novell's or 3Com's without the difficulties associated with pre-empting the network interface. Applications which use the packet driver can also run on new network hardware of the same class without being modified; only a new packet driver need be supplied. There are several levels of packet driver. The first is the basic packet driver, which provides minimal functionality but should be simple to implement and which uses very few host resources. The basic driver provides operations to broadcast and receive packets. The second driver is the extended packet driver, which is a superset of the basic driver. The extended driver supports less commonly used functions of the network interface such as multicast, and also gathers statistics on use of the interface and makes these available to the application. The third level, the high-performance functions, support performance improvements and tuning.
  • packet switch — packet switching
  • packing crate — A packing crate is a large wooden box in which things are put so that they can be stored or taken somewhere.
  • pact of steel — a military alliance concluded between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy on May 22, 1939, committing each to assist the other in the event of war with another power and pledging that neither would seek a separate peace or armistice.
  • paediatrician — A paediatrician is a doctor who specializes in treating sick children.
  • palaeoclimate — the climate of a prehistoric age
  • palaeocrystic — consisting of former glacial formation
  • palaeocurrent — an ancient current, esp of water, evidence of which has been preserved in sedimentary rocks as fossilized ripple marks, etc
  • paleo-asiatic — a member of any of various Mongoloid peoples of northeastern Asia.
  • paleomagnetic — Geology. magnetic polarization acquired by the minerals in a rock at the time the rock was deposited or solidified.
  • paleotropical — belonging or pertaining to a geographical division comprising the Ethiopian and Oriental regions.
  • pancreatotomy — incision of the pancreas.
  • para-centesis — puncture of the wall of a cavity to drain off fluid.
  • parallelistic — of, relating to, or of the nature of a parallelism.
  • parasynthetic — the formation of a word by the addition of a derivational suffix to a phrase or compound, as of greathearted, which is great heart plus -ed.
  • parcel tanker — a tanker designed to carry an assortment of liquids, as chemicals, or different grades of a liquid, as petroleum, at one time.
  • parenthetical — of, pertaining to, noting, or of the nature of a parenthesis: several unnecessary parenthetic remarks.
  • parietal cell — any of the cells in the mucous membranes of the stomach that secrete hydrochloric acid.
  • part exchange — If you give an old item in part exchange for something you are buying, the seller accepts the old item as part of the payment, so you do not have to give them as much money.
  • parthenocarpy — the production of fruit without fertilization of an egg in the ovary.
  • parti-colored — having different colors in different areas or patches; variegated: a parti-colored dress.
  • participative — to take or have a part or share, as with others; partake; share (usually followed by in): to participate in profits; to participate in a play.
  • particle beam — Physics. a concentrated stream of particles, as electrons, neutrons, or protons, generated for studying particle interactions, nuclear structure, crystal structure, etc.
  • particleboard — a boardlike building material made by compressing sawdust or wood particles with a resin binder
  • particularize — to make particular.
  • party machine — the internal organization of a political party, which decides its policies and directs its activities
  • party-colored — having different colors in different areas or patches; variegated: a parti-colored dress.
  • pass the buck — Poker. any object in the pot that reminds the winner of some privilege or obligation when his or her turn to deal next comes.
  • pastoral care — help with personal needs and problems given by a teacher
  • pastry cutter — a cutter that is used to cut pastry into shapes
  • patent office — (often initial capital letters) a governmental agency that administers and regulates patents and trademarks, in the U.S. forming a division of the Department of Commerce.
  • paternalistic — the system, principle, or practice of managing or governing individuals, businesses, nations, etc., in the manner of a father dealing benevolently and often intrusively with his children: The employees objected to the paternalism of the old president.
  • pathogenicity — the disease-producing capacity of a pathogen.
  • pavement café — part of a café which is outdoors or on the pavement or sidewalk
  • pay structure — a collection of pay grades or bands, which set out the different levels of pay for workers in a certain profession, etc
  • pay the check — When a customer pays the check in a restaurant, they pay the amount that they owe for their meal.
  • peace studies — a field of political science which examines how to reduce conflicts
Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?