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14-letter words containing a, c, h, e, n

  • scratch monkey — (humour)   As in "Before testing or reconfiguring, always mount a scratch monkey", a proverb used to advise caution when dealing with irreplaceable data or devices. Used to refer to any scratch volume hooked to a computer during any risky operation as a replacement for some precious resource or data that might otherwise get trashed. This term preserves the memory of Mabel, the Swimming Wonder Monkey, star of a biological research program at the University of Toronto. Mabel was not (so the legend goes) your ordinary monkey; the university had spent years teaching her how to swim, breathing through a regulator, in order to study the effects of different gas mixtures on her physiology. Mabel suffered an untimely demise one day when a DEC engineer troubleshooting a crash on the program's VAX inadvertently interfered with some custom hardware that was wired to Mabel. It is reported that, after calming down an understandably irate customer sufficiently to ascertain the facts of the matter, a DEC troubleshooter called up the field circus manager responsible and asked him sweetly, "Can you swim?" Not all the consequences to humans were so amusing; the sysop of the machine in question was nearly thrown in jail at the behest of certain clueless droids at the local "humane" society. The moral is clear: When in doubt, always mount a scratch monkey. A corespondent adds: The details you give are somewhat consistent with the version I recall from the Digital "War Stories" notesfile, but the name "Mabel" and the swimming bit were not mentioned, IIRC. Also, there's a very detailed account that claims that three monkies died in the incident, not just one. I believe Eric Postpischil wrote the original story at DEC, so his coming back with a different version leads me to wonder whether there ever was a real Scratch Monkey incident.
  • screen sharing — audiographic teleconferencing
  • search warrant — a court order authorizing the examination of a dwelling or other private premises by police officials, as for stolen goods.
  • second chamber — the parliament of the Netherlands, consisting of an upper chamber (First Chamber) and a lower chamber (Second Chamber)
  • segmental arch — a shallow arch not including a complete semicircle
  • self-searching — examining carefully or thoroughly: a searching inspection.
  • servant church — the attitude or practices of a church whose avowed purpose is to serve the world.
  • servomechanism — an electronic control system in which a hydraulic, pneumatic, or other type of controlling mechanism is actuated and controlled by a low-energy signal.
  • sewing machine — any of various foot-operated or electric machines for sewing or making stitches, ranging from machines with a shuttle for a spool of thread and a needle for sewing garments to industrial machines for sewing leather, book pages together, etc.
  • shadow cabinet — (in the British Parliament) a group of prominent members of the opposition who are expected to hold positions in the cabinet when their party assumes power.
  • shamefacedness — modest or bashful.
  • shield volcano — a broad volcano built up from the repeated nonexplosive eruption of basalt to form a low dome or shield, usually having a large caldera at the summit
  • shower curtain — waterproof sheet around a shower
  • simple machine — machine (def 3b).
  • sistine chapel — the chapel of the pope in the Vatican at Rome, built for Pope Sixtus IV and decorated with frescoes by Michelangelo and others.
  • sleeping chair — a chair of the 17th century, having a high back, usually adjustable, with deep wings of the same height.
  • soil mechanics — the branch of civil engineering that deals with the mechanical behavior of soil and similar materials when they are compressed or sheared or when liquids flow through them.
  • soul-searching — the act or process of close and penetrating analysis of oneself, to determine one's true motives and sentiments.
  • sound archives — official records or files (as in a library) of sound recordings, broadcasts, or performances, esp those from radio programmes
  • south american — a continent in the S part of the Western Hemisphere. About 6,900,000 sq. mi. (17,871,000 sq. km).
  • southern ocean — that part of the Indian Ocean south of Australia
  • sowing machine — a machine that scatters seeds on land so that they may grow
  • spanner wrench — a spanner with a fixed opening that cannot be adjusted to different sizes
  • special branch — The Special Branch is the department of the British police that is concerned with political security and deals with things such as terrorism and visits by foreign leaders.
  • speech-reading — the act or process of determining the intended meaning of a speaker by utilizing all visual clues accompanying speech attempts, as lip movements, facial expressions, and bodily gestures, used especially by people with impaired hearing.
  • speed merchant — a person who habitually drives too fast in a motor vehicle
  • spinthariscope — an instrument that detects ionizing radiation by picking up sparks of light from alpha particles.
  • st. catharines — a city in SE Ontario, in SE Canada.
  • stand a chance — (of a person) to be in an upright position on the feet.
  • stand the pace — to keep up with the speed or rate of others
  • steeplechasing — a horse race over a turf course furnished with artificial ditches, hedges, and other obstacles over which the horses must jump.
  • steganographic — of, or pertaining to, steganography
  • stegocephalian — an extinct, pre-Jurassic amphibian
  • stock exchange — a building or place where stocks and other securities are bought and sold.
  • stomachfulness — the quality of being stomachful
  • submachine gun — a lightweight automatic or semiautomatic gun, fired from the shoulder or hip.
  • surinam cherry — a tropical American tree, Eugenia uniflora, of the myrtle family, having ovate leaves and fragrant, white flowers.
  • take the count — to be unable to continue after a count of ten
  • teach a lesson — give a class, give instruction
  • teaching elder — a minister in a Presbyterian church.
  • teaching staff — those members of staff in a school, college, or university who teach
  • technical area — the area at the side of the pitch to which managers, trainers, coaches, etc are restricted during play
  • technical foul — a foul committed by a player or coach, usually not involving physical contact with an opponent, called often for unsportsmanlike conduct, as holding on to the basket or using profanity, that gives the opposing team one or two free throws and sometimes, if the foul was flagrant, requires the ejection of the offending player or coach from the game.
  • technicalities — technical methods and vocabulary
  • telephone call — contact by phone
  • telephonically — of, relating to, or happening by means of a telephone system.
  • the capitoline — the most important of the Seven Hills of Rome. The temple of Jupiter was on the southern summit and the ancient citadel on the northern summit
  • the human race — mankind
  • the long march — a journey of about 10 000 km (6000 miles) undertaken (1934–35) by some 100 000 Chinese Communists when they were forced out of their base in Kiangsi in SE China. They made their way to Shensi in NW China; only about 8000 survived the rigours of the journey
  • the ordovician — the Ordovician period or rock system
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