14-letter words containing a, c, t, i, n
- aviation cadet — one who trains to become an officer in an air force.
- back formation — the invention of a new word on the assumption that a familiar word is derived from it. The verbs edit and burgle were so created from editor and burglar
- back-formation — the analogical creation of one word from another word that appears to be a derived or inflected form of the first by dropping the apparent affix or by modification.
- backscattering — the scattering of rays or particles at angles to the original direction of motion of greater than 90°
- backscratching — a long-handled device for scratching one's own back.
- backside-front — backend-to.
- bactrian camel — a two-humped camel, Camelus bactrianus, used as a beast of burden in the cold deserts of central Asia
- balance weight — a weight used in machines to counterbalance a part, as of a crankshaft
- ball indicator — a flight instrument that measures the angle of roll about an aircraft's horizontal axis, thereby indicating whether or not the aircraft is skidding or slipping.
- ballistic wind — a single wind vector that would have the same net effect on the trajectory of a projectile as the varying winds encountered in flight.
- balto-slavonic — a hypothetical subfamily of Indo-European languages consisting of Baltic and Slavonic. It is now generally believed that similarities between them result from geographical proximity rather than any special relationship
- bamboo curtain — (esp in the 1950s and 1960s) the political and military barrier to communications around the People's Republic of China
- bancroft prize — one of a group of annual awards for literary achievement in American history and biography: administered by Columbia University.
- base community — (especially in South America) a group of people taking part in religious devotions and Bible study, who seek to apply this in their socioeconomic and political situation.
- basic industry — an industry which is highly important in a nation's economy
- basic training — Basic training is the training that someone receives when they first join the armed forces.
- basso continuo — continuo.
- beaten biscuit — a hard, unleavened biscuit, made to rise by pounding and folding the dough.
- beautification — Making beautiful, beautifying, improving the appearance of something.
- belaying cleat — a cleat used for belaying
- beta reduction — [lambda-calculus] The application of a lambda abstraction to an argument expression. A copy of the body of the lambda abstraction is made and occurrences of the bound variable being replaced by the argument. E.g. (\ x . x+1) 4 --> 4+1 Beta reduction is the only kind of reduction in the pure lambda-calculus. The opposite of beta reduction is beta abstraction. These are the two kinds of beta conversion. See also name capture.
- bib and tucker — an outfit of clothes (esp in the phrase best bib and tucker)
- biblical latin — the form of Latin used in versions of the Bible, esp the form used in the Vulgate
- binary counter — (electronics, hardware) A digital circuit which has a clock input and a number of count outputs which give the number of clock cycles. The output may change either on rising or falling clock edges. The circuit may also have a reset input which sets all outputs to zero when asserted. The counter may be either a synchronous counter or a ripple counter.
- bioaeronautics — the use of aircraft in the discovery, development, and protection of natural and biological resources
- biocontainment — the confinement, as by sealed-off chambers, of materials that are harmful or potentially harmful to life.
- bioinformatics — the branch of information science concerned with large databases of biochemical or pharmaceutical information
- bird sanctuary — an area of land in which birds are protected and encouraged to breed
- birthing chair — a chair constructed to allow a woman in labour to give birth in a sitting position
- black as night — totally dark
- blanket stitch — a strong reinforcing stitch for the edges of blankets and other thick material
- blanket-stitch — a basic sewing stitch in which widely spaced, interlocking loops, or purls, are formed, used for cutwork, as a decorative finish for edges, etc.
- block faulting — the process by which tensional forces in the earth's crust cause large bodies of rock to founder.
- block mountain — a mountain produced by faulting and the uplifting of large blocks of rock
- body snatching — the act or practice of robbing a grave to obtain a cadaver for dissection.
- botanic garden — a place in which plants are grown, studied, and exhibited
- branchiostegal — of or relating to the operculum covering the gill slits of fish
- brazil current — a warm current in the Atlantic Ocean flowing SE along the E coast of Brazil.
- britannia coin — any of four British gold coins introduced in 1987 for investment purposes; their denominations are £100, £50, £25, and £10
- bronchial tube — Your bronchial tubes are the two tubes which connect your windpipe to your lungs.
- bronchiectasis — chronic dilation of the bronchi or bronchial tubes, which often become infected
- bronchodilator — any drug or other agent that causes dilation of the bronchial tubes by relaxing bronchial muscle: used, esp in the form of aerosol sprays, for the relief of asthma
- bronchospastic — of or relating to bronchospasms
- by acclamation — by an overwhelming majority without a ballot
- by implication — If you say that something is the case by implication, you mean that a statement, event, or situation implies that it is the case.
- cable trunking — Cable trunking is an enclosure usually with a rectangular cross section, and with one removable or hinged side, that is used to protect cables and provide space for other electrical equipment.
- cache conflict — (storage) A sequence of accesses to memory repeatedly overwriting the same cache entry. This can happen if two blocks of data, which are mapped to the same set of cache locations, are needed simultaneously. For example, in the case of a direct mapped cache, if arrays A, B, and C map to the same range of cache locations, thrashing will occur when the following loop is executed: See also ping-pong.
- cafeteria plan — a fringe-benefit plan under which employees may choose from among various benefits those that best fit their needs, up to a specified dollar value.
- cairngormstone — (mineral, rare) A yellow or smoky brown variety of rock crystal, found especially in the mountains of w Cairngorm in Scotland.
- call into play — to begin to operate